Weekly Menu

Happy Halloween!!!!!

This week I tried to plan my lunches and also prep the stuff I needed. I also picked something for breakfast and snacks.  It wasn't a total success but it did help me have healthier stuff to eat.

What is on the plan for this coming week?

Friday -My husband has a doctor appointment at 4:00 "in town" that we all will go to (since he can't drive) so we will grab something after that mostly likely. 

Saturday - The boys and I will be going to a Harvest Party with the Homeschool Co-Op.  I'm supposed to take something for the potluck table . . .and so far I'm stumped.  At first I was thinking it should be totally kid friendly but the more I thought about it the more I realized that kids won't eat much - it's the parents that come for the food!!.  I might do my old standby of Taco Salad since I have taco meat in the freezer already :-)

Sunday - Chicken and Dumplings - I plan on prepping the chicken on Saturday and then dumping it all in the crock pot to cook during church; then transfer it to a pot to make the dumplings :-)  Yum!

Monday - Chicken Noodle Soup with the left overs from Sunday

Tuesday - Balsamic Pork Loin, Crash Potatoes and green beans (We did not have this last week)

Wednesday - Waffles and Sausage

Thursday - Ham and Potato Soup/w bread.  My mom cooked a ham last week when she was here so I boiled the bone to get all of the wonderful meat off of it; I'll use that meat to make the soup and, there was enough left that I threw some in the freezer for a meal for next week . . Scalloped Potatoes with Ham!

A month of Thanks

I'm an over thinker. Plains anadromous simple.  This hit me square in the eyes recently when Nate said to me that we needed a skeleton, some bats and just one witch hung up on the windows.  I looked up ideas of things to make and scoured some stores for things. . . . I made great plans.  He reminded me on Monday that we STILL needed things for Halloween after asking Three weeks ago!  While in the store Monday afternoon I saw a cute little "pin the smile on the skeleton" game and snatched it up,  do you have any idea how excited Nate was when he saw that cheap paper skeleton?  That's when it hit me that simple little things is all it takes too add something fun to house.  I plan on picking up a few more of those skeletons to put in the Halloween bin for next year,

With the start of November upon us, I wanted to find a couple simple things to help show thankfulness with our family.  The idea is from Women Living Well and is a thanksgiving journal. I love ideas that build year after year.  I want to talk about want "being thankful" is with the boys and the. Have them make a thankful turkey to add to our family thanksgiving book.

Because the boys, especially Nate, likes actual decorations, I thought that adding the things we are thankful for to the leaves to make a Thanksgiving banner would be fun too.  The post gives free printables too :-)

 How will you show thankfulness this month?  Feel free to share your ideas in the comments or links to blog posts as well. I'd love to share your ideas in future posts as well!

My New Best Friend

If you have read this blog at all, you know that I love lists, calendars and planning.  Well, I came across a blog called Magenta and Lime and was reading about 15 days to a Simpler Home.  Low and behold she talked about something called Google Calendars and it almost blew my mind. 

I'm able to plug in my daily chores, monthly chores and even the quarterly chores and have them self-populate so I only have to do it once.  I actually have several calendars including a blog calendar, financial calendar, Homeschool calendar and a monthly menu.  I can look at the entire month or bring it back to the day and then fill in the hourly schedule AND print it!  It is so awesome.  One of the main things that I love is the fact that I can have everything in one place as a master calendar then make my lists needed. 

I'm still "dissecting" Magenta and Lime's full concept on having a more simplified home but for now this calendar concept is fantastic!

Homeschool Corner

I think I changed the name again; I'm not sure HA!  To keep it real, we haven't done much schooling lately.  With my husband off work right now it seems hard to get into the mix added to that has been birthdays, doctors appointments  and nice weather.  I have a few fun Halloween crafts I want to get done this week and I'd like to get some lessons in but, again, this week we have a CAT scan scheduled on Tuesday, Haircuts, Halloween, Friday school, and a doctor's appointment all this week.  So, right now, I'm hoping to hit school hard the first week of November and do 6 strong weeks which will take us into Mid December when we can take a break again until after the first of the year. 

So .. . no photos this week!

Look Who's Five!

 We had a small party for Josh on Saturday, the 19th, with Papa and Nana and three cousins - Breadon, Seth and Kate.  I let Josh pick what he wanted for dinner and he picked Tacos!  I added Bean Dip and Finger Jell-O.  

 Gifts are always such a big deal!  Josh loved his gifts . . .and so did Nate :-)

 I put together a fun little Halloween Cake - Josh Loved the eyeballs :-) 

Then, on the 22nd, Josh's actual birthday, We had a fun day with just the family.

 The boys made paper Cupcakes.

 And played Pin the tail on the Donkey.

 And decorated cookies.

 And gave me a HUGE smile :-)

 Then came the gifts!!!

And we ended the day with cupcakes!

Things my Kids Say

* At Josh's birthday party, Nate got all excited when he saw Josh's gifts.  I told him that they were for his brother for his birthday . . .to which Josh replied, "Mom, I will share my gifts with Nate because I love him. I love him SOOOO much!".  How cute is that?

* One morning I asked Josh if he wanted a poptart for breakfast (He had actually gotten out his own cup of chocolate milk).  He said, "No, I already ate breakfast."  I asked him what he ate . .. he pointed to the candy pumpkin and said, "I just ate one of the treats."  Guess what?  He did.  Only one treat - that was his breakfast HA!

* We recently purchased Nate a new carseat.  In doing so, I'm putting the straps back into his old one to use with the princess I babysit.  Nate pulled the straps out of the bag and said, "Look mom, this is my wiener seatbelt."  So, of course, I asked, "What is a wiener seatbelt?" .  He proceeded to tell me that it is the seatbelt part that comes up between his legs to hook the rest of the pieces too, "You know mom, the one that comes in front of my wiener." hahahaha  That kid never stops thinking!

Food Friday - Without the Food

I haven't been doing any real cooking lately.  Due to my husband's back injury, his appitite is pretty slim or he just wants really mild foods due to the injury making him feel sick all of the time.  So, cooking is really not a lot of fun since I'm the only one that heats most of it.  Josh eats it but only the amount a 5 year old eats, which isn't much, and Nate only eats the bread.  Instead I'm picking stuff that I know the kids love - Mac and Cheese, Hot Dogs and grabbing a $5.00 pizza.  Obviously, because of that I haven't been trying anything new or even cooking old recipes that I haven't posted!  I do have one new recipe on board for lunch next week and actually, a couple for my breakfast and lunch so hopefully I'll have some new things to share, assuming those recipes are good! 

I thought I would take care of business in this post instead.  1) I recently cleaned up my blog lists - the lists of blogs I read - and the buttons on the side of the page.  I've found the buttons do me no good so instead I added the ones I read all of the time into the correct list and deleted most of the buttons.  I also removed any blog on my reader list that was older than about a month (well all but one because I'm keeping it for teaching ideas) and also a bunch that I've added over the year that I just never read.  Some I had found through pinterest and thought they had great ideas on them but then . . well, the fizzled.  2) I'm trying to update the recipe section on the blog.  There are more tabs on the top of the blog - I'm trying to divide the recipes I post into the right category so you can easily chose what you need.  I'm also continuing to clean out the recipes by not re-posting the ones we have never tried again OR tried again and didn't like :-) 

That's about it around here.  It's hard to believe we are going into the last week of October.  We actually had some light snow showers here on Thursday and more are expected.  My husband finally caved in and turned on the eat one night after I had gone to bed HA  I'm hoping for one 60 degree day mid-November so I can hang up Christmas lights but otherwise, I'm ready for a good solid winter!!

Weekly Menu

Did you miss me? It's been a busy week and I spent my evenings grocery shopping, wrapping gifts and getting ready for a special 5 year old's birthday.  Writing blog posts just didn't seem to fit into the schedule! So I'm trying to pick back up with the weekly menu and have my plan written .  . .we'll see how things go!

Friday - My in-laws are coming over to celebrate Josh's birthday (it just keeps going HA) and my MIL offered to provide dinner - who am I to say no to that?? :-)  So, I'm not sure what we are having yet.

Saturday - Taco's (since we didn't have them on Friday).  I actually have left over Meat from thebirthday party in the freezer so it will be an easy meal.

Sunday - Chili Dogs and Fries (we didn't have these last week) and then Pot Pies for dinner (again, we didn't eat those on Sunday night - we all ate left overs from the weekend.

Monday - Balsamic Slow Roasted Pork Loin, Crash Potatoes, green beans and bread

Tuesday - Lemon Chicken, Savory Rice, Corn, and bread

Wednesday -Amish Breakfast Casserole, Fruit and Pancakes (more for the kids)

Thursday - It's Halloween!  Pizza it is!  I like serving pizza on a night like tonight - we can eat early and then head out to get free candy :-)

Weekly Menu

I think, maybe, cooler weather is really here to stay.  I'm so thankful because some of my favorite things to cook are "winter" meals like Chicken and Dumplings, Lasagna, all kinds of soups and things that simmer on the stove like "Beef Drip" and Root Beer Pulled Pork, just to name a few.  I enjoy cooking so much more during the cool (and cold!) time of year verses the summer.  Nothing makes a house smell better than a roast that has slow cooked in the oven for hours - that is something you just don't want going on in the summer when the kitchen is already 3 million degrees ;-)

Here's the plan for this week!

Friday -  Beef Strogneoff w/Noodles and Salad.  This is a carry over from last week that we just didn't get to eat.

Saturday - Today we are having a small birthday party with my family for Josh who is turning 5. I asked him what he wanted and he said Taco's so I guess we'll have Taco's!  I'll make up some fresh Pico de Gallo and Guacamole w/lots of toppings.  I'll probably also make a Mexican Dip to go with chips and possibly some finger Jell-O (because he loves Jell-O) and, of course, Cake and Ice Cream.  It will be a chocolate cake (Josh said, "Mom ask me if I want chocolate or banana cake."  So I did and he said, "Chocolate of course because that is my favorite . .. color??" hahaha ) Oh, and Josh said Nate can have a hot dog because that is what he likes . .. .good thing I have hot dogs on hand!

Sunday - Lunch after church will be Roast, Potatoes and Carrots - it is that time of year after all :-)  Then for dinner we'll have Pot Pies and the kids will have Mac and Cheese.

Monday - Biscuits and Gravy, Fried Potatoes, and roasted Veggies.  Again, a carry over from last week. 

Tuesday - Today is Josh's 5th birthday so we are going to have Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Garlic Bread.  It might seem like an odd meal  for a birthday but it is one of his all time favorite meals.

Wednesday -My in-laws are coming over today to celebrate Josh's birthday so we will have Amish Breakfast casserole with Pancakes (because my kids love them), muffins of some sort and nice bowl of "Ken's Fruit Salad". 

Thursday -Chili Dogs.  I have left over chili from a few weeks ago, in the freezer so we'll add that to good old hot dogs and some fries or tater tots.  Tonight is also our town's harvest fest.  I'm not sure if we will go yet - it includes a lot of walking and my husband is still healing from his back injury and walking is not on the top of his list as of yet.  We'll see!! 

Making Your Home a Haven

I must admit that I did not light our candle every day this past week.  It was hot out and a candle on a hot day just doesn't do much for me but it is cooling off again so that candle is lit once again!

This weeks challenge is to spend time with your family; to plan time with them.  Our kids are not big movie watchers yet and we are just getting into games.  I haven't yet figured out what we can do for a family night yet . . .they really want to carve pumpkins so maybe we'll do that :-)

You can check out the post over at Women Living Well.

"Let Children Be"

There are times in my Homeschooling adventure that I feel like I have to defend what I do.  One of those areas is when I choose to let my children play.  There have been days when the weather is fantastic and the boys go outside and play for hours; or the car rugs spread across the living room cars and they play for hours; or the blocks come out and they create houses and cars and castles.  I have personally felt that when those moments are happening I need to "let them be".  They are learning and they are only preschooler's.  Yes, I have goals to accomplish and lessons they need to learn but a huge part of a child's learning comes from doing. 

It felt . . .good . . .to read this post over at  The Better Mom about this exact topic - "Learning to Let Children Be". 

Weekly Homeschool Report

I decided to change the title on this weekly post.  I was tired of typing the other one :-)

We did not have school this week.  Next week is actually supposed to be our week "off" but due to lots of things I decided to make this week our week off.  Between my husband being off work, me being gone at the end of the week last week, and really nice weather, it just seemed to fit.  I just told my husband a few days ago that I am officially sold on the 6 weeks on/1 week off because this week has been a wonderful break.  Even Josh, who loves school, was happy to have the week off.  When we have school - my entire morning it taken up with setting up for the day, teaching, and then cleaning up.  By the time I finish, it is usually time to start getting lunch ready.  So, to have a week where I don't have to do that, well, that is nice!

I thought I would show you what our "classroom" looks like now that we've lived with it for awhile and I've cleaned up and changed a few things.  I'm living with it like this for now to see how we really use things before I figure out what I want to get from Ikea.  I have a few ideas that will make it look "cleaner" when I can get the things I want but considering the fact that I have already changed, moved, and downsized some things, waiting is good.  Plus, I will be cleaning out my books and selling them to a Christian Bookstore that sells used books and then those shelves in the basement will become my school shelves where I can store things we aren't using on a given week.

 Our "wall".  This wall is where all of our daily items are posted.  From the calendar to our clock to sight words.  It is in easy view for the kids to refer to and also to review throughout the day.

 This corner is "command central".  The table houses the stereo, my cricut (since I use it for school projects too), carts with supplies, the kids baskets/bags with crayons and markers, bookshelf and games plus the yellow table holds their computer. 

This is hard to see but I moved our family photo wall to this small wall.  It also houses our American Flag :-)

Since our dining room is used for class and for meals it takes a lot of effort each day to keep it "up and running".  I finally let go of keeping something pretty on my table since I was constantly moving it off to do class or eat meals.  No more table clothes for now either since they make it difficult to do school work.

I also thought I would share what our playroom looks like too.

 From the doorway. 

 The main area.

My "closet".  Right now the closet houses my crafts, school stuff and scrapbooking stuff.  I'm really leaning towards moving most of this down to the basement on storage shelves once I sell those books.  Then we can use the shelves to house kid stuff, like games and puzzles.

I also have bigger storage plans for this room, again, from Ikea.  That will help with Lego storage, Lincoln Log storage, cars, trucks and other fun stuff.

So, that's our daily life in school.  That dining room table gets a ton of use . .. we looked at replacing the chairs this year because they are so uncomfortable but have yet to find what we like and we sat on a lot of chairs!!

Things my kids say

* I recently asked Josh wanted he wanted to dress like for halloween.  His response was, "Ummm I'll just wear my clothes".

*Nate's brain works faster than his month so often I hear things like this, "I for togot do that mom!"

*Nate has a new joke:  Mom, do you remember when a giraffe licked a hippo and a hippo licked a giraffe.  That's funny mom".  Seriously, I laugh out loud every single time.

* My husband back is injured . . .Josh made a large ice pack for him by freezing water in a ziplock bag so now, every time Darryl says something about his back, Josh runs to the freezer and brings the frozen brick of water for Darryl to lean against.  It may or may not be causing MORE pain ;-)  Such a thoughtful little boy though!

*I asked Nate what he wanted to be for Halloween . .. to which he said, "A banana, an orange, a donut, no mom, a rainbow, no mom a banana and an orange.  Maybe I shouldn't ask.

* Josh spent about 30 minutes (or more) one morning trying to put his own jacket on.  He wanted no help, works of advice or even the sound of my voice to grace his presence.  Poor kid.  He is super independent and just a little bit stubborn.  Oh, and did I mention he is a perfectionist?

* Nate refused to get dressed one morning because his cool shirt, which he wore the day before, hadn't been washed yet.  I may need to buy multiples of that shirt . . ..

* Nate has finally outgrown the "bumper" on his twin bed. .. I figured when he could slip through the hole in the fabric and slide onto the floor, it really wasn't working HA Over the past month he had managed to push his feet against it so much that he ripped all of the fabric.  I was slightly disappointed - not because it came off the bed (I highly disliked it - it made putting sheets on very difficult) but because I had planned to sell that stupid thing HA!  Instead it went right out to the garbage.

*Josh has learned to make it to the toilet to puke.  Enough said - this is a true milestone though.

* Nate informed me that we need to hang bats, maybe some witches, and a skeleton, which your whole body in bones.  He loves Halloween!

What a Trip to the ER Taught Me

Recently, my husband had to go to the ER due to severe back pain which, as we learned that day, was being caused by a bulging disc.  We had to take the boys with us to the hospital for the "day".  I semi-frantically packed for a "who knows how long" of a stay at the hospital so we could get on the road.  On a side note, this is one of those times I was so thankful my boys are now potty trained.  No diapers; diaper changes; grossness etc.

 I was grateful to find a very small kids area that entertained my kids for like 5 minutes.  That gave us enough time to get in and find a place to camp out for awhile. 

 I did think to pack some things for me that my kids ended up using - paper and pen.  Even with cartoons (the kind we don't watch at home due to the scare factor) on TV, they wanted to draw. 

 This is what I carried around most of the day!

 Crazy Nate and the camera!

The "sicky" - he's a little drugged up at the moment :-)

So, now, what did I learn?  I need to have an "emergency" plan.  It doesn't even have to be a trip to the hospital - it could be an unplanned road trip, a trip to someones house, or a dentist appointment.  That plan needs to include:
1) A bag.  Our diaper bag is no longer a diaper bag but a cute 31 bag that can now be used to carry anything.  I call it our "travel bag"
2) Inside the bag I need the following: 2 pads of paper; 2 containers of washable markers (crayons melt); and a couple of pens; Stickers; a couple of toys - right now that would be dinosaurs and cars.  Oh and wipes - hospital waiting room personal give out suckers to kids . . .sticky, sticky suckers.
3) Food - snacks and drinks are HUGE.  So from now on there will be the following on my shelves (which I happened to have on hand today)  A Box of juice boxes in my kids favorite flavor.  A box of Fruit and Grain Bars and a bag of crackers. Plus a special treat - my kids like Smarties - they don't melt and aren't sticky so I think those need to go in the bag!  Oh, and some kid friendly cups and Crystal light lemonade pouches for individual bottles of water (those are a life savor in a restaurant too!)
4) I also need to have a change of clothes in the bag for each boy.  Last year, I picked up some very inexpensive pants and shirts that just stayed in the bag all of the time.  I need to do that again - just the $3.00 stuff at Walmart.  When I can plan the bag, I usually take a nice outfit for each kid but I need that backup outfit in case someone spills, pukes, or any other bodily function that may happen.
5) Blankets need to be in the truck too - Josh has one that is supposed to stay in the truck and I have the fleece to make one for Nate - I need to do that soon!
6) The last thing that is a must - I need to stick a little money in my wallet that is for emergencies.  Enough to put gas in the truck if needed and to buy snacks/lunch/dinner if needed.  The boys and I enjoyed lunch in the hospital cafeteria and I was surprised by how affordable it was - the three of us ate for less then $10.00 and we had left over food.  

So, that's my plan.  Now to work on getting that stuff together.  Months ago I posted about vehicle organization - I've yet to do my version but I think now is the time and I need to combine it with this list - some of the items on my list can just be in the truck all of time, not necessarily in the bag.  :-

Food Friday - Pico de gallo and Guacamole

Pico de gallo and Guacamole
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Friday night is taco night in this house!  With this plan, I decided I need to amp up the taco fixin's so I went searching for a salsa recipe.  I came across this Pico de gallo recipe with Guacamole thrown in for good measure.  I had actually seen it on an episode of Pioneer Woman awhile ago but had forgotten about it.  Both were a huge hit and I used all of the left over taco stuff the following day for Nachos!  I did cut down the recipe for the Guacamole and only used one avocado since that is something that doesn't last more than about a day. 

Ingredients

• FOR THE PICO DE GALLO:
• 5 whole Plum (roma) Tomatoes
• 1/2 whole Large (or 1 Small) Onion
• 3 whole Jalapeno Peppers
• Cilantro
• Lime Juice
• Salt To Taste
• _____
• FOR THE GUACAMOLE:
• 3 whole Avocados
• Pico De Gallo
• Lime Juice
• Salt To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Pico de Gallo:
Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.
Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.
Guacamole:
Start with buttery-soft avocados. Halve them lengthwise and remove the pits. Next, with a spoon scrape the “meat” out onto a large plate. Next, with the bottom of a clean cup (or with a fork) mash the avocados, making sure to leave it relatively chunky. Add just a couple of shakes of salt to taste. Next, add a generous helping of Pico de Gallo. Fold together. Lastly squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the top. Give it one last stir.

Weekly Menu!

I keep thinking that fall is here. .. . and then we have 75-80 degree days and it makes me a little sad.  Don't get me wrong, the weather has been beautiful but the bees, wow.  I've become the great bee killer - usually killing upwards of 10-15 bees a day if the patio door is open.  The kids don't even like to play outside for very long because of the bees!  I'm ready for a really good solid freeze so the bees will go away.

Here's our plan for this week.  We are laying pretty low since my husband is still dealing with a bank injury.  Ironically, October is usually one of our busy months with fall stuff, Halloween, a birthday and just all around fun stuff.  So far, we aren't doing much of anything!!!

Friday - Taco's!  It has a been a few weeks since we've had our normal Friday night tacos.  Tonight will be traditional :-)  I'll just add some chips and Salsa to go along with it.

Saturday - Italian Burgers and Salad - Saw this in an episode of Pioneer Woman and it looked good!

Sunday - We'll have Sloppy Joes after church since I can have it all made before hand and then I'm going to do a pot of Chicken and Dumplings for dinner.

Monday - Monday is Soup day!  I'll turn left over chicken and dumplings (minus the dumplings) into Chicken Noodle Soup.  This is THEE best way to make chicken noodle soup!

Tuesday - Thanks to a friend of mine who had about 5 crock pots and heard that mine had died and I had yet to replace it, I now have a crock pot :-)  So we will have Balsamic Pork Loin in the Crock pot, Mac and Cheese, roasted veggies and some rolls.

Wednesday -It's breakfast for dinner!  Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, fried potatoes and Fruit!  Yum :-)

Thursday - We'll end the week with an old favorite, Beef Strogenoff over noodles with Italian bread.

What am I baking this week?  Well, it is fall so I'm thinking maybe an apple crisp and/or a pumpkin pie.  Cookies will be the "break and bake" since they are on sale this week :-)

Making Your Home a Haven

Women Living Well

Last week I introduced the "Making your Home a Haven" Challenge from Women Living Well.  Last week we were challenged to clean out some clutter - what ever area we needed to - to prepare.  

This weeks challenge is to light a candle for your family in your home and each time you see it, pray for peace within your home; pray for your family.  Personally, I love candles.  I love the warmth and the smell and just how it seems to bring a level of comfort to the home.  I used to light them all over the house but with young children, I am careful where I leave a lit candle.  Currently, we have a nice high entertainment center so I keep one burning there.  The fragrance makes our main living area so inviting!  This year, though, I've also started lighting one in my kitchen.  I spend a good portion of my day in that room between making meals, cleaning up, baking and more.  

I purchased this candle back in August, along with the holder, and have been waiting for it to be cool enough to light it!  It's still a bit warm around here but I can light it for a bit in the morning before it is time to open the doors and windows for the day :-)

My kids have asked me why I have candles lit - they want to know whose birthday it is HA! 

So, get out your candle and light it.  If you don't love "hot candles" then get one of those cup warmers and place your candle on there - it will warm the wax and release the smell.  Or get a "fake" candle - the kind you put batteries in so it flickers or pick up a Scensty Warmer :-)  What ever you need to "light your home" for your family!

Halloween Ideas

This is the first year that my kids actually understand Halloween and all of the fun that goes with it.  I've asked them what they want to be and they said Ghosts . . .I think I would like to just get some king size pillow cases (Walmart - $5.00) and maybe some white sweatpants or something??  Not 100% sure yet :-) 

This is a link to a whole Pinterest Folder that is full of fun, festive food ideas for Halloween and Fall.  This one caught my eye :-)

Preschool and Pre-K report

Last week was a little different due to my husband being home due to a back injury and then I was heading out of town on Thursday. 

Monday -

 The boys have been asking to play with play dough lately, which I don't mind at all, but it seems like they ask just before dinner or just before bathtime so there really isn't time to get it out.  After spending most of the day in the ER with my husband on Sunday, I really didn't feel like "teaching" on Monday so we got out the play dough and practiced making the letters the two little boys have learned so far.  Once they had made letters then we got the rest of the play dough stuff out and they played the rest of the morning.

 Nate's letters - I think he did pretty good :-)

My letters - Josh actually made both the upper and lower case letters but I didn't get any photos of his finished product.

Tuesday -

 Nate doing some color matching :-)

 Josh working on his calendar.

The boys working on some graphing.

The boys were really not into school on Tuesday and asked to quit early.  I didn't fight it - that is one of the joys of homeschooling :-) 

We took Wednesday off because I had so much to do to get ready to leave on Thursday.  I made three different trips out during the day in order to tie the trips into naps since my husband is confined to a chair most of the time.   Thursday was already a planned day off - Darryl had a doctor's appointment in the morning and then I left after lunch. 

So, where did I go?  I went on a long-planned scrapbook weekend with friends.  It was fully paid for and, to back out, would have cost me what I paid so we decided that it actually cost less to go - since the amount of "spending" money was much less then what I had already paid.  It was so much fun to go away with some friends AND to get a ton of scrapbooking done. Now I'm back to getting creative with a way to keep my stuff a little more handy so I can do some pages each week.  I have a few ideas. . .. my dining room is the size of the Grand Canyon afterall, isn't it? LOL

So, here we are at Monday of a new week.  I think we are taking this week off - it is supposed to be next week - but I'm kinda buried and behind right now.  To start with the boys have a dentist appointment this morning so we wouldn't even do school.  I still need to unload and unpack plus I have some organizing to do.  Added to that the boys and I all have colds (as do the kids I babysit for - they aren't even here today they are so sick).  I do have a few fun ideas to do so we will do those, review the letters, numbers and sighwords we've learned so far and even do some review worksheets.  I also have birthday and halloween things I need to get a grasp on so that I'm not scrambling at the last minute.  Taking this week to do all of that will be a big blessing :-) 

So, three cheers for a "week off"!