So, I took a few weeks off from the blog. Our school program really was eating up all of my time and, well, I just haven't been creative in any form or fashion. I'm hoping to get back into it even if just a few days a week. It's hard to believe it is already the end of October - we wrapped up a birthday and have holidays and another birthday to look forward to in the next two months. I've been without a lot of inspiration lately for cooking, again driven by school eating up most of the minutes of my day, but I'm trying to get that inspiration back. We are in a rut for lunches partly because my boys have specific foods they love but I've noticed that we are eating those for both lunch and dinner throughout the week so it is time to get creative again and encourage my kids - one picky eater and one not picky eater - to try new foods. I picked out some recipes from my "recipes I've made and would make again" folder in Pinterest so lets see if they are as good the second time around!
Saturday - Today is "Celebrate Josh" day for his birthday. He gets to pick our resturant for dinner. I'm expecting Smashburger, Pizza Ranch, or Jets Pizza ;-)
Sunday - I have a Choir Concert day so dinner is easy for Darryl - Mac and Cheese, Chips and Sandwiches
Monday - The boys have gymnastics so dinner is later than normal and also needs to be ready to go on the table when we walk back in the door. Sunday Swiss Steak will be ready to come out of the oven! Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Rolls!
Tuesday - Amish Baked Chicken, Amish Noodles and Beans
Wednesday - Chicken Carbonara, Salad, and Garlic Bread
Thursday - Pork Chops, Mac and Cheese, Applesauce and Biscuits
Friday - Fish Tacos, Chips and salsa, Rice and beans
Friday, October 23, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015
Weekly Menu
This past week we ate out of the fridge/freezer/pantry. I went to the grocery store and spent a total of $40.00 and that included cat litter, shaving cream, and razors for my husband. The down side of that is as we hit this week, things are getting bare :-) I still have some stuff to use up though, so the menu will be based still on cleaning out what we have :-)
Saturday - I'm planning on Darryl grabbing some pizza. I've heard Jets pizza has $10.00 one item pizzas right now so I'm hopeful that is true!
Sunday - Darryl is working. I'll be honest, when he works on Sunday, the last thing I want to do is cook for the boys and I after church. So, we will probably grab something on the way home. Later, we'll have corn dogs and chips
Monday - Tonight the boys have Gymnastics and I have practice so dinner is . . well, crazy. I need to have something that Darryl can fix quickly for him and the boys after they get home. Mac and Cheese is always a good go to food ;-)
Tuesday - Double Crunch Chicken, fried rice, and carrots.
Wednesday - Ready . . .I have a turkey to cook :-) That's right! It won't be long they will be on sale again and I'll pick up a couple so I figured I'd better get the one cooked that's in there! So, Turkey, baked sweet potatoes, corn and biscuits.
Thursday - Turkey Noodle soup and homemade bread.
Friday - tacos :-)
Saturday - I'm planning on Darryl grabbing some pizza. I've heard Jets pizza has $10.00 one item pizzas right now so I'm hopeful that is true!
Sunday - Darryl is working. I'll be honest, when he works on Sunday, the last thing I want to do is cook for the boys and I after church. So, we will probably grab something on the way home. Later, we'll have corn dogs and chips
Monday - Tonight the boys have Gymnastics and I have practice so dinner is . . well, crazy. I need to have something that Darryl can fix quickly for him and the boys after they get home. Mac and Cheese is always a good go to food ;-)
Tuesday - Double Crunch Chicken, fried rice, and carrots.
Wednesday - Ready . . .I have a turkey to cook :-) That's right! It won't be long they will be on sale again and I'll pick up a couple so I figured I'd better get the one cooked that's in there! So, Turkey, baked sweet potatoes, corn and biscuits.
Thursday - Turkey Noodle soup and homemade bread.
Friday - tacos :-)
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Teaching Tuesdays
I don't have any fun pictures to post but I did want to make mention of one monumental accomplishment. Just yesterday we got through all of the days lessons for both boys before lunch. That is huge. For real. I'm not dwelling on the fact that both boys had simple review lessons, a quiz and a test . . .we still got it all done in the morning. The rest of the week may be a different story but hey, I'll take what I can get HA!
We are having fun with some other things related to school.
1) The Library is a huge hit. "Little's University" is a great break for the boys where they get to listen to a story, do a craft, play on computers, and pick out books. I have to say that this time is my favorite time because it is relaxed and involves all of us together.
2) Josh has had quite a few live lessons and he loves them. Live Lessons are lessons taught by his on-line teacher where he is part of a "classroom". We watch them Live and Josh is able to participate by asking or answering questions and taking part in group activities. Nate is anxiously awaiting when his Live Lessons will start too!
3) Gymnastics and Tao Kwan Do are going well. The boys surprise me with how much they remember from each of the classes. The good thing is that between these two activities each week, they both meet their 90 minutes of exercise a week requirement for PE. Don't get me wrong, they are also outside playing, going for bike rides and do other activities but having those specific things to track makes my "job" easier :-)
And there are some things I'm still learning, changing, and figuring out how to make work:
1) I am figuring out when and where to take short cuts in lessons. Don't take that wrong - I'm just figuring out things like, Art, for example - we don't have to make every suggested craft/art piece each week. I'd go broke buying the supplies. Instead, the boys love to just create so we do the lesson and then later while they are being crafty, I'll point out things that go along with their lessons.
2) I'm still trying to find time to work on AWANA verses. We used to do that as the very first lesson previously but now with Live Lessons that start at 9:00 three days a week, I'm finding it hard to fit in that extra item.
3) As anxious as Nate is for his Live Lessons to start, I'm anxious for a different reason - his teacher has mentioned that he will have Live Lessons every day plus reading group and a writing lesson. This could mean that both boys are on a computer at the same time and both will need lots of help I'm hoping that Nate's lessons are at a different time but . . .then I'm kinda hoping they aren't. At least if both boys are on the computers at the same time, we can move on to lessons as soon as they are done!
I'm hopeful that as we move into October that our routine will get better and easier to follow. I have not thrown out this whole on-line school idea (yet HA) and surprised myself today when I actually had the fleeting thought of, "I can see how this could work when they are older".
We are having fun with some other things related to school.
1) The Library is a huge hit. "Little's University" is a great break for the boys where they get to listen to a story, do a craft, play on computers, and pick out books. I have to say that this time is my favorite time because it is relaxed and involves all of us together.
2) Josh has had quite a few live lessons and he loves them. Live Lessons are lessons taught by his on-line teacher where he is part of a "classroom". We watch them Live and Josh is able to participate by asking or answering questions and taking part in group activities. Nate is anxiously awaiting when his Live Lessons will start too!
3) Gymnastics and Tao Kwan Do are going well. The boys surprise me with how much they remember from each of the classes. The good thing is that between these two activities each week, they both meet their 90 minutes of exercise a week requirement for PE. Don't get me wrong, they are also outside playing, going for bike rides and do other activities but having those specific things to track makes my "job" easier :-)
And there are some things I'm still learning, changing, and figuring out how to make work:
1) I am figuring out when and where to take short cuts in lessons. Don't take that wrong - I'm just figuring out things like, Art, for example - we don't have to make every suggested craft/art piece each week. I'd go broke buying the supplies. Instead, the boys love to just create so we do the lesson and then later while they are being crafty, I'll point out things that go along with their lessons.
2) I'm still trying to find time to work on AWANA verses. We used to do that as the very first lesson previously but now with Live Lessons that start at 9:00 three days a week, I'm finding it hard to fit in that extra item.
3) As anxious as Nate is for his Live Lessons to start, I'm anxious for a different reason - his teacher has mentioned that he will have Live Lessons every day plus reading group and a writing lesson. This could mean that both boys are on a computer at the same time and both will need lots of help I'm hoping that Nate's lessons are at a different time but . . .then I'm kinda hoping they aren't. At least if both boys are on the computers at the same time, we can move on to lessons as soon as they are done!
I'm hopeful that as we move into October that our routine will get better and easier to follow. I have not thrown out this whole on-line school idea (yet HA) and surprised myself today when I actually had the fleeting thought of, "I can see how this could work when they are older".
Monday, September 28, 2015
Make it Monday - Goals from September . .. that become Octobers Goals
So, I decided to copy and paste my goal past from the beginning of September to give us all a really good laugh at what I didn't accomplish! Check out the info below :-)
September means the official end of Summer, time for School to begin, and time to focus on finishing out the year strong with my goals. It usually means cooler weather so I can get more done even though this coming week is being forecasted as "the hottest week of the summer". Yikes!
Anyway - this is what is on my radar for the coming month:
1. Sell My Stuff. I mentioned in a previous post that I've given myself until the end of September to get the stuff I sorted out of the basement sold or it goes to Good Will. I have about 6 bins of stuff plus about 5-8 bigger items to try and sell. I had good intentions. I even listed a couple of things and got zero response. Then school started and I never made it back out to the garage to do a thing. I need to take an upcoming Saturday and go through stuff. I'm thinking of just taking stuff to "Once upon a Child" to see what I can get for it and be done with it. I guess now I'm giving myself until the end of October to get it done HA!
2. Do the finishing clean-up in the basement. This will get accomplished by doing #1 above, purchasing the last shelf I need to store bins (which I have the $ for thanks to selling some other stuff), and getting the last of the rubber floor mats for the boys room (again, I've already sold stuff so I have the $ for these as well! Whoo whoo!) So, this sounded good when I wrote it but it never happened. Not one bit. Lets try again in October.
3. Shelf by Shelf - This project I also mentioned previously. It's so much easier to tackle one/two shelves a day. I can clean the area (or empty the bin) and make sure everything either gets donated, trashed, or put in its rightful home in a matter of about 15 minutes. It always amazes me how quickly things get cleaned out. A "shelf" doesn't really mean just a shelf - it's a drawer, cupboard, bin, etc. I tend to "stash and dash" when I'm doing huge cleaning jobs like I did this summer with the basement so when I have random things, I pile them on a shelf (or shelves) and now, I can go through all of those items. I didn't do a single thing on this project. Not. a. single. thing. I'm gearing up to start this again.
4. Scrapbooking - It's time to really focus on one thing. Getting current. I will be ordering digital pages, working on current photos and making sure that I am 100% current ASAP. I'm not even setting a specific goal for September at this point - more like I need to plan during the first week on how I'm going to do this and then just do it every day. Scrapbooking? What's that? HA!
5. Birthday's and Christmas - With two birthdays and Christmas coming so close together I have to plan now. I need to order the boys birthday shirts this month. Plan what we will do for their birthdays, make gift lists for both birthday and Christmas and plan ahead for all things. There are always Christmas activities we would like to do so I want to make sure that i plan then now so our family takes priority over other things! Ok, I did actually do something! I ordered Josh's shirt. That's it. Time to plan, plan and plan some more!
6 The Outside. Our yard has been neglected this year. Right now, the grass is long because we have a huge underground wasp nest we are dealing with. Darryl got swarmed not long ago while mowing and ended up with a pretty severe infection in both legs from the stings so he isn't too keen on mowing until the wasps are gone. Planting new flowers wasn't high on my list because there were other things I wanted to spend our money on (like camping) but, it's time to weed and trim stuff back to get ready for fall. This will happen closer to the end of the month but it still needs done. Also, the pool will come down this month and we plan to do a small fire "pit" in the pool area since the grass is dead anyway (we did that this past spring too). I might also try to get some bulbs to plant this fall - we planted some tulips last fall and it was fun watching them come up this spring. Ok, the pool is down. I did clean out one flower bed and still have lots more to do.
7. The windows. Yep they get their own category HA! Darryl and I work together on this project since I'm not tall enough to wash the outside windows even wtih a ladder. He does the outside while I clean the insides and spray down the screens. It really doesn't take that long, it is just a pain to do. We'll also pull the A/C units out sometime this month and store those away. hahahahahahahaha
8. Family Activities - I'd like to get to a zoo with the kids. Nate requested this early this year but I like to wait until fall to avoid the heat! We are also planning to camp one last time near the end of the month. We did camp. I'm still trying to get to the zoo.
9. Planning - I've also started planning about what I want my theme word/focus to be next year. It seems early, but it isn't. I have an idea and want to research ways to actually implement the concept not only in my own life but that of our family too. I have some other planning to do too - just taking time to write down some things/ideas/plans that I would like to accomplish not only for me but for/with the family too. Still thinking . .and thinking . . and thinking
10. Financial goals - I'll be honest, the "no spend" concept in August didn't go as well. I let it slide a few times and once it starts to slide it keeps sliding. So, for September, I'm back to planning out our budget and not spending where we don't need to spend. August was a much better month but we didn't end quite where we wanted to so I'm hopeful that September will put us back in the right spot. I'm also doing lots of researching on ways to make just a little more income from home as the Munchkin will be in school full time. Time to start over again
I think that's all for the month. Now to take this list and break it down into some daily tasks that can be accomplished around school :-)
September means the official end of Summer, time for School to begin, and time to focus on finishing out the year strong with my goals. It usually means cooler weather so I can get more done even though this coming week is being forecasted as "the hottest week of the summer". Yikes!
Anyway - this is what is on my radar for the coming month:
1. Sell My Stuff. I mentioned in a previous post that I've given myself until the end of September to get the stuff I sorted out of the basement sold or it goes to Good Will. I have about 6 bins of stuff plus about 5-8 bigger items to try and sell. I had good intentions. I even listed a couple of things and got zero response. Then school started and I never made it back out to the garage to do a thing. I need to take an upcoming Saturday and go through stuff. I'm thinking of just taking stuff to "Once upon a Child" to see what I can get for it and be done with it. I guess now I'm giving myself until the end of October to get it done HA!
2. Do the finishing clean-up in the basement. This will get accomplished by doing #1 above, purchasing the last shelf I need to store bins (which I have the $ for thanks to selling some other stuff), and getting the last of the rubber floor mats for the boys room (again, I've already sold stuff so I have the $ for these as well! Whoo whoo!) So, this sounded good when I wrote it but it never happened. Not one bit. Lets try again in October.
3. Shelf by Shelf - This project I also mentioned previously. It's so much easier to tackle one/two shelves a day. I can clean the area (or empty the bin) and make sure everything either gets donated, trashed, or put in its rightful home in a matter of about 15 minutes. It always amazes me how quickly things get cleaned out. A "shelf" doesn't really mean just a shelf - it's a drawer, cupboard, bin, etc. I tend to "stash and dash" when I'm doing huge cleaning jobs like I did this summer with the basement so when I have random things, I pile them on a shelf (or shelves) and now, I can go through all of those items. I didn't do a single thing on this project. Not. a. single. thing. I'm gearing up to start this again.
4. Scrapbooking - It's time to really focus on one thing. Getting current. I will be ordering digital pages, working on current photos and making sure that I am 100% current ASAP. I'm not even setting a specific goal for September at this point - more like I need to plan during the first week on how I'm going to do this and then just do it every day. Scrapbooking? What's that? HA!
5. Birthday's and Christmas - With two birthdays and Christmas coming so close together I have to plan now. I need to order the boys birthday shirts this month. Plan what we will do for their birthdays, make gift lists for both birthday and Christmas and plan ahead for all things. There are always Christmas activities we would like to do so I want to make sure that i plan then now so our family takes priority over other things! Ok, I did actually do something! I ordered Josh's shirt. That's it. Time to plan, plan and plan some more!
6 The Outside. Our yard has been neglected this year. Right now, the grass is long because we have a huge underground wasp nest we are dealing with. Darryl got swarmed not long ago while mowing and ended up with a pretty severe infection in both legs from the stings so he isn't too keen on mowing until the wasps are gone. Planting new flowers wasn't high on my list because there were other things I wanted to spend our money on (like camping) but, it's time to weed and trim stuff back to get ready for fall. This will happen closer to the end of the month but it still needs done. Also, the pool will come down this month and we plan to do a small fire "pit" in the pool area since the grass is dead anyway (we did that this past spring too). I might also try to get some bulbs to plant this fall - we planted some tulips last fall and it was fun watching them come up this spring. Ok, the pool is down. I did clean out one flower bed and still have lots more to do.
7. The windows. Yep they get their own category HA! Darryl and I work together on this project since I'm not tall enough to wash the outside windows even wtih a ladder. He does the outside while I clean the insides and spray down the screens. It really doesn't take that long, it is just a pain to do. We'll also pull the A/C units out sometime this month and store those away. hahahahahahahaha
8. Family Activities - I'd like to get to a zoo with the kids. Nate requested this early this year but I like to wait until fall to avoid the heat! We are also planning to camp one last time near the end of the month. We did camp. I'm still trying to get to the zoo.
9. Planning - I've also started planning about what I want my theme word/focus to be next year. It seems early, but it isn't. I have an idea and want to research ways to actually implement the concept not only in my own life but that of our family too. I have some other planning to do too - just taking time to write down some things/ideas/plans that I would like to accomplish not only for me but for/with the family too. Still thinking . .and thinking . . and thinking
10. Financial goals - I'll be honest, the "no spend" concept in August didn't go as well. I let it slide a few times and once it starts to slide it keeps sliding. So, for September, I'm back to planning out our budget and not spending where we don't need to spend. August was a much better month but we didn't end quite where we wanted to so I'm hopeful that September will put us back in the right spot. I'm also doing lots of researching on ways to make just a little more income from home as the Munchkin will be in school full time. Time to start over again
I think that's all for the month. Now to take this list and break it down into some daily tasks that can be accomplished around school :-)
Friday, September 25, 2015
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!!!!!!
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!!!!!!
Monday, September 21, 2015
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. :-)
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. :-)
Saturday, September 19, 2015
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. :-)
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. :-)
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