Today's School

These are resources we are using today. 

I hope we learn something by the end of it! :)

Menu and Food Plans for Aug 29-Sept 4

Back to Pinterest this week!


I've made several chicken and dumplings over the years and they just aren't like the ones our mothers made.  My dh LOVES the way his mom made them and my mom made them similar to hers.
It's time to try THIS version!

**UPDATE** My chicken and dumplings came out terrible.  Edible, barely. I do not know what I did wrong.  I just have a hard time with dumplings! I might try these again far in the future. :/

• Beef Casserole

***UPDATE*** This casserole was pretty good actually but it was a lot of work (to me) I'm not sure I'll make it again when I have other recipes that are just as tasty, or better and less steps.

• Chicken Parmesan I plan on subbing Panko bread crumbs for the corn flakes because I already have some.

***UPDATE*** I really liked this one!  But I don't think my hubby did as much.  He did not want leftovers of it.  Usually a sign. :/

• Philly Style Sloppy Joes

***UPDATE*** I thought this was yummy! I made mine with colored peppers because the green ones make me sick.  But I don't think the hubby or son liked it that much. Again no seconds or left overs wanted.  What is it with them?  I thought it was very tasty!

Other meals are:

• Buffalo Quesadillas - using some of the buffalo chicken I made last week.

• Turkey Smoked Sausage and Beans

• Pizza from the Deli at Walmart. On Wednesdays I need a no-brainer meal and this is an alternative to take-out.

I'll be doing some food prep to get ahead by:

• cooking the ground beef ahead of time and separating it and freezing it.  
• cooking the chicken in the crock pot with the veggies for the chicken and dumplings then freezing
• making a "freezer pack" with the sausage, beans and other ingredients right in the bag
• chopping the veggies ahead of time and packaging them up to be ready to go

Menu Plans this Week August 22nd-28th

I follow a wonderful blog called Organize Yourself Skinny (OYS for short) and she inspired me to post my plan here.  I often make a menu and an eating/exercising plan but I don't post it here.

This week I really need to use the groceries I have on hand already.  I have a few packages of chicken in the freezer, and frozen fruits for smoothies and several veggies frozen and canned. Along with pasta and tomato products.  I also have several bags of dried beans.  I really need to get those crock pots going!  The problem is you have to be home to cook and I have somewhere to be all weekend.  I'm going to have to get creative if I'm going to continue to eat healthy and still live life!

Okay so here's my menu plan for the week -

Breakfast:
Egg/Sausage/Cheese sandwich (I already have these ingredients)
~or~
Smoothies
I simply use mixed frozen fruit, greek yogurt, spinach and a little flax to make my smoothies.  I add water to get the consistency I want.

Snack:
boiled egg or cheese stick

Lunch: Salad in a Jar or left-over chicken and crackers

Snack:
apples and PB2
or
Veggies and hummus or cottage cheese dip (I'll decide at the grocery store)

Suppers:
Back to Pinterest:
I never made this complete chicken dinner so I'm adding it to the list again~

I want to make this Stroganoff with non-spicy beef! So I'm adding it to the list again too.

Trying OYS Cheeseburger Stuffed Peppers

Also trying OYS Buffalo Chicken to use in wraps with cheese and veggies~

We will have a chopped chef's salad.  

I don't think I can go a week without TexMex sooo....

Added: Just found this recipe for grilled squash and I will be making it with this casserole.

I hope I can use up things in my freezer/pantry this week and stay on plan!

High School 2014-15

I hesitate to put a grade level on this but ds is 16 now (Yikes!) and isn't on a specific grade level in anything.  We just keep plugging away and moving forward bit by bit.  But here is what I have put together for this fall's curriculum.

We follow AO/HEO basically but of course we change it up to meet our needs.  I use the "lite" versions and even then we don't get it all done.  There is so much!  Here's what we have planned.

We are just about in Term 2 of Year 8 at Ambleside Online.

DS has some LD (no labels, we just know this after 16 years ;)) and so we make adjustments to just about everything.  We buddy read, use audible, I read aloud, we work on the white board etc to get it all done.  He's very intelligent and a very deep thinker.  His reading comprehension is wonderful but he just doesn't read fast enough to read all the AO books!  He also has trouble with the act of handwriting so we need to work on that this year as well.  It's painful and we need to build up those muscles.  Copywork is perfect for that and his composition can be done on the computer.

As we finish each book or text, we will insert the next one on the list.

Here's what we are using besides the AO titles right now:
Bible - Hebrews. We are starting a new series at our church and ds will be working on his daily reading and "homework" every day
Science - Apologia Biology (we are more than 2/3 of the way through this)
Latin - Latina Christiana.  It is for younger students but I think it will work for us right now. It'll be his first dive into another language
Math - Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra.  We were into Alg 1, but struggling so we went back for a bit.  He's picking up faster now and we'll be back in Alg 1 soon!
Shakespeare - Hamlet
Plutarch - Crassus
Artist Study - Fra Angelico
Composer Study -Hildegard von Bingen

I will let him choose a book from the earlier years of AO to read on his own just for the purpose of reading fluency, and comprehension building and just plain old reading for enjoyment.  He's never enjoyed reading and hopefully this will help!

We will be starting drivers ed soon as well and I have plenty of other books waiting in the wings.

I also work out of the house two days a week so he works mostly independently on those two days and we do as much together as possible the first two days.  I really hope to get it all done in four days.  We are very busy with other things like our puppet team and other ministries at church so "book work" is only part of our education. Plus some time or other we need to clean, do chores and cook as well as just have some down time. :)

I have so many projects I'd like to do and I just never seem to get around to doing them! Some day!

Recpies From Pinterest I'm trying this week

I've pinned these to my pinterest boards and am trying them this week.  I'll edit and update how they turned out.

Saturday: Cheddar Meatloaf - I had already made a double batch of this and it was in the freezer.  It was just as yummy the second time!

Sunday: Ultimate Beef Stroganoff - Update* I made this on Sunday and it is the best crock-pot stroganoff yet.  I used some steaks that were given to me and they were preseasoned.  I did not know they were HOT and SPICY so that was a little surprise.  I will make this again with plain beef. :)

Monday: There was no name for this. It was one of those "ghost" pinterest pins but I made it just from the description and I used my kitchenaid to "shred" it.  It was easy and good!  We have enough for freezing.  That's always a bonus. :)

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes (no recipe)

Wednesday: Complete Chicken BBQ Dinner in the crock-pot. (Never made this!  I was going to make it but the bag of potatoes was bad!!! Yuck! So I will try again another time.)

Thursday: Crock-pot Pizza Casserole (I didn't make this one either.  My daughter cooked one night and made something else instead.  I will be adding this one back in later to try.)

Side note: So far I have not been disappointed in any of the stockpilingmoms.com recipes.

Breakfast Pizza

1 multi-grain flatbread (toasted)
1 wedge cheese spread
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
2 slices bacon cooked in microwave - juices drained, crumbled
1-2 T salsa

Yum!  Only about 250 calories. 

8 crock pot freezer meals - DONE!

I found this link on pinterest and decided to try it.

Yesterday I did the shopping, made the soup for dinner, we're having the roast today.  It's in the crockpot as I type!  The only thing is I went to three stores and could not find beef consomme. So I used brown gravy mix. :/

I'm killing two, maybe three, birds with one stone by eating healthier, saving money and time.

It really took about an hour to get these ready.  My kids helped so of course it took longer.  Just kidding. :)  They actually helped organize it while my hands were all covered in chicken juice. Eww!

I don't know that we'll eat all of these in one week, but I love having options on days that are busy and MANY of our days are busy!

My Week in the 'Burbs

I spent 6 days staying with my grandson while my daughter and son-in-law went on a vacation.  Grandson was in school so needed to stay at home and I agreed to go and stay the week with him.  So CJ and I packed up Goliath and all of our stuff and headed to their home to "baby sit" for the week.

First off, they live much closer to shopping than we do so that was a fun bonus.  But oh the traffic!  I'm just not used to that!  I think I'd rather deal with my bumpy country roads than all that traffic!!! It's a trade off I guess.

The thing about not being at home is I seemed to have more time on my hands.  We were able to walk around the neighborhood and get some sight seeing, exercise and fresh air every day.  That was different to me.  I wish I had some pictures!

It was so different to have houses so close together, yet it was very quiet.  Everyone was at work!

We enjoyed our change of pace but now I'm glad to be back home.

Please somebody remind me to start taking pictures!

Four Year High School Plan

This is our basic four year plan.  It will vary some I'm sure and we won't get all credits in these exact years but he will have them all by the time he graduates.  That is the plan anyway. ;)

This is based on the graduation requirements for Texas.

School Year Plans 2013-14

We're starting back to school on the 12th. Ack!  I've still got TONS of planning to do!  I have the preliminary outline but still so much detail left to figure out.

Overview For 10th grade:

• Math: Finish Algebra I and begin Geometry (Probably in December)
• English:  DS. has some LD in the language arts so we'll be working on writing narrations, sentence structure and paragraph structure along with spelling, reading and listening. I have several sources to pull from that I've had FORever! We'll also be reading some literature from the historical time period being studied.
• History: Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, Exploration.  Whew!  A lot to cover!  We'll see how far we get.  We are doing our own thing most likely, following a pattern of Charlotte Mason style learning.
• Science: Almost finished with Physical Science and in September we will begin Biology.  We're doing a co-op this year and I'm leading the Biography class!  Talk about out of my comfort zone!!! We will be mostly doing the experiments and lab books.  I think I can handle it.  Pray for me. :)
• We'll be adding in speech, foreign language (Spanish or Latin), technology as well as fine arts.

It's going to be a full year but I am actually excited.  DS is maturing so much and things are getting easier.  I pray constantly for his increase in wisdom and stature with God and others.

Today I am 47

It's my birthday today.

I usually don't even give much thought to it as we don't do BIG birthday celebrations around here.   But here are a few things I've noticed about being 47 in no particular order.

1. I have to use tweezers more often...and not on my eyebrows. I don't like that.
2. I am best-friends with my grown kids. I like that.
3. Getting up out of a hard chair leaves me hunched over because I can't straighten my back. I don't like that.
4. I'm still 9 years younger than my husband. I like that.
5. I try to diet and eat healthy but losing weight just isn't as easy as it used to be. I don't like that.
6. I can still run. A little. I like that.
7. I forget things, not major things, but details.  I don't like that.
8. I am a grandmother now. I like that.
9. My mom is getting older and is showing her age. I don't like that.
10. When I get a new electronic gadget, I give it to my 15 yo or 22 yo to figure out for me. I actually like that.
11. I can still sit in the floor and get back up on my own. I like that.
12. My hair is thinning and graying.  I don't like that.
13. My kids are old enough to go to the store for me.  I like that. 
14. I wear bifocals now.  I don't like that.
15. I still feel young and creative.  I like that.
16. When I'm friends with someone and I find out they were born in the 80's.  I don't like that.
17. I've been married to one man for almost 27 years.  I like that.
18. I can say that something was "30 years ago" and I wasn't a child.  I don't like that.
19. I actually want kitchen appliances as gifts now.  I like that.
20. I fall asleep watching TV.  I don't like that.
21. I wake up early now. I like that.

Basically 47 is alright. 

Wrapping up 9th Grade

We always tend to school year round with no particular "off/on" days.  We just do school when we can and don't when we can't.  And typically we end up finishing in the winter rather than the summer.  But I thought I would record some things from this year up to now.

C.J. has grown TALL this year.  He is just a smidgen taller than me and I am 5'10"!  His voice has changed and many times when I don't see him but only hear him he sounds so manly.  It's still a shock sometimes.

C.J. walking like his dad.

C.J. has a challenging time with book learning because of some LDs but it's no sign of his intelligence and understanding which are off the charts sometimes. One thing he's done this year is a daily quiet time on his own.  Nothing fancy, just reading the Bible every day and hearing what God has to say.  C.J. learns some profound things sometimes.  In our youth group at church he is often the only one who knows the story or event in the Bible.  The other kids are "church kids" too but maybe they don't spend consistent time in the word like him, especially the Old Testament. I also see spiritual growth and understanding as he applies God's word to situations.

C.J. reading on his Bible app

C.J. LOVES the History Channel and any type of war documentaries.  He records them on his own and I don't have to make him watch them.  It's quite the other way around. He is quite obsessed with military weapons and warfare.

C.J. trying out his new Air Soft Gun

We went to our local library sale this year.  There are tons of books they are selling.  We snagged this one for $2 and it has become his favorite book this year. He wants Volume II.

Favorite book of 2013

C.J. is showing signs of becoming a gentleman.  Just when you think a teenage boy can't get any more irritating, he opens a door for others, he does chores without being asked, he notices something out of place and picks it up and returns it.  Wow!  These small moments make a mother's heart melt. :)

C.J. will not smile in pictures.  He has braces but I don't think that's the reason.  I think it's called B-O-Y.  Boys!

C.J. and his sister S.

C.J. is a very talented puppeteer.  We travel with the PIT Crew puppet team to do shows and to conferences with others to learn more about this ministry.

He smiled! Sort of. ;)

C.J. and friends at a Puppet/Creative Ministry Conference

C.J. started working in the tech booth at our church. He's learning so much from this experience. I've been told he's a fast learner.

He also loves to make stop motion videos.  Here's a sample of one he made about a year ago.  I have to say he did a good job considering we had no special equipment and in fact he had a poor camera.  He tells me that the camera is shaky because he didn't have a stand, he was just putting the camera on the floor.

Warning - subject matter is "war".  What else?

I see my son growing into a young man.  He's my baby but he's not a baby anymore.

Look out 10th grade here we come!!!

Spending Time with my grandson

We picked up "MLP" - the grandson this afternoon and he and I ended up out at the workshop until after 10 pm making a project.

He wanted another owl pillow.  This one he designed himself. He chose the shape and the fabrics.  I did the sewing. MLP is 9 years old.

He named him "Poindexter".  He has a plan to add a guitar and glasses.  

Sewing projects...Done!

I've had a few projects just sitting and waiting to be finished.  I've been very bust but let's face it, I've been procrastinating.

DOWN WITH PROCRASTINATION!

So I went out to my trailer aka workshop and got busy.

I finished up this dress yesterday for my little granddaughter "M".

I also finished up these guys for puppetspace.com.  They'll be ready to ship this week!


I also chose a pattern, cut out and sewed up M's birthday outfit but I'm not posting a picture of it just yet.  I want mommy to be surprised.  I'll be mailing it this week to it won't be long before I can post it.

Now it's time for Sunday school!

AND and I get my other grandson also "M" tonight to stay the whole week!  Yay!  I don't get to see my grandkids often so when I do it's a real treat.

It's VBS time!

Castle in Progress

We put a castle in the foyer to kick off VBS Registration.  We are doing Group's Kingdom Rock VBS and we are loving it.  I love the castle theme and the Biblical truths that go with it.

Day 1
Bible Point: God’s love helps us stand strong.
Bible Verse: "I love you, Lord; you are my strength." (Psalm 18:1)
Bible Story: David writes about God's love. (Psalm 23)

Day 2
Bible Point: Family and friends help us stand strong.
Bible Verse: "So encourage each other and build each other up." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Bible Story: Mordecai encourages Esther to do the right thing. (Esther 1–9)

Day 3
Bible Point: Prayer helps us stand strong.
Bible Verse: "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." (Philippians 4:6)
Bible Story: Nehemiah perseveres to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 1–6)

Day 4
Bible Point: Trusting God helps us stand strong.
Bible Verse: "Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock." (Isaiah 26:4)
Bible Story: Jesus dies and comes back to life. (Luke 22:39–24:12)

Day 5
Bible Point: The Bible helps us stand strong.
Bible Verse: "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105)
Bible Story: King Josiah follows God’s way. (2 Kings 22:1–23:23)

Another Sunday School Post. My classroom.

I'm working on my class.  I want to make it inviting and fun.  It's a work in progress.  I took some pictures today on my phone so the color isn't the best but I am sharing them anyway.

It's the idea that counts right?

View from the doorway

Our current attendance chart

I got this idea from here.  Love her blog!!!

attendance chart up close

"Bible Neighborhood"
The houses are empty food boxes covered in construction paper with Bible "addresses" on them.
Each week we take the strips out, look up the verses and match them to the address. They love to be the one who reads the verse and puts in back in the house. :)

I got this paper for 15 cents on clearance at Wal-Mart after Christmas! Score!
Thank you Lord. ;)

Shelf up close.  I got these popcorn containers at Dollar Tree.
They hold our markers, crayons and pencils.

I would like to get better close ups when I can use my daughter's camera.

Sunday School Artwork

My Sunday school class learned the story today of the "Fantastic Feast".  We've been learning in this unit that "Jesus Does Great Things".  

I had to share this picture because this student's work always amazes me.  First of tall these kids did NOT know how to weave!  But they were eager to learn and they wove these construction paper baskets.  What amazed me about this student is her fish!  She designed, drew and cut these out herself.  And may I add that she's a lefty using righty scissors?

1st and 2nd Grade Sunday school student's artwork

While the other students (and myself) were making the simple little fish you know, like this one...

I love teaching children! It seems like so much work behind the scenes but every single Sunday that I walk in that room and spend time with those kids; God shows up!  He always blesses me. :)

I quote Eric Liddel, "God made me fast. And when I run I feel God's pleasure."

This is how I feel about children's ministry!

I taught K-2nd grade Sunday school at church last summer and we were between curriculum so I decided to finish the summer out teaching about Samuel and David.

I used this coloring book (my absolute fave!!!) for an opening activity.

I know some people don't like coloring pages and I don't always use them but these pages are so fun for the kids.  I have it as one of the activity choices when the children first arrive.  I don't make them color.  I also don't make them color with traditional colors.  If they want to give Samuel pink hair, I don't mind it at all!  We do talk about the fact that he didn't really have pink hair but we can be creative just for fun.

Another thing the coloring pages do is help us establish the story for the day.  They begin to ask questions about the page and helps me introduce the outline of the story.

I also colored a page and pinned it up on the bulletin board.  Instant review!

I always have a corner for books and then a corner for something a little more active like blocks or a game.

So there are usually 3 choices when they first come into class.

Why is it that parents are notoriously 15 minutes late to Sunday School?  So I have to wait 15 min into class to really begin the lesson. Sigh.

My husband's favorite cake

Prune Cake
My mother-in-law's recipe and my husband's favorite cake.  The name sounds weird but really it is one of the most moist and delicious cakes you've ever had.

I copied this from her handwritten recipe and she didn't have all the detailed instructions written down so we just make it from experience. ;)

Cake
1 cup of oil
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
1 jar of baby food apricots
1 jar of baby food prunes
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t soda
2 cups of flour
1/4 t salt

Bake at 350

We use a bundt pan.

Icing
1 cup of sugar
1 T Karo syrup
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter

This does need to be cooked but I have no instructions, we just do it until it looks right!

Let the cake completely cool and pour glaze over.

Notes on Habits

Notes from Sonya Shafer @ Simply Charlotte Mason

I was cleaning out paperwork and found a very scribbled set of notes I wrote down on the back of scrap paper. I think I was listening to her CD on Habits.  I'm going to try to rewrite them here and make a little sense out of them!

Charlotte Mason -- "The effort of decision is the greatest effort in life."

(Okay a personal note here.  Ain't it the truth!?! Indecisiveness runs rampant in my family and it is such a waste of time and effort!  I suffer greatly from this just deciding what menus to use or whether to go to the store now or tomorrow, or which math book should we use etc. etc.   I drive myself crazy!  And my daughter is just as bad. She once was asked what she wanted to do when she grew up and she replied, "I can't even decide what candy bar to get at the store!"  True story.  I could write a whole post just on this  subject and maybe I will.  I just can't decide.)


3 kinds of lying:
#1 intentional deception
#2 being careless of gathering facts
#3 careless in communicating the facts
(value of truth)

Habit = railroad track
work on ONE HABIT AT A TIME for 6-8 weeks

The mother who takes pains to endow children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.

1. One at a time: repetition ~neurons sequence/patterns; deal with offences immediately!
2. Motivation: natural consequences; expectant encouragement (someone to cheer you on)

-she has a 250 page book on 60 habits
-top 3 are 1. Habit of obedience 2. Habit of attention 3. Habit of truthfulness/candor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I need to get this CD out and listen again. And maybe I need the book too.