Things my Kids Say

* One night recently my mom came over and, while walking up our porch steps she fell onto the porch.  Nate happened to be watching, laughed, and said, "You really need to watch that last step." That made me laugh out loud!

*  Recently, Josh looked at me and asked, "Mom, am I in charge now?"  I said No, of course.  So then he said, "Will I be in charge when I'm 10?"  Guess what I said ;-)  Then he said he wanted to know when he was the one in charge.  I just told him he has a long time until that happens HA!

* Nate loves Mac and Cheese.  Last week he walked into the bathroom (where I was cleaning) and informed me that we would have "Mac and Cheese for lunch today and after one sleep we will have hot dogs.  That is what I want and you just need to do it."  Then he turned around and walked out.  Really??  Geesh!

*  Our water softener stopped working recently (I'm so glad we rented one - they have to fix it!!) so I told the boys no baths because the water would be icky to which Nate replied, "I just need to wash mom, I just need to wash".  I offered him a quick shower but he told me he didn't have the time. 

Tell Your Time

At the end of October, I told you about my New BFF known as Google Calendar.  I have totally embraced this online calender to set up everything from my cleaning schedule to my blog schedule to the fun activities I do plan to do with the kids.   Around that same time I came across a great post at Homeschool Creations on budgeting time written from her perspective with her homeschooling family.  It actually took me back to my "Life on Purpose" days; ironically before I came across either idea I had printed off some of the original worksheets from Life on Purpose in order to "simplify" my scheduling.  Using all three ideas, I've found something that is really working for me, for now ;-)

Following the example of Homeschool Creations, I created a wonderful weekly schedule.  I love documents like this because it allows me to see where I am overbooking my life and to cut back.

Check it out!

A few things about my schedule:

1) The white areas are just that - "blank".  I don't have anything specifically scheduled so it is kind of like free time.  It also gives me cushion in my schedule to get things done. 

2) Yes, that is "rest time" that you see from 2-3 Monday-Thursday.  I know that once kids are down for a nap and my kids are playing or watching their favorite cartoon, I'm ready to sit down and do nothing so I planned for it.  

3) This is an average schedule.  There will always be things that come up like doctor's appointment, scrapbooking or visits from friends and that's ok.  

This schedule is concrete - it helps guide my daily and weekly schedule because now I can plug the stuff I need to get done into the correct areas. 

Check it Out!

This is my blank weekly schedule.  This is one of the documents from the original Life on Purpose workshop.  Basically it divides the day into Early, Mid and Late Morning and then Early, Mid and Late Afternoon.  This allows you (and me!) to plug stuff into a general time area not a time "slot".  For me, mid-morning is from about 9:00-10:30- which is dedicated to school when we are having class.  

Generally, I fill this in with pencil on Sunday.  I use my Google Calendar to list my planned cleaning chores, events, even what blog posts I want to write.  Then, I leave this on my desk next to my computer and have easy access to what I need to get done.  The blank spot on the bottom?  I've found that I list things that I need to remember to do the following week.  

Finally, I downloaded a copy of the book Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule so You Can Live Free It is just a short little book for a small price that came recommended.  I'm currently reading through it and have found it to be full of little ideas and great plans especially if you are a first time planner.  I really like how the author breaks things done such as breaking down what your roles are; Nonnegotiable vs Negotiable Activities and Fixed vs. Flexible Activities; Plotting your sleep because, we all need to sleep!  This guide is very easy to read and, with only 32 pages, easy to print, highlight, tape to your forehead, whatever you need! 

Food Friday - Pineapple Cheese Ball

Pineapple Cheese Ball
adapted from a friend

I have several cheese ball recipes that I really like but this is a new one!  Several weeks ago a mom brought this as the "mom treat" for Friday school; I could have taken the plate, sat in the corner and ate the entire thing.  It was so good that I went to the store, bought the ingredients and made it at home within just a few days.  For me, this cheese ball is the perfect combination of salty and sweet plus it is a softer cheese ball so you can just dig that cracker right in to the yummy goodness.  This would make a great appetizer/snack to take to any upcoming Holiday Party or Potluck.

12 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 small can crushed pineapple, very well drained
2-3 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
4 Tablespoons chopped green onion
4-6 Tablespoons Diced Ham (or finely chopped deli ham)
1 Cup chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients except the pecans and mix well.  Form into a ball (it is very soft - a spatula is able to do most of the work!) and chill.  Roll in crushed pecans; Refrigerate until served.  Serve with crackers. 


On a totally seperate note - I've started looking at Christmas Cookie Recipes!  Every year I think I will make all kinds of goodies and every year . . .I don't :-)  It isn't like we need it but it sure is fun.  I'd like to come up with some that are "tradition" so that as the boys get older we have those fun things on hand.  While looking through recipes, I also started looking through my own "recipe book" I created on line years ago when I used a Rol-a-dex to store my recipes .. .. I need to go through all of those because I've found some recipes we loved that I haven't made in years since those recipes never got reprinted to go into my new recipe binders.  All of the looking at recipes makes me hungry though!  

Weekly Menu

Well, we had a curve ball thrown at us this past week - my husband is having some pretty severe stomach issues and was put on, first, a clear liquid diet and then slowly moved to a bland diet with very little "real" food.  He's been eating banana's, animal crackers, and baked potatoes.  I'm at a loss of what to cook most days for myself and the boys are enjoying their favorites - Mac and Cheese, Hot Dogs, and Pancakes.  So, writing a menu for this coming week is a little difficult.  I decided to focus more on what I wanted to eat and then just make Darryl what he can  eat (things like plain chicken, plain rice, baked potaoes ect)

Friday - This is normally Taco night but we'll going to skip tacos for now.  I am going scrapbooking for the evening so I'll leave Mac and Cheese for the boys :-)

Saturday - This is "mom's night off".  I'll get either McDonald's or Taco Bell for the boys and I; Darryl will get a baked potato and some applesauce

Sunday - We are heading to my parents house for the day most specifically to see my niece before she heads to Brazil to see my brother (her dad) and sister-in-law (her mom).

Monday - This is soup night!  This is easy - I'll be making some Meatball soup.  This is one of my favorite soups!  I'll add some homemade bread, which both the boys and Darryl can eat. I think Darryl can also eat the broth and orzo that is in the soup since it is a mild soup.

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken sounds good to me!  (I'll cook Darryl a plain chicken thigh).  I'll add rice, which everyone can eat, and broccoli.

Wednesday - This is breakfast night so I think waffles, which everyone can eat, and sausage/bacon.

Thursday - I'm going to try something new tonight - Greek Spinach Feta Chicken Pockets.  I'll cook up a plain piece of Chicken for the big D.  I was trying to think of what to cook with this dinner that we could all eat so I think I'll do baked potatoes and  green beans  I might bake some biscuits too.

For snacks this week I'm going to make a great cheese ball recipe that I love (and Darryl doesn't HA!) I'm not sure about a sweet treat at the time of writing this . . .:-)

Harvest Party and Presentation Night

It's hard to believe that our Fall Semester at the Home School Co-op is done!  Considering the fact that it only goes 10 weeks and we missed 3 I guess it is no wonder it went fast!  We had a couple of activities that wrapped up the end of the semester so I wanted to share some fun photos!

So, my boys were beyond thrilled to get to play with all of the other kids in the straw.  It was fun to see their personalities.  Nate just ran to the straw and starting playing - even crawling up three bales and jumping, not caring what he landed on.  Whereas Josh looked at me and said, "Mom, can I go play anything over there? I mean anything? Really?"  He is my more cautious kids for sure!

 Nate took a break after running and running and running AND running!

To say they had fun that afternoon would be an understatement.  Even when the rain started, Josh played outside with kids while Nate went inside and played with the big kids.  They both slept well that night!

Presentation night is the night where the kids get to show what they learned over the semester. 

 Nate's class did played the sticks . . ..

 And then danced to the bean bag song. 

 And also sang the "Hot Dog Song"

 Josh's class sang their ABC song from the semester. 

On the way home Josh said to me, "Mom, next time, I am not going up front to sing.  I do not like to do that at all. " HA!  Nate on the other hand, he did not want to leave the front . . .he loves to "perform".

Josh's Birthday Photos

In October, we had Josh's Birthday Photos taken and this is the first chance I've had to share them!

 My photographer purposefully take a closeup photo that we can turn to black and white for my wall.  I just love that smile!

 This is my favorite over all photo.  It makes him look so grown up!

 Of course, we also got some together photos of both boys - they are best friends!

This was just a fun shot of Josh with a guitar.  By this point of the shoot he was about done with photos :-)

Homeschool Corner

Welcome back to Homeschool Corner!  My original plan was to get back into school this past week . . and we did; just not as much as I had hoped!

I had fully planned to start school on Monday morning but the boys asked for Play Dough.  What they didn't know is that my cousin had given me a full bag of Play Dough supplies back at the beginning of October so I got out all of the play dough stuff.  The boys played with the play dough for 3 full hours.  I think it was a huge success.

Tuesday we actually got some school work done.

We used cars to make "O"'s.  It was a great race track :-)

Then, we enjoyed a concert.

 Josh loves to play the piano.  I have a preschool piano book that he uses; he is not ready for lessons yet . . I've tried.  He is still very much about just playing what he wants to play.  I try to teach him concepts through just conversations and hope that maybe sometime next year he'll be ready for a little more "teaching". 

 While the concert is going on . . .Nate uses a wooden pizza cutter on his face :-/  HA

Notice the tongue?  The higher the notes, the further the tongue sticks out. 

The rest of week was a wash.  On Wednesday the boys were playing so I let them play.  Thursday we took my husband to a doctor appointment.  Friday was the last day of Friday school but the boys actually went to my Mother-in-Laws for the weekend.