Teaching Tuesday

So, this semester my goal is to stay on top of all the extra stuff.  Journals, portfolio items, extra pages, plus holiday fun.  I've also let go of perfectionism and the need to finish every lesson each day.  Instead, I use our whiteboard to list what needs to be done each day.  It looks something like this:


Monday
Josh - LL 9:00 (Live Lesson)
Write 1 journal
Complete 5 lessons

Nate - LL 10:00
Write ABC sheet
Finish Art Project
Complete 5 lessons

By doing this, it gives me a focus and allows them to see what they have done as we mark items off. 

Another goal I have is for the boys to attend as many of their live lessons as possible.  I'm finding that the teachers are using the Live Lessons to give assignments or explain assignments in the upcoming lessons which is different than fist semester. 

Last week we accomplished quite a bit . We wrote out lots and lots of Valentines, Nate had an animal report to complete, Josh wrote journals, memorized word lists, and worked on reading.  Plus Live Lessons and regular lessons.

I need to take some more lessons of the boys working but every time I head to get my camera out, someone needs me!! 

Make It Monday - Valentine's Fun

My boys love Valentine's Day.  Since we homeschool, last year we sent Valentine's to family members.  Needless to say, they wanted to do it again (and they are going out tomorrow . . .a few days late!).  We also had some other opportunities this year, though.  Josh was able to fill out Valentine's for his on-line class and send them in to be sent on to classmates.  His teacher let us know that the envelopes of Valentines were being sent out so we should get those on Tuesday.  PLUS, this year, I took extra meds (HA!) and decided to take the boys to the Co-Op Group Valentine Party.  We did this like 3 years ago and I almost had a nervous breakdown due to the sheer chaos of the party.  Such disorganization - I packed the boys up and left.  This year, I figured they were old enough to do much more on their own so we went.  They were thrilled.  They filled out more Valentines (I swear, I spent about $3000.00 on Valentine's this year.  Ok, not really, but we bought a lot - good thing they are cheap!) I made our box .. .secretly . . with no help . . to save my sanity.  And I signed up to bring fruit cups so I didn't have to cook or worry about anything food related - I just bought applesauce cups :-)  I DID make our family Valentine's and was very happy with my creativity :-)

Don't you just love it???  HA!  Now, I can't take credit for this - my best creativity comes from other people so you can find this idea over at Our Thrify Ideas

 There was a compitition for the best decorated box.  I thought ours was pretty good - it included some pink heart flower picks all along the sides (the kids took those) and two Valentine balloons - again, confiscated by the boys.  BUT there were some UNREAL boxes at the party.  R2D2's, Lego Boxes, Minecraft, and more.  The boys have already told me that they want to decorate our box next year so they can win. HA!

Just a sample of the 47 8 boxes of Valentines we bought.  Yes, e.i.g.h.t. boxes. 

Weekly Menu

I can always tell when our days are full because I blog less.  By the time I sit down at night, I'm done.  We've been focusing on school work and Valentines so we've been busy!

I have some great cookbooks.  The Pioneer Woman and Taste of Home (I buy their yearly cookbook each year!) but I seldom open them.  I decided that I needed to pull them out and start trying some recipes.  We are getting tired of all of our old standbys and even as I've made some of those old favorites, we've found that we don't love them anymore and need new choices.  Or maybe I'm just tired of cooking :-) haha

Here's the plan for this week:

Saturday - We have enjoyed going out to dinner the last few Saturdays.  It's a great way to get out of the house for a few hours plus I don't have to cook :-)

Sunday - It's Valentine's Day!  Pan-Fried, Marinated Steaks, Sweet Potatoes/Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot, Steakhouse Salads (w/Blue Cheese Dressing!) and, because I want to show love to everyone in the family, Mac and Cheese :-)  We'll have Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Sticky Cherry Cake for Dessert.  This is a mix of old a new - Some Pioneer Woman Recipes and some that we already love.

Monday - Tonight is one of those nights where I have too many places to be.  The boys have gymnastics and I have to be at a meeting.  So, simple, simple.  I'll leave Hot Dogs/Corn Dogs for the boys to all eat after Gymnastics.

Tuesday - Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Thighs (something new from Pinterest), Buttered Noodles, and Roasted Carrots. This main dish recipe comes from Pinterest.  Chicken Thighs are cheap right now so its a great time to try out new recipes.

Wednesday -  Honey Onion Chicken, French Fries and Pickles. This is a recipe from my recipe book - I'm trying to cook through my recipes to weed out the ones we don't love anymore.

Thursday - BBQ Ribs, Twice Baked Potatoes, Salad, Rolls. We love ribs.  This is a new recipe from All Recipe.com

Friday - Baked Cranberry Meatballs, Crab Wonton Cups, and Layered Greek Dip. I'm on the hunt for new snacks so I used the Taste of Home Cookbook to pick out some new things to try.  I'll probably have frozen pizza for the boys. 

Family Fun - A Visit to Santa

We have a great thing locally - a "Santa House" with a registered Santa and Mrs. Claus.  It's a great set up and it is all free.  The boys look forward to going and this year, it wasn't even cold :-)

 Waiting in line - there are "Elves" who hand out cloth snowballs to use in some games.

 Josh has no issue with going right up to Santa, sitting on his lap and sharing his life story with him.

 Nate, on the other hand, makes it as far as the door and stops so this is the way we take a "Santa Photo" :-)

All the kids got red noses this year :-)

And one other event on December 12th:

Josh lost his first tooth.  Nate accidentally elbowed him in the mouth and knocked it out (it was loose).  Josh was a little shocked by the whole thing and didn't want anyone to know.

Weekly Menu - It's Superbowl Time!

This is the time of year that we love to hate . .. It's Superbowl time.  We love all of the hype and fun but we hate that it is the end of Football!  One good thing . . the Olympics are coming :-)

Here's the plan for the coming week:

Saturday - We did not go to town last week so right now the plan is to go to town today.  There is a Home Depot workshop to attend, a Red Robin gift card to use, Christmas/Birthday gift cards to use at Toys R Us and probably a stop at Trader Joes and Krispy Kreme donuts. We'll still need to eat dinner so probably BBQ Cups and Fries - something super easy but something we love.

Sunday - Super Bowl!  After church - Alfredo/Spaghetti and Cheese Stuffed Meatballs.  (I love the meatballs because they cook in the crock pot while we are at church!) Of course, we'll have Super Bowl snacks.  I'm still totally on the fence on what to make.  I want easy, no prep work, very little clean up . .  so I'm not sure what I'll do!

Monday - Chicken and Stuffing in the Crock Pot, Salad, and Rolls

Tuesday - Baked Chicken Thighs, Mac and Cheese, and Green Beans

Wednesday - Tomato Basil Chicken and Salad

Thursday -Asian Sesame Sliders and Fries

Friday - Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes with Ham, Broccoli, and Rolls

What We're Eating - Olive Bread

Olive Bread
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

I've had this recipe saved for awhile but just didn't try it.  I was trying out some new lunch recipes recently and, since I had olives on hand, decided to try out this bread.  I used canned Pillsbury french bread for the break (obviously, cooking the loaf before using it).  I was afraid that this bread was going to be weird since the recipe uses mayonnaise (that always freaks me out HA!) but it reminded me of a pizza with olives without the sauce.  I really enjoyed it and plan to make it again.  The link above shares about how to flash freeze the bread so you could make it in advance and cook it on different days.

• 1 loaf French Bread
• 6 ounces, weight Pimiento-stuffed Green Olives
• 6 ounces, weight Black Olives
• 2 stalks Green Onions (scallions)
• 1 stick Butter, Room Temperature
• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
• 3/4 pounds Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated

Instructions

Roughly chop both black olives and pimiento-stuffed green olives. Slice green onions into thin pieces.

Combine butter, mayonnaise, cheese, olives and green onions in a mixing bowl. Stir together until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture onto French bread that has been sliced lengthwise. Bake at 325ºF for 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning.

Mixture can also be refrigerated (up to two days) and used as a dip. Great with crackers.

Teaching Tuesdays -

So, we have started the second semester . . .technically.  Second semester started last week, Tuesday.  The boys were visiting Papa and Nana and came home on Wednesday.  On Thursday, I finally felt like I can put everything "back together" - there was still stuff  not unpacked and put away from Christmas.  For Real.  So, I spent the day going from room to room and putting everything thing back in its rightful place.  The boys did educational things - built Legos, configured a race track and figured out how to get the electric cars working.  On Friday, we had our Co-Op so things were busy and, quite honestly, I was ready to get back into the grind.

Now, the scheduler is run to reflect that we started classes yesterday.  We have our goals for sight words, Josh has a book to record, Nate has January writings to finish and February writings to start, Josh has a writing assignment to do plus we have Valentines to write and sent in for his classmates.  Not to mention live lessons, gymnastics, AWANA, and Tae Kwon Do.

We have an ultimate goal (Ok, I have a goal)  to be 90% done with school by May 1st.  I'd like to have every subject completely done with Art, Science, Social Studies, and Technology leaving just Math and Reading.  Those two subjects I don't mind working on throughout May but I'd like to be done with those before Memorial day.  I know that once the weather gets nice - the boys want to be outside and that is one of the privileges of homeschool - getting to enjoy the weather!

With that said, we are busy working this week to stay current and maybe get ahead :-)