Coming Home

The boys, after being gone for two weeks, finally came home on Monday, July 7th.  Wow, two weeks a long time but I was sure glad that they had so much fun at my parents with VBS, swimming in the neighbors pool, and taking rides on their big wheels.  I think they were a little excited to get home though and got right into playing with their stuff and, of course, swimming.  They also have enjoyed having their dad home every day all day. 

 Darryl has to spend quite a bit of time laying down so he and the boys love playing games on the Ipad.  They love passing different levels and yes, all get extremely excited about it!

The boys are also so helpful - they will get Darryl's back brace and walker for him, often without even being asked. 

 Darryl also is supposed to walk as much as possible so he and the boys take 3-4 walks a day.  The boys love it because they get to ride their bikes around the neighborhood (super fast!) which, considering they aren't allowed to leave the driveway normally, that is a huge deal. 

We took this walk one night after baths so they just looked too cute in their PJ's and Mohawk bike helmet zipping down the road.  For the record, I do tend to do at least one walk with them but, honestly, the other walks, I really enjoy the 10 minutes of solitude :-)

Food Friday - Gooey Raspberry Coffee Cake

Gooey Raspberry Coffee Cake
adapted from I wash . . . You dry

When the kids were gone I wanted to make something good for dessert.  I love raspberries and came across this recipe for a Raspberry coffee cake.   It was so good!  The white chocolate is a perfect combo paired with the Raspberries.  I will say that the fresh raspberries kinda disappeared into the cake as it cooked and I could have easily put in some more.  It is best eaten once it is completly cooled (I tried it while it was still too hot and, well, it was HOT)  My husband said it tasted more like the juice from maraschino cherries than raspberries but I didn't think so :-)  

Crust:
• 1 box yellow cake mix (just the mix)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
Filling:
• 1 cup raspberries
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
Topping:
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cold (cut into small pieces)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Crust:
2. In a large bowl combine the cake mix, egg and melted butter with a sturdy wooden spoon until it becomes a soft dough. Use half of the dough for the crust, and press it into the bottom of the baking pan.
Filling:
3. Spread the raspberries and white chocolate chips evenly over the crust. Drizzle with the sweetened condensed milk.
4. Use the remaining half of the crust to cover the raspberry filling, as best you can. (separate the dough into small disk shapes and lay on top of the raspberries)
Topping:
5. In a bowl combine the ingredients for the topping. Use your hands to squish the topping together, until it becomes a crumbly, coarse mixture. Sprinkle on top of the cake bars.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the center is only slightly jiggly. Let cool completely before lifting the cake bars out of the pan. Cut into squares. The bars should still have a gooey texture to them. Enjoy!

 

Weekly Menu

Food Prep was a HUGE success this week.  It helped that we were expecting company on Sunday so I prepped for for a nice lunch on Sunday after shopping on Saturday.

The photo shows a pan of baked beans ready to go in the oven on Sunday morning, Watermelon, grapes, the makings of "Ken's Fruit Salad" and Asian Coleslaw.  Plus chopped lettuce for salad during the week and, not included in this photo is a pork loin simmering on the stove for Root Beer Pulled Pork for Sunday as well.

My kids are going to my in-laws for a short week so that means "the cooking gets easy around here." 

Friday - The kids leave during the afternoon for my mother-in-laws house.  Darryl has to go to the hospital and get x-rays of his back so we'll do that and then stop somewhere for dinner.

Saturday - I'm going to try my hand at fish tacos again.  I've tried them a few times and have yet to find a good recipe - it's a meal we love to get at a restaurant so I'd like to recreate it at home!

Sunday -This is up in the air as of right now.  We are planning to go to the church my brother will be speaking at on Sunday evening so I'm thinking hamburgers for lunch with corn on the cob.  But, it's possible he will be speaking in the morning and, if that happens, we'll grab something after church for lunch. 

Monday - Darryl has a late afternoon doctor appointment so we'll grab dinner out after that is done.

Tuesday - We are expecting dinner to be delivered from someone at church.

Wednesday - We are going to my in-laws to pick up the boys and will have dinner with them as well.

Thursday - This is our last meal from church.  We've really been blessed by the meals from the church and friends over the past few weeks that's for sure!

Based on that list above I hardly need to go grocery shopping. Ok, I still do because we still need bread, milk and Pepsi :-)

Surgery

I'm trying to catch up on some events that took place over the past few months.  One of these days, I want to print my blog by the year so these posts are a great way to keep a timeline! 

As you all know, my husband had back surgery on June 25th so here are a few photos.

 This was the big "D" before surgery.  He was all wrapped in warm blankets while we waiting for the surgeon.  The day was long, that's for sure.  He was scheduled for surgery at 8:30 and they took him back at about 8:45.  We were told it would take about about 2 hours but, at about the 1 1/2 hour mark the nurse came out to tell me all was going well.  I waited and waited and then at the 3 1/2 hour mark, the nurse came out again and said it was taking a lot longer than expected but all was going fine.  Finally, about 45 minutes later they told me he was in recovery and it would be about an hour.  Well, two hours later, the nurse came out and said he was out cold thanks to pain meds so until he woke up I could "relax" in the waiting room.  Well, to keep an even longer story short, I did get back to see him and was told he would be sent to a room within the hour . . .ready, TWO hours later we were still waiting for a room!!!  He was finally taken to his room at about 6:30 that evening.  Considering the fact that we expected to be in a room by noon that day, well that was just crazy.  Once Darryl was settled in, I went to our favorite Mexican place and picked up some dinner so it made the long day a little better!

 We had a beautiful view out the window of his room - there were storms rolling in - it was pretty cool to watch.

We finally got him sitting up for a bit but he was pretty sick for a few days and in some severe pain which caused our hospital stay to be longer than planned - the doctor had hoped to get us out on Friday but we stayed until Sunday as it took that long to get his pain under control. 

Family Gathering

My oldest brother and sister-in-law, Kel and Deb, and my nephew Micah came home from Brazil in mid-June and we finally got to see them the weekend before Darryl's surgery.   We all gathered at my niece's house for a cook out and lots of laughing.

 My brother, Kel, loves my boys and my boys love him!

 Big and Little kids alike love the hammocks my niece has hung between some awesome huge trees in her backyard.

The boys are in their glory because their favorite person in the whole world was at the gathering - my niece Kate.  They also love Uncle Kenny because he plays with them too.

 It was a beautiful day so we spent a lot of time outside just catching up with everyone.

 My nephew Kaleb is doing an internship in MA but was able to come to Michigan for a week to see his family. 

 Micah - my nephew.  He will be heading of to college this fall . .. he can't be that old, can he?

Kel - my oldest brother - I love him dearly!!!

 My parents.  They look pretty good if I say so myself.

 Ahhh, my sister-in-law Lynnette.  She is awesome

The boys getting beat up :-)

 The host and hostess - Alex and Alicia.

 Nana got into playing some games with the boys.

 My brother Jeff and sister-in-law Nora.  We don't see them often so having them at the gathering was a real treat.

My three brotheres trying to look mean.  Ken, on the left, finds that next to impossible :-)

 Brothers - Micah and Kaleb.

It really was an awesome day.  We laughed, ate, laughed some more and then just sat around and visited for awhile.  I will admit the drive home was long.  The boys had gone home with my parents so it was just Darryl and I - we did a lot of really loud singing with all of the windows open while driving down the expressway during the last hour of the drive but it was well worth the trip!

Homeschool Happenings - K-5

It's July.  I'm sure you all realize that but it hit me the other day that I'll be starting K-5 with the boys in the month of August.  That is next month.  Reality.  Sure, we will be starting at the end of the month but still . . .August seems so close!

I used Darryl's days in the hospital and worked on some lesson plans.  With K-5 it is key (at least in my mind) to find a balance between key subjects like reading, math and phonics, the fun subjects like Science, History and PH and the skills like handwriting and "calender time" all while remembering that at this age you only get a couple of hours out of the kids at the most.  Our schedule is pretty straight forward - I just broke our morning up into 15 or 30 minute segments.  The plan is as follows:
9:00-9:15 - Calender time.  Yes, quick and to the point.  Just going over the date, weather and a little time study.
9:15-9:45 - Math.  We'll go through "Life of Fred" each day for about 15 minutes and then they will have workbox work to do (I'll get into work box stuff at a later date).  They will have Math Worksheet(s) and Handwriting to work on during down time.
9:45-10:15 - Phonics.  We'll work on our SSWR lesson and workbook pages
10:15-10:30 - Break time and snack time as needed.
10:30-11:00 - Reading - This is the time we will work on Five in a Row lessons which will include reading the story and doing some quick activities.
11:00-11:30 - This time frame is busy.  I would like to do some basic US Geography (very, very basic), go through lessons in our Science Magazines, do some PE Lessons on a few days, ect.  We may do some cooking (which counts a science, right?) We may do learning games or computer games during this time too.  So, as you can see, it will vary based on the day.
11:30-12:00 - The boys will need to finish up any worksheets not done and then will be able to do an activity in their workbox until lunch which could include computer time, a game or reading or . .yes, just play time.

I will not be super strict about the time frames.  Some days we may finish Math in 20 minutes so we'll move right on into Phonics.  Or if a reading activity takes longer on a given day we will skip the "extra" stuff that day.

The other strategy I have decided to do is to plan in groups of 6 weeks.  The lesson plans include 5 weeks of straight plans then, week 6 is mostly "catch up" on subjects.  We may be current on everything except Phonics so we'll spend time working on phonics lessons but take a break from the other stuff.  This week is also a great time to plan a field trip or give the boys the opportunity to go to Papa and Nana's house for a few days.  OR this "Sixth Week" allows freedom in the other five for the extra things because I know we can catch up before hitting the next 6 weeks.

The boys are getting excited about school especially when I tell them that by the end of the year, they will know how to read.  I'm excited about it too!  This is what many of my days consist of right now:

 (A Huge stack of books, wookbooks, and printables - trying to organize and figure it all out)

("The Wall" - redoing the classroom wall with only what we need!)

Planning, Planning and more planning!! 

Playing in the Rain

Every since we put up the pool on Father's Day the boys have had fun almost every day hanging in the pool.  A few weeks ago, we had a rainy Friday but the boys wanted to swim in the rain and who am I to say no . . .despite temps that barely were in the 60's HA! 

I was surprised how long they lasted in the cold pool but even after getting out they enjoyed playing in the rain.

 The boys loved riding bikes in the rain too.  Notice that Nate has put on his PJ pants, a jacket and rain boots while Josh braved the chilly rain in just his bathing suit.  Josh is my "hot" kid!!

After spending time in the rain, they came inside to dry off, warm up and do what all boys love to do - play Legos for hours! 

This was the last day the boys were home before being gone for two weeks due to Darryl's surgery so I love that they got to have "special" fun as a great memory!!