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