Too Cute Not To Toot

Now that it is past Labor Day I feel like I can post Halloween and Fall ideas without apoligizing.  This first idea I've posted several times but I highly dislike searching back through years of posts to find it.  I really want to do this idea on my front porch - it is only a photo from Pinterest but I think it is pretty self explanatory.

I'd love to do this idea from Parents.com on my front door.  Or even on our slider - how fun would that be!

And that's all I have.   Slow week - I think everyone is busy with back to school stuff :-)

Pre-K and K-4 - Round two

On Tuesday we started our second round of 6 weeks of school but this time Nate and the munchkin started class with Josh too.  It did not go off without a hitch - I figured some things out very quickly on Tuesday that would and would not work and made the needed changes on Wednesday.  We also ended up with a very "short" week.  Thursday the Water Softener guys showed up just moments before we were going to start class and that took all focus for the boys.  I didn't push it because I knew that their attention would be elsewhere.

 I was totally lame when Josh started class back in June and never took a "first day" photo so we did that on Tuesday. 

 We started the day with our notebooks.  I was about ready to claw my eyes out by the time we got through each section and knew that we could not start the day with these ever again HA!  Wow.  By the time we finished our morning things like the Pledge, our verse and calendar plus did the Notebooks we had already been doing school for an hour and I had lost the two younger ones.  There may or may not have been one of us in tears but I'll never tell who ;-)  Oh, and have you ever tried to say the Pledge of Allegiance one word at a time?  Not so easy - I need it written out from now on!!!

 Now that all three boys are in school we have started our Bible Lessons.  I picked up More! Instant Bible Lessons for Preschoolers; God Helps Me from the Christian Book Store and I am very happy with it already.  It is simple and has great activities that allow us to review the story over 4-7 days before moving on to something else.

 We even used Fruit Loops as counters and that was a big hit.

 Once Bible was done, we worked on our daily work.  The little's got to use blocks to build on top of an A.  Josh thought it was pretty cool so he made his own A so he could use blocks too.  This taught me another lesson.  Josh wants to do what the others are doing so by the second day I had copies for him to do of many of the same pages he could do after he finished his work.  That made for a much happier boy.

All three boys made great bracelets to wear with the basics that they were working on this week.

 The magnificant $1.00 magnetic cookie sheets were well loved this week for puzzles and games.

 Lots of cutting practice and no one cut off any fingers :-)

 Josh enjoyed doing some math.

 We used clear plastic counting pieces for fine motor control by placing them on the dots on the paper.

This week we also started Friday School.  The boys were so excited and did really well in their classes.

I did not get great photos at Friday School - between things I had to get done for the board, carrying a baby around for awhile, and just the crazy first day stuff - well, this is as good as it gets.  I hope to maybe get some better photos next week. 

As I mentioned earlier, I quickly learned that doing the daily notebook first was not going to work so on Tuesday, the very first thing we did was Bible.  Then we practiced our verse, did our basic calendar things and then got right to work on daily work.  It went 100% better.  Later in the day the boys asked to do their notebooks and I just let them do what they wanted in them.  I'm kinda giving the notebook concept a week or so break and then I will bring them back in the afternoon as part of our activity later in the day and see how that works. 

Other than Bible, the rest of our curriculum comes from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Goals and My September List

Hello!  I feel like the past week or so has been a whirlwind.  With meetings, a reunion, Football starting, Preschool/K-4 homeschool starting back up, Friday School Starting and, yes, even trying to do a little canning this fall. I finally sat down several days into September and made my lists for the month - something I had meant to do in the last few days of August . .. which flew by!

From the inspiration of a friend, I created a list of 30 projects I wanted to get done in September.  This is a brainstormed list - some are simple items, some more complex but all that need to be done.  They are in no real order, I just have to pick one (or more) each day to complete

1. Clean the insides of all the windows
2. Clean the outsides of all the windows and wash the screens (a husband helping job)
3. Organize the truck glove box with a folder for important papers (something I've wanted to do for like 10 years and just never have completed it)
4. Clean the inside of the kitchen cupboards and starighten them up
5. Do touch up paint on the kitchen cabinets
6. Do touch up paint in the dining room
7. Put away the stuff in the basement "need to put away" bin
8. Go through bookshelves in the basement, clean them out and take books to Baker
9. Find a home for all of my music
10. Put closet doors back up in the playroom
11. Go through my scrapbooking stuff and set up projects - specifically for upcoming scrapbook weekend
12. Go through master closet and clean out
13. Go through master dresser and clean out
14.  Measure/move the boys closet system into our room
15. Move our closet system into the boys rooms
16. Go through boys clothes for fall/winter and pick up needed items
17. Move desk into downstairs room (former playroom)
18. Get rid of Dishwasher/brush pile and old chair (we have a friend who will take all of this for us)
19.  List all of my things to sell on e-bay
20. Clean the washer/inside and out
21. Clean out dryer vent
22. Spray for spiders - we are being overrun!
23. Replace all burnt out light bulbs inside and out
24. Clean up the garage so I can park inside it again
25. Put a new lock on the door in the garage.  (Don't worry, it's locked -just in a red neck sort of way)
26. Fix the curtain in the playroom
27. Take out A/C units (this will be an end of the month task most likely depending on the weather)
28. Get our screen door fixed OR get a new one depending on whether it can be fixed and the cost.
29. Time to clean out and fill candle holders - it is that time of year!!!
30. Put together a "parents house" bag - we are going there a lot more since they have an awesome church so I want to have stuff we leave at their house :-)

I also have a few goals to accomplish this month too.  The main one is the Birthday Board for the week stuff since Josh's birthday month is October.  I want to get a fall wreath up (which means I have to make it!) and get a flag for the front of the house.  Added to that is outdoor work to prep for winter which includes getting the plants I want for the side of the house and moving the stepping stones that went to the old deck so we are ready to plant some fun stuff in the spring.   Other things on my radar or Halloween Costumes, making reservations for Josh's birthday weekend, and yes, Christmas.

Now that we are past the rush of the beginning of September . . .I'm sure I can buckle down and get some of these things done.

Things my Kids Say

* Nate has lots of friends.  Like Johnny, Kaylen, Kylie, Jason . . . I hear him calling for them all over the house.  Some days they are missing, some days they are at work and some days they play with him. Oh, and I can't forget Kate.  Kate often eats dinner with us.  Mac and Cheese to be exact.  Of all of the friends, there is only one I know - Kate.  Kate is the boys cousin, whom they adore, so even when she isn't here, she is here in their minds HA!

* Josh is very independent (and stubborn and strong willed . .. you get the idea).  Recently he was trying to unzip a toy that holds all the dinosaurs and was super frustrated.  I asked him if he wanted help.  His response, "Don't look at me mom" (except said through gritted teeth).  Apparently looking at him is equivalent to giving him help, which he does not want.  He did has his brother to help him, which is a big step, but his brother refused. :-)

* At night, we lay down with the boys at bedtime for a little time of songs and stories.  We end the time with something the boys call "Littlebys".  What are Littlebys . . .see if this rings a bell.  "Lullaby and Good night, Go to sleep . . ." :-)  Every night Darryl and I make up words to the song based on the events of the day and sing it - the boys love it :-)

* Laying in bed tonight with Nate he said, "Mom, I love to Cuddle with you before I sleep"  How sweet is that???

*One day, while we were out, Josh was trying to talk to Darryl and I, but we were already having a conversation so we continued to talk. Then Josh said, 'You just don't even know I'm here". hahahaha We laughed so hard at that one!!! The kid has a sense of humor, let me tell you. Then, we were at a little fair and he got to ride a pony. As he rode around the ring, he bounced up and down and said, "I'm on a bumpy road, I'm a bumpy road". What a kid. 

*So Josh was playing the "guess what" game. He said, "Mom, Guess What?" I said, "What", He said, "I'm going to pull out your hair so you then you will look like dad with no hair" hahahahahahahaha THAT is classic!

* One night, while laying with Nate at bedtime, he asked me to sing songs (which is normal).  He started pointing towards the ceiling, moving his finger around like he was figuring something out . . then he would point and say, "sing this one mom" and tell me what to sing.  It wasn't until I told my husband this cute little action that we figured out what he was doing - he was using Papa's Ipad and moving the screen around to find what he wanted . . .all in his minds eye :-)

What a week ... without a recipe even.

Some weeks run more smoothly than others and some weeks are just busy!  That has been this week. 

1) Monday - Labor Day.  We spent the day at my parents house (actually, most of the weekend) before heading home. 

2) Tuesday - I started another 6 week round of school - One in Pre-K and 2 in Preschool.  I almost poked my eyes out by the end of the first morning but took what I learned and made Wednesday a much better morning.   I also had a board meeting so after spending all morning with school and unpacking from the weekend, we spent all afternoon at our homeschool location while I was in a meeting.  I was so tired by the end of the day!

3) Wednesday - Due to a back injury, my husband was home.  I don't know why, but the day was one of those none-stop days.  I don't think I sat down for more than a few minutes. 

4) Thursday - Again, my husband was home AND our water softener appeared at about 10:00 am unannounced.  That way-laid school and instead we dealt with that - which was good since we now have soft water again.  Then the boys and I headed to my dad's sibling get together for some fun. 

5) Friday (today) - is the first day of Friday School.  I think by the time the afternoon rolls around, I will be done.  I am planning to scrapbook tonight but I may be the only one signed up and, if so, I'm staying home. 

Here are some pictures from the Family Get together just for fun!

 My dad (back row, second one from the left in the dark blue shirt) and all but one of his siblings. 

 A few cousins and second cousins :-) 

We have a busy weekend with grocery shopping, maybe some canning, cleaning up the house, some scrapbooking I really want to get done, and the first Sunday of football.  Next week "should" slow down a little so I can get back into my groove!

Weekly Menu

This weekly menu post is a boring one :-)  I've been doing mini grocery shopping trips due to time so there has been very little food prep to photo or anything fun like that.  This is my first full week in awhile of regular cooking/menu planning since about July. 

Friday - I am going scrapbooking so I picked up frozen pizza for the boys - a favorite of theirs when I am gone.

Saturday - At the writing of this, I actually plan on doing some canning today depending on what I get from the farmer's market (Thinking salsa more than anything else) so I will have Darryl bring something home.

Sunday - Are you ready for some football?  Today is the first Sunday of football and our tradition is to have fun food :-)   Through the years I've learned to keep it simple so I can actually enjoy the games.  I also want to stick to things we love so on the "radar" is:  Cheese Ball/crackers, Fruit and Dip, Cheesy Bacon wraps, Pigs-in-a Blanket (Crescent wrapped little hot dogs) and Homemade Ice Cream. 

Monday - Honey BBQ Chicken on the Grill, Fried Zucchini, Baked Potatoes and Biscuits

Tuesday - Lasagna, Green Beans and Garlic Bread.  Yes, that is right, Lasagna - I have been craving it for WEEKS and it is time!

Wednesday - My husband will most likely have practice tonight so the boys and I will figure something out :-)

Thursday - Pork Chops, Mac and Cheese, Corn, and Rolls

I'm kind of running behind on planning this week so . . .we'll slee if I stick to this plan once I do the final grocery list :-)
 

Do you live in your dream home?

I would strive to live more simply.  For real.  Several years ago, my theme word for the year was "Simplify".  I focused mainly on eliminating things from the house that we didn't use, love or need.  It took me all year to go through every nook and cranny in this tiny house.  It felt pretty good.  The past few years my theme words haven't been as impressive and, some days, I feel like I'm getting swallowed up into all the things I think I need to be doing to "fix" areas in the house.   I recently read an article at Holy Spirit-Led Homeschool on this very topic:

Really, the ideas talked about in the article are not anything new but sometimes we all could use a refresher.  No, my home is not my dream home in any form or fashion.  It was supposed to be our starter home, which we would sell after 10 years (so . .it should be on the market . . now!).  Instead, it has become our Home. The place where we raise our kids, laugh, and have fun.  We have done a lot of work in this house to turn it into a place that works for the four of us and still have some projects to do but slowly, it is becoming the almost perfect house.