Taking a Break :-)

I'm taking a few days off :-)  So enjoy your weekend and I will be back on Monday with a post about our (lack) of Preschool this past week!!  And also plan to have posts up and ready to go - October is a Fun Month for us with lots of things going on! 

Weekly Menu

So this weeks menu is pretty simple.  I'm going out of town for a few days and my husband is recovering from a back injury so he is stuck in a chair most of the time.

Friday - Darryl will have left over Chili or Chili Dogs for dinner - his choice

Saturday - Same as above - basically he can heat up whatever he wants :-)

Sunday - I picked up some corn dogs to have for dinner since I'm not sure what time I will be home with the kids.  Fancy, I know ;-)

Monday - Spaghetti and garlic bread w/ Fried Zucchini.  We actually had this meal last week too - it tasted so good we will have it again!

Tuesday - Stuffed Cabbage and Crash Potatoes with french bread

Wednesday - Chick-Fi-Lay Nuggets and tator tots

Thursday - Beef Tips and Noodles with a veggie and Biscuits

Making Your Home a Haven Challenge

It is hard to believe that it is the 4th of for the Women Living Well Fall Challenge for Making your Home a Haven.  I participated the first two years but missed last year.  I feel like this is coming at the perfect time for me - I need to refocus my energy into my home and this challenge will do just that.

An added bonus this year is that there will be a weekly give away making it more fun to post for that odd chance I might win! 

So, what is this weeks challenge?  To clean up some clutter!  I've lost my motivation to do deep cleaning so I'm hoping to get some things checked off of my list this week.  Courtney also talks about cleaning up the clutter in our spiritual lives - as always, I've fallen of the "quiet time" wagon so I'm going to use this week to get back into it. 

Preschool and Pre-K Report

Here is our week in pictures!

Isn't that face adorable?  This is actually from a week ago Sunday.  The boys and I went to church then met my husband for lunch when he finished working.  He had a concert that evening so we were just all hanging out.  After lunch we went to the mall playland and the boys played until I noticed they kept laying down on the ground they were so tired HA!  When we got home, I carried Nate inside, he woke up so I put him down to take off his shoes; he wandered to the couch where Josh sang him to sleep with a "littleby" and Nate slept for 2 hours, took a bath and went to bed and slept all night!

Now, on to school! 

Monday:

 I love this picture HA!  Nate has a mustache from sucking on a marker cap :-)  One of the great things in the Letter of the Week curriculum is the use of things around the house to practice.  Today we used blocks to make the letter "I".  Some weeks we use stickers or legos or whatever else I can find around the house.

 Josh really struggles still with wanting to do the preschool lessons so he did the letter "I" in blocks too.  It is still great review for him so how can I say no?

Later in the day the boys got out some games to play.  We are still learning how to play games; and that one person doesn't always have to win!!

Tuesday:
No School :-)  I took the day and went to a scrapbooking crop so I did not make Nana do school BUT my boys said that next time, they want Nana to do school with them so I'll have to leave some fun lessons for her to do!
Wednesday:

 In just the first few weeks  of school, Nate's coloring has improved by leaps and bounds.  He know stays in the lines (unless he is adding legs to his elephant picture hanging on his wall; I am very thankful for washable markers HA).  This was our Bible Activity for the day - "Be Fair".  We talked about how Bees don't take all of the nectar but leave some for the other bees; comparing that to sharing with others.

 Scissors and glue sticks - it is what makes a boy happy!

 I love those feet (and they are "almost" clean!)

 Again, making the letter "I" with tangrams.  I need to get more of these though - the boys tend to fight disagree over the pieces. 

 This week, we only did an afternoon craft on Wednesday.  Monday the boys were outside playing so I just let them play and on Thursday, well, I don't even remember HA! 

 I found this great idea over at Toddler Approved for a "Snippin' Tree".  Basically, I gave the boys 4 different colors and let them snip the "leaves" and glue them.  I thought this would be a huge hit.

Well, these were their finished products.  Notice?  One color per tree?  They got bored REALLY fast with this idea!  Oh well, they can't all be winner ideas, can they?

Thursday:
I don't even remember Thursday .  For real.  I don't think we did school . .. I think we ran errands that morning which I won't do again with 4 kids under 5!!

Friday:
Normally we go to Friday school on Friday.  Well we did, for like 30 minutes, and then I had a kid puke.  At least he made it to the bathroom! 

 This poor little guy had the flu - running a fever and crashed on the couch; something we never see.  He kept asking when his fever would leave :-( 

 On the other hand, this little guy was LOVING that his big brother was sick because he got to ride the two-wheel bike the whole day.  He cannot WAIT to get his own bike.  It will be kind of anti-climatic since he can already ride one so I had to take a few photos of his "first" bike ride!

And then there is this guy - the big kid has a blown disc and is pretty much "chair-ridden" at this point. 

So, that was our week.  I'm a little more prepared for this coming week - only 3 days of school this week due to a doctor's appointment on Thursday with the big "D" for his back. 

It's hard to believe that it is the night before October.  I want to incorporate some more fall activities and pumpkin/fun Halloween stuff plus we have a birthday this month for a special boy who is turning 5. 

Inspiring Posts

I am not creative on my own.  For real.  I get all of my ideas from other people which sometimes gets me in trouble because I find TOO many good ideas and get overwhelmed with them because I try to do them all!  Today I want to share links to different posts from this past week from two of my favorite blogs to read. 

My husband and I are slowly making a plan to take our kids to Disney.  By slowly I mean s.l.o.w.l.y.  I am just now starting to ask die hard Disney fans what I need to plan, how to plan and, well, frankly, how much it costs.  Our goal it to take the kids in 3 years.  We feel they will be the perfect age to enjoy "everything" and actually remember the trip.  I'd love to then take them back when they are mid-teens to enjoy the older kid stuff but that is another story. Anyway, a blogger friend of mine just posted her fabulous movie list she used with her kids to prep them for their Disney trip.  I loved her list and am waiting for the day my kids like movies HA  I like this list also because well, we don't have many DVD's so I'm using her list as a jumping off point to get some that are available.  You can check out the Disney Move Countdown over at Superchikk. 

Another thing that I am looking forward to doing with my kids is reading chapter books.  We tried starting one last winter and my kids just were not ready.  I'm being inspired to try this again after reading a great post over at Homeschool Creations.  She shares the list of books they are planning to read this year (school year) and shares some great tips for reading out-loud with your kids.  One idea is give your kids something to do with their hands - legos, crayons and paper, etc.  The funny thing is that I would have made them put that stuff down but, after reading her post, I understand now that they need something to help them focus.  I also love the timer idea too.  My kids still aren't quite ready to focus on chapter books but one of the ideas in the back of my mind was to put together a book basket for each week.  That way, they could each pick out a book after lunch and we could read it together (or I can set the timer for 10 minutes and read until the timer goes off - they love the timer).  This basket could be library books or at home books (well, if we ever get back to the library HA)  The other thing the hubs and I want to start doing is reading Bible Stories/Devotionals at bedtime.  I will admit that this is "hard" because we are often tired but the boys love to sing at bedtime so we figure that to start with a short devotional would be a plus, then some songs, then hugs and "quisses" before we say goodnight.  I know what I want to get for this but just haven't gotten it yet :-)

Food Friday - Pigs in a Blanket

Pigs in a Blanket
adapted from . . .I think Pillsbury 100 years ago

 
This is one of my favorite go to appetizer recipes because it is easy, fast, and so good!  It just takes two little ingredients and you have this plate full of goodness.  

What you need:
1 package Litt'l smokies (without cheese)
1-2 packages of crescent rolls - you really do want the old-fashioned triangle rolls; not the sheet.

What you do:
Open one package of crescent rolls and separate into individual triangles; then cut each triangle into 3 pieces.  Wrap each piece around a little hot dog and place on a sheet try.  If you use one package of crescent rolls you will have left over hot dogs; if you use 2 packages of rolls you will have extra dough.  So, take your pick!

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce. 

Weekly Menu

So, last week I mentioned I was trying to figure out Sunday dinners.  Well, last Sunday I had a light bulb moment :-)  Sunday evenings will become what ever you want dinners.  If you want ice cream, you can have it.  If you want crackers and ketchup, you can have it.  I'll have some simple things always on hand like PB and J, corn dogs, frozen pizza etc but I'm not going to sweat it.  We tend to eat a late lunch due to church so sometimes, no one is hungry.  Growing up, it was a free for all after church and often one of my brothers would make a fried balogna or fried egg sandwich (Yuck and double yuck!) .  I usually picked out left overs or talked my mom into making me a grilled cheese :-)

This weeks menu is a little scattered due to some commitments - I have a busy week!

Friday - The boys and I are heading to a concert to see Darryl's group so we will run through McDonald's on our way out of town.

Saturday - We are hanging out at home today or at least we plan to - we may head to the park for awhile or maybe do something else fun.  I'm not sure on dinner yet.  Maybe we'll go get Chinese or do Chili Dogs at home.

Sunday -  Since we aren't having tacos on Friday I'm going to have everything ready for tacos after church.

Monday - Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, a veggie, baked potatoes and rolls

Tuesday - BBQ Pork Chops, rice, veggie and rolls. I have a board meeting in the afternoon and then I'm heading to a ladies conference at the church we've been attending for the evening so I needed a quick meal!

Wednesday - Pancakes and Sausage

Thursday - I'm leaving on a scrapbooking retreat and my mom is coming over to watch the kids.  I'm guessing that they will get McDonald's or something :-)

I have a few leftover sweet recipes - An apple pie, Pumpkin Crunch, and Cookies - that I didn't end up making over the past few weeks so I'll use those items up this week too.