Homeschool Happenings - Week 2

This week I thought I would share our classroom.  When my husband and first started talking about homeschooling one of the concerns I had was that I had no where to set up "class".  Using the dining room or stealing a corner of the living room seemed the only option but, it just didn't seem like it would work.  We thought about it a lot and finally did something we had talked about several years ago - we even talked about it before kids - we switched rooms.  We took the medium sized room which is actually right next to the bathroom so it is ALMOST a master suite ;-)  The boys are now in what used to be our room - the biggest room.  We turned the tiny bedroom (Nate's old room) into the classroom and we love it!  The boys love hanging out in there (but we are still working on how to treat some things in that room . . it's a learning process for sure!) 

Here we go!

 I moved this book case from the dining room into the classroom. It is still, quite honestly, an organizational work in progress for sure!  The top of it houses things that just don't have a home or I need to evaluate (i.e. - I have a bunch of "old" 12x12 size pages . . I need to go through the old albums and make sure they are all done - if so, I need to get rid of that stash once and for all).  The first full shelf houses my current/in progress scrapbook albums.  This makes them easy to get to to work on.  The rest of the shelf houses the stereo (which Josh loves), my sewing stuff, craft stuff and, on the bottom shelf is our file box.  Which is kind of ironic . . I had emptied my filing cabinet so I could move it into the classroom but . . I forgot about that until right now . . maybe I can move that stuff from the file box back into the filing cabinet and free up a shelf!

 This is a shot looking into the classroom from the door.  The table that is under the window is my area.  It houses scrapbooking supplies and my current pages, my cricut and laminater and, of course the school books.  Under the table I'm able to store all of my scrapbooking bags.  The table on the right of the photo is the table the boys use.  The posters are from our "All about reading" curriculum.

 The storage closet :-)  The top shelf is where my scrapbooks are now all housed.  The second shelf is also a work in progress but it is where I store games and activities I don't want the kids getting into.  Then I moved our 9 cube storage shelf into the closet and this houses books and other activities the kids can get to - but they are learning that those items need to stay in the classroom. 

 This area is specifically Josh's work area.  The white board is his weekly learning board that has all of the info from his RRSP lessons.  Yes, that is a computer - it is our old laptop that still works well (It was my baby shower gift from the group my husband plays in - they gave it to me while I was in the hospital for 7 weeks - it was perfect!)  He'll be using the computer for power point lessons at this point. 

 This is our calendar wall.  Starting from left to right - there is a bulletin board which has some daily songs and also will have photos of people we are praying for in class.  (Right now the photo is of John and Betsy Wenz - Betsy was diagnosed with a brain tumor recently).  Underneath that is our white board.  We'll use this for class a lot :-)  Then, you can't see it but hanging just above the calendar is our "We Choose Virtues" poster.  Obvious, the calendar is the big blue thing in the middle!!  Finally the board on the easel houses our weekly items - song, verse, color, shape, weather charts, and some obedience poems we are working on.  The Zebra on the top is from our "All About Reading" curriculum. 

This photo was taken of Josh while the room was in process.  I found him sitting in his chair with his head leaned back listening to the CD in the CD player that HE can turn on all by himself.  I will often here the music playing and find him in that room. 

And, just as an FYI - I mentioned in my post last week that we would be starting piano lessons.  Well, Josh has already moved his lesson book to the piano and I often see him flipping through the pages, "playing" the songs.  He is going to be THRILLED when he can play his favorite song .. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" ;-)  (Granted, right now, every song he sings has the word poop in it - just keeping it real.)

September Goals

I almost forgot about writing some  goals for September, but first a quick recap of August

1) Summer Plans - As many goals as I had for August summer fun, most of it different didn't happen - I started the summer strong but then between the heat and then lots of planning for the fall; I let this slip.

2) Decluttering - I never once made it to the basement.

3) The Big  Room Switch - This ballooned near the end of August and is almost done.

4) Homeschool - It's ready to go!

5) Potty Training - FAIL!  Geesh

6) Scrapbooking - I met the goal of 100 pages this summer (but I'm only through the beginning of May!!)

7) Celebrations- I had planned to plan the boys birthday parties but I think we will be doing something different than parties this year.  My boys LOVE to go to a hotel - they even play "Hotel" and pack little bags, tell me good bye, get on their trikes, and "leave".  We are still planning to have the grandparents over for cake and ice cream but I think we might do something totally different this year :-)

So, lets regroup for September

1) The Big Room Switch - With the help of my parents (painting, taking the kids, helping with the floor) the room switch WILL be done by the end of the month!!!!  We have already moved rooms.  The classroom is actually all set up but, at the end of the month, we will empty it and put in some laminate floors (the carpet is worn . . and pink HA!  It is about 12-13 years old so it's ok to git rid of it!).  Our new room is almost done - I have minor decorating to do (I have vinyl picked out for the walls).  I plan on having it all done by the end of the month.  The boys room - that is our HUGE push this first week.  On Labor Day, my parents are coming over and volunteered to help paint the room while they are here so we can get it done quickly.  They are then taking the boys home so we can seal the floor, and, hopefully get most or all of the laminate floor down by Saturday (anything left, my dad will help me finish up next Saturday when they bring the boys back).  I have the bedding picked out, Nate's bed picked out, and art pieces I created ordered or in the process of being made.  It WILL be all put together by the end of the week.  Hard to believe that this project is actually going to be done by the end of September.

2) House Projects - This is a new category.  My husband and I walked through the house, inside and out, recently and made a list of all of the things we need to finish.  I'm not going to share the list - it would be overwhelming to anyone else but for us it is a focus.  It includes everything from painting one wall on the garage that we never painted because no one can see it to putting a new front door on the house.  Some projects, like putting the last of the swingset together, cost nothing or next to nothing while others, like a new garage door opener, putting in a door in the basement or getting some work done on the truck that are a little more expensive.  It gives us a goal to work towards and how to prioritize items.  Each Month I'll list the projects that we actually complete.  My goal is to wipe off 4 items each month based on what finances allow. 

3) Scrapbooking - I need to refocus on my big project list.  I'm been so focused on staying as current as possible that my other projects have gotten no where.  I need to go back through everything and make a new list of what needs to be done, updated, and ordered.  Also, I want to complete all of May and June by the end of September.  Both April and May and HUGE amounts of photos thanks to my new camera, weddings, and vacations but I've already noticed a lot less photos in July and August :-) Plus I will budget for ordering the rest of the pages that I have done digitally - I'd like to order about 15 a month.

4) Homeschool - I just need to keep moving with this.  September will be a trial and error month so I really will just report our progress at the end of the month

5) Potty Training - It is going to be one of our life skills we are going to work on in September. 

6) Celebrations - With the holidays coming, I want to get our calendar set for Sept-Dec. with family activities, birthdays, and holiday stuff.  And, don't forget, I plan on making more trips to visit the folks so I need to get some of those on the calendar too :-)

7)Planning the Yard/Outside stuff - This summer, our yard, garden, and other plans were totally burned out by the heat.  Normally I at least get a break to do some dreading weeding but when it was 100+ degrees for days on end, well, no way, no how.  So, I've made it my "winter" goal to work on the yard.  How?  I plan on doing a lot of research from everything on how best to KEEP weeds from growing in the flower beds to what plants/small trees to plant to how to best build small, decorative retaining walls around burms at the base of trees.  We also have some deck work to do so I want to research some plans, costs, ect.  Please understand, I am not, by any means, a Gardener.  I don't even like gardening but I do like having a nice yard.  So I also need to research how make the yard greener and less weedy and there are some holes to fill in too (thanks to the great mole hunter named China HA).  I also want to find some nice lawn furniture - a swing, a table and chairs and a sun chair or two AND to make it nice outside, we are looking at some things to put up for shade - I really love the shade sails so we'll see if that is the best plan.  Finally, we want to upgrade our $15.00 pool ;-)  Nothing big because I still believe that the pool shouldn't be any deeper than the kids can handle but we'd like to go up in size some so that we can all enjoy it in the heat of the summer.  Buying a slightly bigger pool is a whole lot cheaper than putting in central air ;-) LOL  Which brings up something else I'll be adding in this list of research - the best window units so we can actually cool the house next summer during the hottest days.  So yes, that is a lot of research but what better time to do it than in the middle of a snowstorm? :-)  My main goal this month is to take pictures of all of the areas and do a lot of measuring so I know what I'm working with. 
That's where I stand for now.  :- )

Weekly Menu

Welcome back :-)  Nothing exciting to share this week - I followed our menu to a tee and we are sick of chicken HA!  Here's the plan for this coming week.

Saturday - Enchiladas and Bacon and Cheddar Potatoes in the crock pot

Sunday -  No Peek Chicken, Carrots, and French Bread

Monday - Labor Day! Steaks, Macaroni Salad, Corn on the Cob and Cupcakes (My mom is providing all of the food!)

Tuesday - Friday - My kids are going home with the grandparents for the week specifically so we can finish up their room.  Darryl and I will be cheating . . .some Taco Bell, Little Ceasers, a new Mexican restaurant in town and then one night, we will go on a "date".  We are taking this weeks grocery money and using it this way :-)

That's all!

Food Friday - Stuffed Cabbage and Crash Potatoes

Can you believe it?  It is another "Two Fer"!  I figured since the photo was blurry (oops!) I wouldn't subject you to seeing it twice!

Crock Pot Stuffed Cabbage
adapted from . .. I don't know! 

Sorry again for the slightly blurry photo - I could have sworn it was clear when I took it :-/  I came across this recipe over a year ago and it has become a favorite in out house (I know, my mom is saying WHAT??)  First of all, my husband loves cabbage as a side dish; I learned that only a few years ago but I guess it is something he grew up on and never understand why I didn't cook it.  I though, ummm, cabbage was for cole slaw ;-) LOL  Needless to say when I saw this recipe I decided to try and and I figured I could just eat the filling but, after cooking in the crock-pot for 6-8 hours the cabbage just melts.  Even the kids will eat the filling on this (and a little cabbage that I can hide while cutting it up HA!)  This time I served it with Crash Potatoes (recipe to follow) and green beans.

Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage
1 egg
1 8-oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup uncooked rice (I use white, the recipe says brown . . .I'm afraid brown won't actually cook up)
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 pound ground beef (use something lean like ground round, sirloin, or even turkey - per the recipe)
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2-3 cups of regular V8 juice

Core the cabbage.  Very carefully peel off large cabbage leaves (8-12; personally I usually fill about 8 and run out of filling) and wash them.  Then steam them in the microwave for about 30 seconds (I just lay them on a paper towel) to make them soft enough to use.  In a mixing bowl, combine everything except the V-8 juice and mix well - it will be like a very gloppy meatloaf.   Place about 1/3 cup of mixture into each cabbage leave and roll or fold it; place it in the crock, seam side down.  It's okay to stack the rolls on top of each other in the crock.  Top with 2-3 cups of V-8 Juice.  I try to fill my crock until the juice comes about 1/2 way up roll cabbage but you can add more.  The last time I made it, there was no liquid left after 7 hours so the leaner the meat the more juice you will want to use. 

Crash Potatoes
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

I came across this recipe on Pinterest and, because I'm always looking for new side dish ideas, I thought I would try these.  I was not convinced that we would love them, nor was I convinced that we wouldn't need to drag some dry potato pieces in ketchup but, I was proven wrong.  Once these cook in the oven, they become slightly crunchy and the seasoning/olive oil had so much flavor it is unbelievable.  Even my husband, who is not a huge potato fan, loved them.

Ingredients:
12 whole New Potatoes (or other small Round Potato)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Other seasonings to taste (Rosemary or other herbs of choice)

Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until fork tender*.  On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil.  Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.  With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it is slightly mashed; rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again.  Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.  Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper and seasonings of your chose (I just used Nature's Seasoning - a favorite of ours).  Baked in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

*Make sure that they really are "Fork Tender" - I took mine out a little early and ended up with potato all over my counter when the masher slipped on the too hard potato!! 

Blog Schedule - why I do this I have no idea!

**Due the large amount of spam comments I've been recieving lately, I've had to re-instate the word verfication feature on comments.  When you type in a comment, you will now be shown a box with a word and/or number in it.  Just type that in the space provided and the comment will post.  Sorry - I know it is a pain but the spam is a bigger pain :-(  **

Every once in awhile, I like to tell you what my blog schedule is - then, just the time I do it, it changes or I get bored BUT with the start of the new school year I figured it was a good time to do this again :-)

So, this is what you can expect! 

Sunday - This is my "free day" - I tend to post "Things my Kids Say" or a photo montage of the week or . .. I skip just to take a break :-)

Monday:  I will be posting about our homeschool activities from the week before so that I can also link up to some other blogs with weekly school posts.

Tuesday: Too Cute Not To Cute will still be around!

Wednesday:  Devotional Posts or Book Reviews

Thursday: Crafts, Pinterest Success (or Failures), Home or Organizational posts (I.e. - whatever I feel like posting HA!)

Friday: Food Friday - a recipe post

Saturday:  Menu - I like posting my weekly menu because I like reading other posts of the same nature.  It's also a way for me to share a few tidbits from our week.

We'll see how long this lasts :-)

Hello Mornings - a great group!

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you'll remember me talking about Good Morning Girls (GMG) which is a great way to set up accountability for daily devotions.  I've been part of a group off and on for about 2 years but the group that I joined up with that many years ago has kind of dissolved.  I was planning to sign up and look for another group but I happened upon another group that fit me better and, honestly, seems a little more structured which is right up my alley.

Inspired to Action hosts a series/group called "Hello Mornings".  The concept is accountability in three areas 1)Devotions 2)Getting up in the morning earlier 3)Exercise.  I'll be honest, right now, I'm only focusing on numbers one and two!! 

 

Just like with GMG, they provide a devotional study that you can choose to do but it isn't required.  This session we are studying First Peter.  It actually started on August 20th but I'll be honest, I was on "vacation" that week (I didn't have the munchkin) so I enjoyed sleeping in until the boys got up and just taking it easy.  I jumped in with both feet this past Monday.

 

As far as getting up earlier - the goal is to get up before your kids and have time to have your devotions and exercise.  Well, here's the truth of it.  For a totally non-morning person as myself it is hard enough to get up early enough to have my quiet time.  Then, for someone who hates exercise on top of not being a morning person - getting up even earlier, well that's not happening right now.  Previously, I got up at 7:00 with just enough time to be presentable before the munchkin arrived.  Now, I'm getting up at 6:00.  I take a shower, have my devotions, and actually get ready for the day all by 7:00.  It's great - some days my kids sleep until 8:30 but some days they are up by 7:00 - it's nice being ready for the day before they get up. 

 

The group I'm in is fabulous - our leader is wonderful and, small world, we actually know some of the same people even though I randomly picked her from a list of people.  Also, I'm already enjoying the other 14 ladies in the group. 

 

Who knows, maybe by mid-session, I'll be ready to get up at 5:30 to work out  . .. but really, I need to find a way to work out during the day, around the kids!! 

Too Cute . . .fail, kinda :-)

Sorry, no Too Cute post today!  Last night I had try outs for an upcoming Follie's concert with the group I'm in so my focus all day was practicing my song and then by the time I got home and ate dinner it was 10:00 . . and I'm trying to go to bed earlier so I can get up earlier!!

With that said, enjoy the posts the rest of the week :- )

Hopefully I can round up some good ideas next week.  The big holiday season is starting to peek around the corner (I.e. Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!!) so I'm sure there will be lots of ideas to share

Have a great day!