Monday menu plan~ July 31, 2007

Monday: I had bible study so I just made quick hamburger helper.

Tuesday:  Tonight we are going to have spaghetti with a salad.

Wednesday:  Homemade BBQ sandwhiches, a pasta salad.

Thursday:  pizza night!

Friday:  Salsa chicken and whole grain organic brown rice.

Saturday:  Homemade soup and grilled cheese sandwhiches.

Sunday:  Hopefully leftovers from the week. If not probably some sort of casserole.

This is my PLANNED menu meal plan but often times things come up and I  miss a meal that I planned and do something else. Weekends are the worse because of things that we are doing. This Saturday hubby has a softball tournament and Sunday we are having a  church picnic so I am not sure how my planned meals for those days will turn out. Time is one concern depending on the time of the tournament. If it is late and runs around supper, something quick and on the run might work better.

 

Air show field trip~ July 29, 2007

Pancakes or mancakes? July 25, 2007

Here is the mancake I made a few weeks ago. It was a challenge at first because every time I tried flipping them over, they would fall apart. I practiced alittle and got better. The kids had fun with this. I got the idea from a blog that was also reading the little house in the prairie books. In the Little house in the big woods, ma makes mancakes for Laura and Mary as a treat for them.

Ramblings~ July 25, 2007

It’s been a busy week for us. I don’t like busy. I don’t mind going somewhere once in awhile like to my moms or to an appointment but when it gets to be 3-4 days out of the week we are gone for something, I don’t like that. Last week was Vacation Bible school and had to be gone every night and this week we have had alot  of appointments to go to. Thursday and Friday we have the dentist to go to again so I am not looking forward to that. I am a homebody. I love to be home and I can tell that when we are on the go all the time, I get crabby and the kids get more crabby. Especially Matt. He is my little spitfire. I am trying to finish up a schedule we are going to start when school starts and hope that this will help us out and save me from some insanity. When we stay home, we can eat healthier meals and on time. The kids can get their chores done and help with the house work and I can do more baking which is what I have been trying to do more of. Tonight I am attempting to make this cream puff cake but the crust part of it is just not working for me. I have tried making it twice and it is not rising like it is suppose to. Of course I ran out of eggs so I can’t try it a third time. I’m not sure I want to run to the store just for eggs.

 Here it is flat. It should be at least half way up the pan. I will have to ask mother-in-law if the recipe is correct. Hopefully it will still taste alright.

 Heres what the top of it looks like.

This is two packages of cheese cake pudding mix with 3 cups of milk and one package of cream cheese beaten together.

And last is just cool whip with some chocolate sause drizzled on top. This will have to sufice. I will see if I have the crust recipe right and as soon as I find out, I will post that.  

 We are still getting ready for school as far as organization goes. We got this really nice shelf off free cycle that someone was giving away so now I have shelving to put some more of our books on. You can never have to many shelves. Hubby still wants us to do Wisconsin Virtual Academy vs. me homeschooling on my own. He likes the idea that we don’t have to pay for any of the books or  most materials. This will save us money. He also wants me to have a load lifted off of me by not having to plan the lessons and most of all that I will have accountability. ACCOUNTABILITY. That is a word for me. I need accountability. If i don’t have someone to own up to, I tend to slack off and get off track. This is the biggest reason I think hubby wants me to do the Virtual Academy. I did homeschool on my own last year and with us moving and all the packing and other things that went on throughout the year, we got behind. He is scared for the kids and because I messed up once. he is afraid I will do the same this year again. He knows I want to homeschool and pretty much said I can do what I want but I feel that because this is what he wants me to do, I should obey him. Maybe it will be better for me to keep on track. Paul mentioned doing Virtual and adding in some of our christian materials. That is an option if we are able to. I guess it doesn’t hurt to try Virtual and if I don’t like it, I can always drop it and just homeschool. I’m still in my confusion state. I keep going back and forth on which one God would rather me do? Which one would be better for the kids?

 I thought school shopping was done. I was wrong though. Do you think I have enough crayons for the year? I need some paints and brushes yet and I would like to get a few more things for crafts like glitter and feathers etc. I love school shopping and doing crafts with the kids. We havn’t been doing crafts at all this summer except for a few the kids have done in Sunday school. Matthew is going to be working on kindergarten things this school year like learning his ABCs and learning to read. I am going to try to teach Mikayla who will be 4, alot of the same things just to make it easier for me and because I know she can do it. I hung this up finally because I have had this for 2 years and  it is time to put it to use. Along with the materials we are going to get from Virtual Academy, I am going to continue teaching Matt from a book called Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. This is such an excellent book and it really does work.  Here is what that book looks like. Dylan is going to be in 2nd grade this year but still is not reading like he should be. I put a word wall  up on the wall and hope to get more words on this one than the one we had last year.

 right now our crafts from Sunday school are taking up some room but when we start adding our words, we will take them down. This is a great way for the kids to see their progress. When alot of words started to appear on the board last year, Dylan got really excited to know that he knew how to read all of those words and he kept trying for more and more. It was like a game and it made him feel really good. Of course this year we have to share this board with Matthew and Mikayla.

Austin is going to be in the 8th grade this year and not only is this probably scary for him, it is scary for me as well. Austin hates to read and write. I know he will have alot of book reading and reports he will have to do and I am dreading the pushing I will have to do with him to get things done. I hope and pray that he has a good school year and learns alot. I still have planning to do and organization to accomplish. Prayers to be said and questions to be asked. I will keep you updated on this journey but this is all I have for right now.

Toodles

New pics of the garden July 24, 2007

 From start to almost finished, these are the pictures of the garden thus far. Hope you enjoy. There are a few other veggies out there but I didn’t get pictures of them. We have cabbage that is being eaten up, potatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers and maybe some melons. Some plants are doing excellent and some are hanging on the life line right now. We have time yet so hopefully things will pull through.

I was tagged! July 24, 2007

 I have been tagged by http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Homeschooling6/

 Here are the rules:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.

 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

 3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

 5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog for the rules.

Here are eight facts/habits about me…….

1. I love Italian food such as pizza, lasagna, speghetti etc.

2.  I was born in Colusa, California until age 10 and then moved to good old Wisconsin (from hot to cold)

3.  I want to learn to sew and crochet better. Maybe even to knit and quilt.

4.  I had my first born son at the age of 16 and was a single mother with him until I met my husband.

5.  My favorite color is pink.

6.  I am going to be 30 this year (January).

7.  I struggle with decision making and organization. (working on a schedule for us)

8.  I bite me nails and hate putting laundry away!

toodles

I am going to tag Jodi at http://www.abbiegavie.blogspot.com/

Here are the other 7 I have tagged: Candy at http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/ and EllaJac at http://aspiringtosimplicity.blogspot.com/ because I love reading her blog. Also Tamara at http://www.traininghearts.com/blog/ who has a beautiful blog. Her blog is neat with great writings and lots of fun stuff! Amy at http://trainachild.blogspot.com/ because her writings are interesting and Malissa at http://www.malissasmerrygoround.blogspot.com/ because she is a great friend and I love reading her blogs.  Only 2 more to go……

Stephanie at http://musings-of-a-mountain-mama.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html because I learn alot from the things that she does. I find her blog interesting to read.  And last but not least, Tiany at http://musings-of-a-mountain-mama.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html because she has alot of great information and alot of knowledge.

Wow, I did it! All eight people are tagged. These are my choice blogs because I get the most out of reading them and learn so much from them. I hope you all participate and that we can learn some things about you.

 Tanya

Monday Menu~ July 23, 2007

Monday:  Meat Loaf, brown rice & gravy, veggie, milk.

Tuesday:  Frugal tuna casserole, veggie, and milk.

Wednesday:  Chunks of beef round steak over seasoned noodles and a veggie, milk.

Thursday:  Homemade Tostada pizza (1st time making), milk

Friday:  Homemade soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

I haven’t made a menu in a few weeks and I can tell a difference in the way the household has been. CRAZY! This last week was VBS and I didn’t plan any meals. We ate late almost every day and didn’t eat very good and healthy meals. I noticed I was also a little crabby that week and because I was crabby, one of my sons was also very crabby. I couldn’t figure out why he was such a brat everyday. Then I put two and two together and just figured that he was probably crabby because I was. I think we were just feeding off of each other. And with all the commotion of VBS which ran until 8:30 PM. Everyone was drained and tired but it was worth it. The kids got a very good message and got to spend time with some friends. It was FUN!

Show and tell Friday~ July 20, 2007

Kelly over at http://www.kellishouse.blogspot.com/ is hosting show and tell Friday. Hop over to her site and check out everyone elses show and tell. There are some neat showings.

One day this week I took the kids to the Oshkosh zoo. It is just a little zoo here in the park but there is enough in it for the kids to look at. It is growing every year.

Isn’t this cute? We saw monkeys, cows, llamas, sheep etc. It was a fun walk through it.

 The kids hand fed some the animals which was kind of gross watching them slobber all over their hands.

It was a good thing that there was a hand sanitizer machine near by as well as a bubbler to wash the hands.

All in all it was a good time to get the kids out and about. We haven’t been there yet this year and now we can say we have. Yah!

than we took a trip to the . You guessed it. The Oshkosh library. We try to go here at least once a week. Especially when school is in session. Of course the first place the kids run to is

the movie section. They all get to pick one movie out and I have to ok it. Sometimes it is not a movie that I want them to watch or they pick one that they have seen 10 times. I think television watching is such a big waste of time unless it something that you are going to learn from. A movie once in awhile is great but it can sometimes get out of hand with the kids.

 P.S. Tiany is hosting Homeschool Open House which starts August 1st. That date is creeping up on us pretty fast so run on over to her site and check out what this all about. Click here to go and visit her http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Tiany/358408/

I will be posting all of my homeschool information hopefully by the end of the weekend. If I can’t get it done by then, I will post early next week. It’s going to another busy weekend and I am trying to get all of my homeschool stuff organized.

Have a happy Friday~

Crafty little critter from VBS July 19, 2007

This years theme at VBS is bugs so Dylan made this cool craft. I thought it was so cute and such a neat idea to share. If you are learning about bugs in homeschool, this craft is not to hard to tackle.

Scrapbook page July 19, 2007

I wish I knew how to make these bigger and brighter. This will have to do for now. This is my favorite page of the night. It is a zoo theme. The elephant is all little individual pieces glued together like a puzzle. I got the patter from a book called Piercing It.  Elephant is holding a bucket of peanuts.