Weekly Menu

Not a lot to say this week other than we are off to camp one last time this summer.  This wasn't a planned camping trip but after we camped in August we couldn't believe that we wouldn't go again before next year!  So, we tentatively planned to go and then waited to see if it would work out and it did! My goal is to make it as easy a trip as possible :-)

Here's our plan for the week

Saturday - Camping!  Breakfast:  Super Simple!  Cereal, Poptarts and Muffins  Lunch:  Because I'm not 100% sure what we are doing on Saturday I decided to keep it . .well . . simple ;-)  PB Sandwiches, chips and cookies.  (I'm not a sandwich eater so I plan to bring some cheese and crackers too!).  Dinner:  Our favorite - Steak Kabobs, baked potatoes, Mac and Cheese, and Fried Zucchini.  Naturally there will be hotdogs and smores for later as needed HA!

Sunday:  Camping!  Breakfast:  Pancakes, pancakes and Sausage.  Lunch:  We will grab fast food on the way out of town after packing up.  Dinner at home - Pulled Pork BBQ, Mac and Cheese and Chips.

Monday: Sloppy Joes, Baked Beans, and Chips

Tuesday:  Chick-Fi-Lay Nuggets and Fries.

Wednesday - Sausage Gravy and Bisuits and Fruit

Thursday - Chicken Rollatina, Fried Rice, Carrots and Rolls

Friday - Tacos!!!!!!

It's been quiet around here . . .

You may (or may not) have noticed that it's been quieter around this blog than it usually is and, if you have noticed, you would be right. There isn't anything wrong or "going on" it's just, quite simply, that our new choice for homeschool is totally, 100% working me to death.  I mentioned last week some things about it and, well, it just keeps going.  Pretty much I'm prepping to teach a Kindergarten class and a 1st grade class every single day but I only have one student in each class.  I'm reading lesson plans, printing worksheets, tearing out workbook pages, printing tests, finding craft supplies, making sure we meet our weekly PE requirements, finding art supplies and more.  So most of my evenings are now filled with figuring out tomorrows lessons - not writing for my blog.  Just last night, as I was attempting to print this weeks lessons I had to fix the printer once due to a problem with the ink cartridges and then, 10 minutes later, a paper jam which then caused the whole machine to cease up.  Today I'll be making a phone call to see if Canon can help me fix it.  It's a requirement for school because I need the printer, copier and scanner -I have to scan in documents to send to their teachers as specific assignments that are graded which both boys have multiple assignments due this week.

I spent time last week reworking their schedule so our Fridays would be "free" - "Free" is a relative term because I did this so we have a day to catch up if needed.  Catch up on school work for sure.  But also for me to catch up as, right, the only three things I do every day besides school work is laundry, cook meals, and make sure the kitchen is half way clean.  Otherwise there is nothing - there is no time in the day. 

So, this is not a pity party or anything else - it's life right now.  I'm still hoping that in the weeks to come it will level out but for now, this blog might be quieter.  :-)

Family Fun - Taking down the Pool

Last weekend it was time to take down the pool!  I figured the boys would have a little fun with it but I didn't realize how much fun they would have despite it being only about 60 degrees during the day. 

 They started by helping me unhook the pump/filter and watching the water pour out of the pool.  Watching is never as fun though so it wasn't long before they were in the pool.

 And eventually the shirts came off, the shoes came off, and they were running and splashing in the water. 

 There were my attempts of "hey boys, stand together and smile for me" . . .sure, whatever you say mom.  HA!

Once they had frozen their patooties off, they came inside to take a nice warm bath.  I walked into the bathroom and saw this!  Needless to say, I walked right back out and got my camera HA! 

We have loved our little pool but it was on its last leg with a hole somewhere in the ring.  We couldn't fill it as full as normal because of that ring and the boys are much taller than they were a year ago.  So, this pool is gone and we'll put up a bigger one next spring.  The boys love the water and a pool is such a great thing to have the yard during the summer.  :-)

Weekly Menu

So, Last week I said I was going to prepare a months week of menus - which I did.  I also said I was going to prepare the grocery lists for each menu - which I 1/2 did.  Then I said I was going to shop for what we used based on sales - which I kinda did :-)  It ended up being a lot more work than I anticipated plus last week I kept getting confused on what I needed based on my list and what was on other lists (for example - "I'm sure I needed cabbage but why isn't it on the list? Oh that's right, it's for another week."  I took advantage this week of the "10 for $10 and get the 11th item free" sale to pick up things we use all the time like frozen waffles, garlic bread, green beans and juice.  My freezer is full; my pantry is getting re-stocked; the cupboards are full of our standard stuff.  I'm hopeful that the next two weeks of shopping will be smaller and just require a few basics :-)

This past week I made an effort to not go to the store.  It meant that on Friday I had to improvise on things we had run out of.  For example, Darryl's sandwiches were made out of leftover yeast rolls from Thursday nights dinner because we were out of bread; I made tacos using a  pork loin I had in the freezer since I had no more ground beef; for lunch I had veggies and dip and fruit because I was, again, out of bread for a grilled cheese.  BUT I didn't go to the store once since shopping last week!  It saves us SOOO much money when I don't make quick runs to the store to pick up "one" thing and come home with 20 things HA! 

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Saturday - It will just be Darryl and the boys as I'll be gone all day at a concert.  So they will have spaghetti and breadsticks.  It's simple to cook, clean up and every one loves it.

Sunday - Roasted Pork Loin, Sweet Potatoes, Mac and Cheese, and Crescent Rolls.  Then for dinner will have Meatball Soup and Sandwiches

Monday - Lasagna, Green Beans and Garlic Bread

Tuesday - Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, gravy, corn and biscuits

Wednesday - Ham and Cheese Quiche, and Muffins

Thursday - Brown Sugar Pork Loin, Fried Rice, Applesauce, and Biscuits

Friday - We are camping!  Whoo Whoo!!

Teaching Tuesdays - We made it through the first week.

Week one is done.  That's all.  Lets keep it real.  Week one was hard.  Between teaching both boys, prep, computer problems with the program and pulling my hair out (really  . .almost) I spent anywhere from 5-8 hours a day doing school.  That is not what I anticipated.  I understand it is the first week but wow.  On the first day I spent about 5 hours sitting in a chair talking and teaching one boy at a time. By the time Wednesday rolled around (day 2 . .) I mowed the grass and faced the underground bees (I can run fast HA!) just to get away from all things related to school.  Here's hoping week two goes better. 

Of course, we took some awesome first second day pictures:

Such cute kids!

So, you might be wondering where I'm at with Connections Academy after our first week so even after a tough first week here's some truth:

1) I know it is only week one.
2) The boys have things they like and things they don't like.
3) I've changed my strategy and spent several hours on Saturday prepping for the week by reading through every lesson, using post-it tabs to mark daily assignments in books, copy, pasted, and printed the "Learning Coach" (that's me!) lesson guides so I don't need to use the IPAD constantly to ready what I'm doing AND I highlighted what is important for me to emphasis.  I tore out workbook pages and prepped vocab words and sight words.
4) I'm hopeful that as the weeks progress I will be able to have both boys working on schoolwork at once to free up time for play, getting outside to exercise, and time for me to actually get something done (for real!)

The boys also had their first week in Tae Kwon Do at our homeschool co-op this past Friday which counts toward their PE time.  I didn't get any great photos this first week but hopefully next week the boys will be more relaxed and will be more "into it". 



What's coming up?  We still have AWANA to add to our schedule this week, weekly Library trips which start today, and some upcoming field trips. Not to mention that they start Gymnastics next Monday too.  I've finding that our schedule is much busier this year which is keeping me on my toes!

Make-It Monday - Misc Musings

I'm not one to always click on posts/links that people put on Facebook to various articles and blog posts but periodically one catches my attention like this one I'm featuring here today. See, in our house, my husband is the one who plays - trains, video games, make believe.  I'm the one who makes sure everything is taken care of and everyone is where they need to be.  Sometimes I feel guilty because I'm don't equal all of those perfect moms out there who do it all - you know those ones you see on Facebook or through Pinterest . .. . then I'll talk to a friend and we laugh at our real laughs :-)  No, I/we don't feet this article completely in any form or fashion but there are bits and pieces that speak to me.

The article can be found at We Don't Chew Glass.  I debated posting this because it is not a Christian Blog (as is evident in one word on the header) but the good outweighs the bad in this one so my apologies ahead of time.

Ultimately, my kids tell me I'm awesome, love to hang with me, and come to me first when they are hurting.  They think I'm funny and will always come to me with questions or wants (umm . . needs HA) even if their dad is sitting in the same room as them and I'm taking a shower HA!.  I'm thankful that my husband is creative . . . imaginative . .. he teaches the boys how to play outside the box.  Where, I'm an "inside the box" type of girl.  We make a great team and balance each other well - our kids are happy and that's really the most important thing of all. 

Weekly Menu

This was our first week back to school so I didn't do much except school.  BUT one thing I did do was follow the advice of some pinterest post I actually read about planning menus and saving money.  So, I'm trying something slightly new this month.  I planned the entire month of menus (which I've kinda done in the past with my rotating month menu) but I also created all of the grocery lists for each week.  I can be more focused on buying what is on sale or that I have coupons for to save money.  Like many people, we have some weeks where there is more flex money than others so I'm trying to plan ahead for those weeks when funds are tighter (for example the vast majority of our bills are due the first two weeks of the month verses the last two weeks so my grocery budget is much tighter those first two weeks).  I promise to keep you updated on this new adventure and see if it really works.

Here's the plan for the next week

Saturday - I have Pizza on the menu but Josh has been begging to go to the Chinese restaurant. At the writing of this, I'm not sure what we will do yet.

Sunday - Grammys Swiss Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots and Yeast Rolls.  The weather is cooling off so I'm looking forward to this wonderful meals once again!  Today is also the first Sunday of football so, for dinner we'll have Chili Mac.

Monday - Our schedule gets a little busy!  Today is the first day of gymnastics AND I have choir practice.  We will be crossing paths so I just have nuggets and fries on the menu

Tuesday - Asian Beef w/white rice, Store bought egg rolls and Mac and Cheese (Ok, this is for Nate - who is expanding his taste buds but is still pretty set on what he likes)

Wednesday - AWANA starts tonight which means quick and easy dinners are best since we need to eat and leave.  I love breakfast on Wednesday.  So, Amish Breakfast Casserole, Fruit, and Waffles and Sausage - that way everyone of us gets something we love HA! 

Thursday - Lemon BBQ Meatloaves, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans and Yeast Rolls YUM!!

Friday - Tacos, of course :-)