Our Sunday Routine

I don't know about you but Sunday Mornings can be a bit hectic and yes, stressful.  Several years ago, I read a great book that I've pulled out once again to re-read.

One of the key thoughts that I remembered from this book was the importance of preparing for Sunday Morning on Saturday night. 

It's my "job" to make sure that the boys are ready to go and I am ready to go each Sunday morning.  Don't get me wrong, Darryl helps but, ultimately, I have keep things moving.  It helps us all if I get our clothes out.  I make sure the boys things are laid out on their chairs right down to shoes and socks.  I've also figured out that it helps if I get my stuff picked out too :-) 

I also have my "Sunday Bag".  It's the bag that I carry to church every single week.  I keep hand lotion, cough crops, a small bag of candy, and a couple pads of paper for the boys to use to draw on if needed.  I also put my Bible and Planner in it has well and add a bottle of water on Sunday morning.  Now that the boys know about giving offering in Sunday School, I also take time to put some change in a bag and throw it in too so that I always have money for the boys to give. 

So what does our Sunday morning look like?
7:30- I get up and get ready and get dinner in the oven
8:00 - I eat breakfast and make sure the boys are eating something too.  Darryl gets ready
8:30 - Get the boys ready - right down to shoes and socks
9:00 - we walk out the door. 

If I don't get up by 7:30 - our morning becomes stressful! 

On Saturday night I:
1 Pick out our clothes
2. Pack the bag
3. Make sure the truck has gas (for real - otherwise it adds stress to our morning on Sunday)
4. Prep for Sunday dinner - everything from making sure the meat is out of the freezer to setting out the pan for rolls so I don't forget to take them out of the freezer.  I'm also working on setting the table so I don't have to do it when we return from church :-)

So, why is this important?  I want Sundays to be a day of relaxation; a day where we can enjoy being doing as a family, enjoy attending our church, and enjoy a day off from normal routines.  If the morning starts with me constantly "riding" the boys to get ready, I'm the one who suffers and ends up unhappy.  I'm still working on all of this but felt like sharing - if you haven't read the book Parenting in the Pew and have littles (or even slightly "olders") take time to read it.  You might gain one truth that can help your Sundays go smoother.

What we are Eating Wednesday - Egg Rolls

Egg Rolls
adapted from Spend with Pennies

  A few weeks ago I tried my hand at some chinese food because we love it so much.  The main dish was quite awful but the egg rolls were great :-)  Darryl laughed at my attempt to roll them since they were all different shapes but they sure did taste good!  I made them again for our Superbowl party.  Both times I made them using ground pork but shrimp would also be good! 

Ingredients
1 pound ground pork
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 1/2 cups packaged fresh coleslaw
12 (6 inch square) egg roll wrappers
2 tablespoons water
1 quart canola oil for frying

sweet and sour sauce

Instructions:
1. Cook pork, ginger, garlic, and onion powder until no pink remains.  Set aside.
2. Mix the coleslaw and the soy sauce and set aside. 
3. Preheat oil to 375 degrees F.
4. Combine the flour and water in a small bowl.
5. Lay out one egg roll wrapper with a corner pointed toward you.  Place 2 tabelspoons of the meat and 2 tablespoons of the coleslaw mixture in the center.  Use your finger to spread a little bit of the flour mixture along the ege.
6.  Fold two of the corners together to make a triangle, fold the sides in and then roll tightly.  (Seal the edges with the flour mixture)
7.  Fry egg rolls until lighlty browned and crispy turning occasionally.
8.  Serve with sweet and sour sauce.

Teaching Tuesday - Valentines Week

This past week we worked on our regular school work but, more importantly, we worked on Valentines.  Personally, I love holidays.  Over the past 6 years I've tried to do some little things for holidays but quickly learned that the boys were not old enough nor were they interested in doing most of it :-)  Now, though, they are just barely getting old enough to want to do things and ask lots of questions about holidays.  For example, Josh asked what we do for Valentines Day.  I told him we kiss and eat chocolate - that every time he walks past me I get to smooch him.  He told me that Valentine's is not his favorite holiday HA!

I took the boys to the store and let them pick out their box of Valentines, made them a list of who to make them out to and we worked on them each day.  Now, in homeschool, you really don't have a bunch of classmates to send them to so instead we made them for all of the Aunts and Uncles and cousins plus Papa and Nana and Grandpa and Grandma.  I will say that we shortened a lot of names because their HUGE handwriting would not accomodate such names as Uncle Ken and Aunt Lynnette on that tiny card (So it was Ken  Lynn !!)

 The first day we did Valentine's, it took a lot of explaining of the concept.  But, by the second day, things got easier.  I watched as Josh took out the four Valentine's he needed.  He proceeded to attach the little notepad to all four, then right his name on all four and finally, wrote each individual name on each one.  Yep, he is the one that tends to be a little OCD :-)

Now, Nate, 1 1/2 hour later we would finish his four Valentine's each day. LOL  My little distractable Nate!

I love to see the boys being creative and one of the most creative things they love to do is to have parties.  On this particular day, they were having a party for Nate's Dad.  :-) (It should be noted that when they play, they have different parents . . I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried)

 The table with the cake (also known as "Break the Ice" and lots of (pretend) food.

They also got out my pots and pans and lots of cooking tools to make their meal.  It was great listening to their creativity.  I was doubly impressed that they cleaned it all up without being asked :-)

This week, I started counting pages in some of Josh's workbooks and I start to get a little excited because we are getting very close to being done with handwriting and are cruising through his math workbook.  I love it as I really have been working to be done by May so that the boys can enjoy the spring weather!

Weekly Menu - The new plan

*I forgot to post this on Friday so I figured I would post it now for Make it Monday! 

I put my new menu plan into place this past week and I'm really happy with it.  I went to the grocery store on Saturday was so happy with myself because I stayed in budget.  When I got out to the truck, I realized I forgot the mozzarella cheese for dinner so we ran back inside and picked up the cheese; when I got home, I figured out I forgot to buy chicken for Monday night dinner so I ended up going back to the store to get chicken; (wait there's more) while cooking some soup for Sunday evening dinner, I realized I forgot the cheese I needed (the worst part? I had put it in my cart and then took it back out because we weren't having tacos . .. HA!)  So I had to have Darryl stop and pick up cheese!! THEN, I went to make the Lasagna and I had no ground beef!  I had the ground sausage but not the beef.  I happened to have some frozen cooked ground pork that I could use but still!!  No WONDER I was on target for budget HA!

I still plan on sharing our weekly meal plan because there will be slight variations along the way.

Saturday - It's Valentine's Day!  It's also Pizza Night :-)  We are expecting some "record breaking" cold temperatures over the next few days so I am planning all meals "in" - if we happen to venture out, I can always save the meal for another time!  Tonight I decided to make BBQ Chicken Pizza.  We really liked it when I made it a few months ago :-)  I'll also add a good salad. 

Sunday - Again, those cold temps - it is possible we could have "air temps" of 35 below zero - we won't go anywhere if that is the case!  So, today it is Sunday Swiss Steak, Mashed Potatoes (Josh's ultimate favorite food!), Corn, and Biscuits.  Than later, for our simple dinner in the evening it's Amish Breakfast Casserole and Homemade Cheese Danish

Monday - Enchilada's!  Yum!  "Mexican" salad (Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, and Black olives to eat with the Enchiladas), and Rice.

Tuesday - Hamburger Strogenoff with Noodles, Green Beans and Rolls

Wednesday - Hot Dogs and Fries

Thursday - Today starts Darryl's Birthday celebration and one of his favorite meals is Dill Shrimp Pasta so that is what we'll have!  Along with some good garlic bread and maybe even roasted asparagus since he loves that so much too!

Friday - Normally this is taco night but, the kids are at Papa and Nana's so Darryl and I will get to eat out :-)  We might might go to Applebees or we may head to town and get something really good :-)

That's it :-)  I'm already loving my new menu plan because it makes it easy to . . well, plan.  I'm not digging through my recipes each week to find something to make instead it is already written out and ready to go!

Teaching Tuesdays - I've lost track of the week #.

We hit school full force this week.  We are making great progress but this time of year I feel like I'm dragging my feet a little.  I'm not thrilled with the Math Book Josh is going through but we are still pushing through it for the year and I've already picked out what I think will be a better fit for the boys next year.  Our Phoics/Reading curriculum I LOVE but I think I need to push Josh a little more on it so we get a little more done each day.  I'm beginning to realize that it may be more of a two year curriculum than just a K-5 curriculum - which is ok :-)

 Nate absolutely loves mazes. I just bought him a new book called My Book of Mazes: Animals - he was so excited to find it in his daily drawer on Monday. 

 This past week in Math, we worked on some basic measurements.  Josh used 1 cm blocks to both measure and also to estimate the size of various things in his book.  We also talked about Handspan, Paces, and using our feet to measure things.  One of the reaons I'm not thrilled with this book is because it is meant more for the classroom - there are only one or two problems on each page and there is tons and tons of discussion.  At home, hands on activities are much better - things that the student can lead themselves once they understand the concept.

We've been working on some supplimental worksheets related to Pirates this past week as I am planning to take the boys on a field trip to see a Pirate exhibit at our local museum.  I found this great Pirate pack over at Homeschool Creations

Nate and I have been reading lots of books lately.  One of our favorites and, quite honestly, one of the most fun kids books I've come across, is "Pout Pout Fish".

 And then another book we are enjoying is "Stream Train, Dream Train."  Nate loves to list all of the train cars and try to remember what order they come in throughout the book.

Finally, Nate is "reading" to us as well.  He can read, from memory, the entire book "If Everybody Did."  He reads it almost every night at bedtime. 

 This makes me smile.  Nate has decided that he likes to display ALL of his work.  So, when he remembers, he tapes every single item on the wall.  He loves seeing the display. 

This little gem is my new pencil sharpener.  It is not electric but works fabulous.  It came with great reviews from Amazon.  I will admit I do kinda need to watch a youtube video because I don't have it masters and almost every review said . . .watch the video :-)



This week we are working on Valentines and will get a field trip in as well :-)

Make It Monday - Menu's and Pizza

Recently I read a great, simple, to the point blog post that was posted at Money Saving Mom.  In the article, the author gave some real-to-life things that she learned about making a grocery budget and sticking to it.  It spoke to me because I understand every point she made!  I'm great at making the grocery budget but then I "forget" about the 2 (or 3, 4 or 5) extra trips to the store and how that impacts my spending.  Through the years I've tried all kinds of creative ways to save money from shopping for two weeks at a time - which never works because you ALWAYS have to go back to the store many more times to get milk, veggies, etc AND you tend to eat more food because, well, it's there - to trying to plan the menu for the month so I can shop ahead and more.  Well, I finally decided to do something I've wanted to try for a long time.  I created a set menu.

How did I come up with this?  It's pretty simple.  I went through my recipe book and picked out the recipes that we truly love and could actually eat every single month without question.  I was afraid I'd have way too many but I didn't!  Then, I added in those things that are consistent - We have Tacos every Friday night that we are home.  Saturday nights are one of two options - it's either Pizza night (ordered in, eaten out, or homemade) OR Darryl brings home dinner if he is working.  Wednesday night are simple kid friendly meals since Darryl normally has practice and it is just the boys and I - Pancakes and Waffles with Sausage, Biscuits and Gravy (My kids love the biscuits) and Hot Dogs round out the month.  Another new tradition we have added is that the first Tuesday of the month we go out to Applebees.  Why?  Kids eat for $0.99 so we can eat there for about $20.00 - they have really good burgers :-)  That left me 15 other nights.  I did leave 4 days as "Cook Choice" so I can pick the other recipes that we like or try new things.  So what made the list?
Sunday Dinner - Roasted Pork Shoulder, Stuffed Shells, Sunday Swiss Steak, and Roast.  Great meals to cook while we are at church.  I also planned our Sunday evening dinners - Sloppy Joes, Soup (I can pick various soups that we love) w/Simple Ham Sammies (Yeast Rolls and Ham Steak), Quiche or simple breakfast casserole, and Little Ceasers Pizza :-)

Week Night Meals:  Amish Baked Chicken, Enchiladas, Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, Lasagna, Beef Tips or Beef Strogenoff, Pan Fried Pork Chops or Chicken Fried Steaks.  Then I have a blank for Chinese Choice - I have several recipes we really love from Egg Drop Soup, Fried Rice and Egg Rolls to a Shrimp Stir-fry.  Then there is also a Slow Cooker Slot - again, I have lots of slow cooker recipes that we enjoy.  Techingally there are only 2 true cook's choice nights but I'm counting the Slow Cooker and Chinese Choice as my choice too because I can always do something else!

Winter vs. Summer - I can tell you that my set menu will change sometime in May and I'll switch out quite a few items for things that aren't so "hot" (i.e. I don't make Lasanga or cook roasts in the summer!)

So, with this in mind, I made a new pizza recipe this past Saturday and thought I'd share the recipe along with my attempt at Little Ceaser's Breadsticks.

 For a long time I've been wanting to try Garlic Bread Pizza and I finally did it!  They are so simple.  It's just frozen garlic bread slices.  Put a small amount of sauce on each slice, followed by mozzarella cheese and your favorite toppings.  Cook at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. 

The breadsticks had the flavor of Little Ceasers but they were flat and slightly crunchy verses being big and soft.  It was just a tube of pizza dough cut into "sticks".  Once cooked (425 for about 10 minutes) brush with garlic butter (2 tablespoons of butter melted with 1/4 teaspoon of Garlic Salt) and sprinkle with Parmason cheese! 

Things My Kids Say

* We struggle in this house with breakfast.  I've recently started fighting working with the boys on making breakfast choices such as cereal, waffles, or yes, even a poptart.  Josh, especially, struggles because he loves to eat Popscicles for breakfast.  Well, one day last week as we discussed choices, he opened the freezer and pulled out a small Ice Cream Drumstick (I buy the mini size).  He then informed me that he could eat it for breakfast because it was just a cracker (the cone) and some milk (ice cream).  THEN he told me that he learned that from Papa :-) LOL  Thanks Dad!

* I recently made a gourmet  dinner of Hot Dogs and Cheetos and was informed that it was the best meal I've ever cooked.  Seriously.