We are a little late on the two-wheel bike front around here. One reason is that it took until this spring for either of my kids to figure out how to pedal their trikes. Then we just kept forgetting to buy training wheels. Well, we finally picked up a set this past week and put them on a fantastic bike that my Uncle and Aunt gave us. The bike is about 20 years old but it is in near perfect shape and belonged to my cousin when he was little. Isn't that awesome? Thanks to my uncle, who fixed it all up and made sure it was pretty near perfect, we had a great bike for Josh.
Any time Darryl is working on a project, the boys have to be involved. They all went to the basement to pick out tools; then Josh was able to help put the training wheels together.
He also helped putting the wheels on his bike.
Then found a place to put the hose from the air compressor . . .even if it wasn't the right spot!
Then he tried it out. It only took him a second before he was steady and on his way around the driveway.
We had to end the day with a walk/ride around the block.
Nate has now moved to Josh's bigger trike but he is not happy that he doesn't have a bike like Josh's. We do have a little toddler bike that was given to us by a neighbor that is not in great condition but Nate has claimed it and is so upset that his "bike just lays down" because it doesn't have training wheels. I have found some that should fit it on Amazon and will be ordering those in the next few days so he can have a two wheel bike to ride. That should hold him over until the spring when we can get him a nicer bike - and one that is more the size of Josh's. Right now, that bike is just a tiny bit too big.
This cheese ball is fantastic - probably one of the best I've ever had. The recipe is simple and I even cheat when I make it for just us at home - I don't roll it in the seasoning - we just eat it out of the bowl.
8
ounce cream cheese (softened)
2
½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
½
cup chopped dill pickle
¼
cup finely chopped green onion
2
tablespoons mayonnaise
1
teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½
cup finely chopped walnuts
Pinch
of Parsley, Basil, Dill
Beat
everything except walnuts, parsley, basil and dill until smooth.Chill at least one hour.Roll unto a ball.Roll into walnut and seasoning mixture.Refrigerate until serving.
This past week, the menu worked out pretty good. One day I am really trying to streamline is Sunday. It took too long after church to get lunch on the table, too long to clean up, because we ate late, we didn't eat dinner but then the kids were hungry at 7:30, which was bed time. If we had a great pizza place around here, I'd make Sunday night pizza night, but we don't so I need something simple. We don't tend to have many leftovers to snack on either. Because we love to watch football on Sunday afternoons - I don't want to be cooking and cleaning through kick off time :-)
Here's the plan for this week:
Friday I'll just say that our tacos last week were fabulous. So fabulous that I turned them into Nachos for Lunch on Saturday! Tonight we'll have Chicken Tacos. Thankfully Walmart had their good crcok-pots marked down to 19.97 . . .since I still needed to replace mine :-)
Saturday - Darryl is working; I'm going to take the boys to a fall festival here in town then head to the city to make a Hobby Lobby stop for a couple of school things I can't find online. Since we will be in town, we'll meet up with the Big D for dinner.
Sunday It is just the boys today as Darryl has to work and then has a concert. I plan on making some Sloppy Joes up on Saturday to eat for lunch today. Josh LOVES them. I'll serve it with some chips . . .Nate loves chips :-/
Monday - This is a carry over from last week - Monte Cristo Stuffed Chicken, Baked Mac and Cheese, Sauteed Cabbage and Biscuits. I'm doing chicken tonight because this meal will take more prep work and I'll be gone part of the day on Tuesday.
Tuesday - I'm scrapbooking most of the day so I've planned a quick dinner - Meatball Soup and Bread.
Wednesday - Mini Sausage Quiches, Easy Banana Bread and Fruit. Really, the quiches, are for me ;-) I'm not sure if either boy will try them but I love them. Then can eat bread and fruit :-)
Thursday - Sweet and Sour Meatballs, baked Brown Rice and asparagus. I've made this a few times and have mixed feelings on it. I'm going to try it one more time and decide if we "love it or leave it".
For some extra things - Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip pretzel cookies and Pumpkin Crunch.
I wish I was a great writer, I really do. I wish I could put words on paper that created a visual picture in the readers mind and get them thinking. Most days, I'm lucky if use "then" and "than" correctly in a sentence even after teaching it for 8 years to elementary students. Obviously, I did not graduate with a degree in any type of writing so instead, I enjoy reading what others have written and, periodically, I come across something that is just too good not to share. In this case, it is an article from Finding Joy. At first, I just read the one article but recently I went to the main page of the blog and starting skimming/reading through other posts and have found a writer who speaks to my heart. Even though I'm sharing this one specific article, if you enjoy what the author writes, then dig further into her blog and read more.
I sense some changes coming to this weekly post. I'm struggling to consistently find good ideas; good NEW ideas to share. I'm noticing too that a lot of "linky" craft parties are either already gone or are going away and moving to Pinterest pages. With that in mind, I'm going to re-work my Too Cute concept and learn more to things I want to do in my own home and crafts I want to complete. Everything from cleaning to decorating to crafts.
Give me a week to wrap my mind around this and I'll fill you more next week :-)
I would count last week as a success with Preschool and K-4. We did not get through everything I had planned but we did school Monday-Thursday and are slowly getting into a routine that seems to be working. I'm seeing some areas that I need to work on when it comes to one-on-one time for instruction as well as the simple fact that we need flashcards for the two in Preschool to review numbers, letters, and colors. We missed Friday school this week due to sickness - Fevers, Lots of Snot and a middle of the night puke fest due to the snot and coughing - not fun :-(
The boys have always loved the Tangrams so using the letter puzzles from the curriculum that comes from Confessions of a Homeschooler are always a big hit. Not only do they practice the letter shape, they also review colors and shapes.
The Dot-to-Dot pages are a favorite too. Yes, the boys always have to stamp themselves at least once during the process too.
Josh has his own curriculum for K-4 but he also loves doing the same thing as the younger two boys. This week I tried to pick out the things he would really love and allowed him to do those on top of his own work. He was a much happier camper this week!
We had record breaking heat this past week which meant that for a couple days, we were "trapped" in the living room where we had some A/C. It also meant staying in PJ's and no shirts for the boys HA! Nate enjoyed this counting activity - counting seeds on an apple. I liked that it gave him a challenge when he got to numbers 9 and 10 - he had to count the tiny seeds very carefully to get the right number.
Josh is working on filling in numbers on his calendar.
One of the things I love about the curriculum I'm using for the boys is the variety of activities. The boys had to use a toothpick to poke through the letter. It was fun to see their faces when we turned the paper over and they could see the "pokes" better.
Cutting practice is a must! Along with some good old fashion paste :-)
This has nothing to do with school but, I've been waiting for this day! We set up the Game Cube for the boys to play; when I checked on them later, there they sat, on Josh's bed with the bean bag. I love this!
A classic matching game of upper and lower case letters
My child has a drinking problem HA! Nate said he was thirsty and wanted all of his cups.
This warmed my heart - seeing my kid laying on the floor and doing his school work
This is one activity that is not from our curriculum but an idea I found on Pinterest. The printable can be found at B-Inspired Mama. My kids thought it was fun but I think I'll add some velcro to it so that the letters will stay in place :-)
One last fun photo - I think Josh needs a tool belt for Christmas :-)
* The boys were playing with Darryl and were trying to "fix" his back. Josh "cut" Darryl's stomach open and was "looking" inside. Darryl asked if he saw anything and Josh said, "Just looking for germs dad, just looking for germs" :-) Meanwhile, Nate was using a hammer to check reflexes. He came over to me and hit my knee, elbow, foot ect and then proclaimed, "Those flexes are great, they are just great mom" :-)
* Again with the tools I heard this conversation: Josh: Nate, I'm going to cut off your head. Nate: Please don't, that will hurt. and then Nate: I need to find something to cut off my leg. Seriously kids?
* Nate informed me that his mom sleeps in a tent and he has 80 kids. That boy has one big family
* We have a cabinet in the bathroom that has a broken latch. Nate was studying it one day, then came out to the living room and told me that he needs a new hooker because his old one just doesn't work anymore. Yes, I was rolling on the floor laughing and he had no idea why.
* Josh:
Mom, sometimes boogers are really big. If they are too big, you have
to use your finger. You can only use a kleenex to get the tiny ones.
*Recently the boys noticed the grass was long . .. then I noticed that the house was quiet so I peeked outside and found them cutting the grass with their scissors. Guess it is time to mow :-) * There was a rainbow after a big rain storm recently. The boys saw it at home while I saw it while at the store. After I got home, Nate sat on my lap and told me that they saw the rainbow and that there is a big pot at the end filled with gold coins that we can have. I asked him where it was and he told me we had to go through the trees and over a BIIIIIIGGGGG hill to get to it. He was so cute telling his whole story - I love listening to his imagination :-)
