The Week Before Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, every creature was stirring even the Mastiff!

Ok, got that out of my system lol. To pick up where I left off last week we'll have to start with Friday. We got a late start to the day, which didn't bother us at all. Daddy was taking some chili down to Grandma and Papa and stopping to shop for car insurance along the way ... we'd thought about going with him but decided against it as the cold weather didn't encourage waiting in the truck during the insurance stops. Instead the campers and I stayed home and began our lessons around noon and it only took about two and a half hours to complete. Mind you this was with music playing, dance breaks, and teaching the campers the Hustle! Daddy did manage to find us cheaper car insurance by shopping around, took Grandma and Papa the chili, ran to the store for them, and he got home before the snow really began to fly! I spent my afternoon blogging because I'll be taking about ten days off of the blog for the holiday, with this post being the second to last post of 2016. The campers broke out the electronics after lessons and spent some quiet time playing games by the light of the Christmas tree. The evening was spent relaxing and watching The Grinch on Netflix, all of us sitting on mine and Daddy's bed, with me crocheting preemie hats to donate and thin blue line hats to give to the local police people to keep their heads warm during the winter.


Saturday the temperatures had finally reached just above freezing and the campers went outside for about an hour and fifteen minutes in between snow fall. The girls watched a lot of educational TV this day (with me as they do most Saturday's ... we don't have cable so we watch what we get on antenna or Netflix) and ECJ played on his tablet after shoveling our walk and two of the neighbors sidewalks. I crocheted while Daddy went to his appointment, more preemie hats and some thin blue line hats. We basically relaxed for the majority of the day.

Sunday things were a bit chilly again and so we stayed inside, read books, and watched movies. The campers played their various electronic games and we relaxed as much as possible. When Monday rolled around Daddy and I woke up not feeling so well, both of us had migraines, and Peanut was having a really autistic day which meant it would be tough to do her lessons with her. We decided right then and there that this week we'd cancel our book lessons and just do our online lessons, CNN Student News (they're changing their name in the new year), and Holy Heroes Advent Adventure for the rest of the week. Taking an easy week before we actually do our break time for Christmas. This meant that we spent much of the day relaxing and just hanging out with each other.

Noni and her fiance's
Christmas gifts!

Tuesday Noni came out to visit. We went to a local restaurant for brunch and had a not so great experience. Honestly most of the family spent several hours that night debating on if we had food poisoning or not. BUT, during the rest of Noni's visit the campers played some new to them Nintendo DS games that Noni had picked up at Game Stop. And we all hung out and chit chatted for several hours until Noni had to leave. The weather was a bit nicer this day as well so after Noni left, and before we all started feeling ill, the campers went outside again for awhile. They were given hot chocolate (of course) when they came back inside. Daddy and I spent the time that they were outside hiding the gifts that Noni and Santa dropped off early so that the campers weren't going to be able to find them if they were left unsupervised.

On Wednesday morning we were all feeling better. Which turned into a good thing because the neighbor across the street needed Daddy's help with her car which wasn't running right and so Daddy and ECJ spent most of the afternoon and part of the evening fixing her car (which is fun with flashlights since the sun goes down so early this time of year). The girls played outside for awhile with the neighbor's daughter and then they came in to warm up.  I learned that the neighbor doesn't have much to give her daughter's for Christmas this year as she's hit upon a hard time of things, so I've decided to make both girls and the mom hats because I know I can get that done in time and I have some extra stocking stuffers that I'm going to give her as well.

And so we come to today, Thursday, where I'm finishing up this post and then going to crochet my little fingers to the bone to get these hats done in time and continue to work on my preemie hat goal of 31 this month. The campers are currently playing an educational game and then Peanut is going to tackle Holy Heroes while I fold a load of laundry before crocheting. Next week we're not doing any lessons and won't be back to any type of lessons until around the fourth of January. So from our family to yours: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays!

Posts you may have missed this week:
Not a Menu Menu
Winter Playtime

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Linking up this week with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for their Weekly Wrap Up.

Winter Playtime

With the weather getting colder and our rule of not allowing the children outside if it's under 30* (and really I prefer above 32*) we loose a lot of our time playing outside. This makes the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge a little harder when you live in a northern climate. The trick to being able to spend as much time as possible outside during cold weather is layers. UnderArmor or long john's under pants and a long sleeve shirt, thick coat, boots, gloves, scarves, and hats are a must. Snow pants are recommended for the younger children. 

While we personally average between 20 and 30 hours a week outside during the summer, during the winter months some weeks we barely get an hour or two. Striving for that 1000 Hours Outside can be challenging. However, sledding and building forts are always good winter distractions. Snow ball fights, snowman building, tracking animals through the snow, making snow angels, and measuring how long it takes something to freeze outside ... all these things are wonderful distractions and can quickly turn into a science lesson (ie. What animal could have made that track? Does that animal change it's behavior in the winter? Does the animal's appearance change from season to season?). To entice the campers to play outside more during the winter time we *ahem* offer (read bribe) them with hot chocolate when they come back indoors.

Since we keep track of our hours outside from Labor Day until the following Labor Day sometimes it feels like we're climbing a completely vertical mountain to try and reach our goal. Some years we make it, some years we don't, and some years we blow 1000 hours out of the water! I add our weekly hours every Saturday evening around sunset (so the time varies every week depending on the time of year). I'm writing this on a Thursday on a week that we're only getting two days above freezing and this week we've only logged about 45 minutes so far (I'm publishing it next week though lol). We only have 262 hours as of last Saturday and I doubt that we'll reach 265 hours total this week. And that's OK! It doesn't matter if we get the most hours outside every week so long as we're healthy and get some hours outside every week. The whole point of getting outside is to get away from all the screens that surround our children every single day everywhere you go ... except for outside!

I'll admit that it's a lot easier to get the hours adding up when the weather is warmer. Usually you don't even have to do much to get the kiddos to head out of doors when the sun is shining and it's warmer. The first few snowfalls it's pretty easy to get the kids outside as well, but the novelty of snow wears off rather quickly in the north and you find yourself basically booting the kiddos out the door to play. But, while you're doing that remember that children learn best from watching us. Don't just boot them out the door, go with them! Help them build that snowman or snow fort, fall down and do a snow angel with your child, mount a full on snowball battle! Enjoy every moment you can in play with your children.

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The Not a Menu Menu

Why am I calling this The Not a Menu Menu? Well, because it's just sort of a general idea of what we MAY eat each of the days in the upcoming week. I didn't stick to last week's menu at all and figured that I really don't know if I'll stick with this one either. With the holidays coming up I'll be taking a week or so away from blogging and will be back sometime around the 4th of January! So here's what we MAY be eating between now and then.

Friday - Bratwurst, fried potatoes, and corn
Saturday - Baked ham, spinach salad, and cheesy potatoes
Sunday - Baked Talapia (fish), buttered noodles, and green beans
Monday - Chicken wraps 
Tuesday - Noni is coming out so we may just eat out this night
Wednesday - Beef roast with roasted veggies
Thursday - Italian dressing chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and spinach

Friday - Baked Talapia (fish), rice with gravy, and beets
Saturday - Daddy and I will eat some chili left over and reheated from the freezer, the kids will be eating other leftovers
Christmas/Sunday - We'll be eating at Grandma and Papa's, we'll be bringing banana pudding and the pickle tray
Monday - Bratwurst, sour kraut, and mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Chicken legs baked, baked beans, and corn
Wednesday - Potato soup with butter bread
Thursday - Leftover day

Friday - Baked Talapia (fish), fried potatoes, and green beans
Saturday - Spaghetti and garlic bread
Sunday - Baked Ham, baked potatoes, and corn
Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Italian Dressing Chicken, rice with gravy, and green beans
Wednesday - Chicken Noodle Soup and grilled cheese
Thursday - Breakfast for supper: turkey bacon, eggs, and toast

I'll see you guys in the new year! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!


Linked up with Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Snow Day and Happiness

So, I was supposed to go grocery shopping on Friday and I didn't end up doing that until Monday ... which means that my menu plan that I made for this past week got switched up a little bit. But you can still read the original and how I shop for a family of 5 for only $400 in my post I wrote here. So, Friday we did all of our normal book lessons and online lessons. I crocheted more preemie baby hats, my goal for the month is to make one a day to donate to a local NICU. This picture was taken on the 10th, ten little bitty beanies for ten little bitty babies! I also had to jump on this new trend of "messy bun" hats and make one as a gift for my eldest niece and another for myself. I'll only show the one I made for myself here just in case my niece actually reads my blog or her mom does before Christmas.

Noni's birthday
slipper socks!

Saturday and Sunday we were basically trapped in the house due to either the cold temperature (Saturday) or the falling snow (Sunday). Daddy had another appointment out of town Saturday so the campers and I did our crafting while Daddy was away. YCJ finished her first ever on her own sewing project! I think it turned out adorable! ECJ has fallen in love with origami and made several planes and then made a crane for me! Such talent! Peanut spent the time off and on working on her plastic canvas butterfly project, she's insisting on doing it on her own so it's taking her awhile to do. I'll be sure to highlight it when she's finished because I'm awful proud of her determination! I finished up a gift for Noni's birthday, that's not until the middle of January, on Sunday. I had originally made her a scarf but gave it to her last month as she was already chilly and it wasn't even out of the 40's yet. Noni definitely needs to move south when she retires in my opinion, these northern winters are too much for her skinny little rear.

Monday we called a snow day!!! The local schools all around us cancelled school, some of the bigger cities did too, because of the snow and since this year we've decided to school the month of December (with a week and a half off after Christmas. December 24-January 4) we've also decided that snow days are going to have to be a must. Most years we take off the whole month of December since we school year round, but because we're planning on taking more time off next summer it's important that we get what work we can get done during the winter. The campers of course thought that this was an excellent idea and spent the day relaxing while Daddy and I went grocery shopping. When we got home ECJ went out to shovel some walkways for neighbors, got paid $20 for his efforts, and decided that he's going to start saving up for a car. He figures whatever he can save between now and January 2017 will be a big help getting him a car and he's sure it'll need work when he gets it so he's planning on saving even more money for car parts and is even willing to learn how to fix his own car once it's bought (Daddy's been teaching him mechanical work for years but now ECJ has a reason to pay attention). Both girls headed right outside, after bundling up, right after the groceries were put away. Seven to eight inches of snow is just too good to pass up playing no matter how cold it is outside.

** Just a little aside here. Normally we don't allow the campers outside to play if it's below 30 degrees. Even bundled up it wouldn't take long for frost bite to form on cheeks or an unprotected ear. Monday it was 30 degrees and we didn't let them stay out more than forty-five minutes due to the fact that they'd soon be chilled to the bone. ECJ took a break in between some of the houses he shoveled at to come inside and warm up. Mr. Frost in the wintertime is nothing to play with. Yes, we're a bit over protective, but I'd rather they get grumpy at me for not letting them out in temperatures below freezing than have to deal with a case of frostbite. **

Spanish DVD set.

On Tuesday we were back to our regularly scheduled lessons. Instead of doing double lessons for the day we missed I've decided simply to move Friday's lessons to next Monday and enjoy what we are getting accomplished. But first I had an appointment with my doctor at 10 AM, don't worry I'm fine it was just a three month follow up visit because of some medications that I'm on. We banged out lessons when I got home and had them finished, book lessons and online, in an hour and a half! Which was a great thing for me because I have to rewash about ten loads of laundry. I'd used a new laundry soap and it turned out the entire family was allergic to it and we were breaking out in hives. So a late night visit to the store for our regular laundry soap and two emergency loads of laundry later we went to bed late on Monday night. Now I just have to wash the rest of everything that was washed in the other soap, including the girls spare sets of sheets for their beds! We also have catechism class for the girls this early evening and I tweaked the menu yet again to make tonight's supper breakfast. We'll be having turkey bacon, eggs (I now have 66 eggs in the house because I got 3 18 count eggs for 99 cents and another dozen for another 99 cents!), and toast. A simple and filling supper that the whole family enjoys and takes me very little time to prepare. And in between loads of laundry, cooking, and taking girls to catechism I will be working on a preemie hat for my goal today and another hat for Daddy since he never seems to keep his hats. The campers watched a different Spanish DVD  after lunch that I had picked up from the library to try out. They enjoyed this one much more than the previous one I'd had them watch. We'll be starting Spanish for You next month after I get some more printer ink. (* I received a copy of one of their lessons Conversaciones for free to do a review about, so please look for an initial reaction review in January and a more in depth one later on in the year. *) In the meantime we've been watching videos online, DVDs on the TV, and doing some of the free mini lessons from Spanish for You that I had printed off at the beginning of the school year.

So, on Wednesday it was freezing outside! We stayed inside and kept warm. We took our time doing all of our lessons, which means that it took us about three hours today to do them. The afternoon was filled with electronic devices, both educational games and regular video games (even the regular ones have reading built in which really helps YCJ with her reading in a fun way). I blogged here a bit, played around on Facebook, and then crocheted the rest of the night. Daddy made two batches of his homemade chili for supper, with the second batch being for Grandma and Papa and we'll deliver that this weekend. My contribution to supper was just making the Jiffy cornbread, which means I had an easy time of it. I also finally caught up with all of the laundry that had to be rewashed in detergent that we're not allergic to. So the bedding for all four beds in the house is super clean because it's now been washed twice this week!


Finally we come to Thursday, where I'll leave you again this week in favor of playing with the campers after lessons tomorrow. We did all of our lessons, text and computer, in about two hours today while Daddy was at an appointment. This was a good thing that we were finished by the time he got back because we had to un-decorate and redecorate the Christmas tree because both strings of lights burned out (they were only five years old lol) so we replaced the dead ones with new ones and now our tree glows brightly again. It only took us about half an hour or so, which wasn't that bad. We're having chili and corn bread tonight (leftovers from last night, if you read the menu post we did NOT stick to the menu this week). As you can tell we were pretty relaxed today. All three of the above pictures were taken within seconds of each other after book lessons were finished. Tonight Peanut will get to see Santa and all three campers will eat cookies with Santa. I'll be sure to snap pictures to put on Facebook (so if you haven't liked us on Facebook yet you just might want to).

One more four day week to go before we take about two weeks off for Christmas! During the break we're taking I'll post on Facebook but I won't be blogging. I'm going to share as many photos as I possibly can during that time!

And here is the link to the book review I did on The Christian Home School.
Linking up this week with Weird Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrap Up.

The Christian Home School Book Review

The Christian Home School

By: Gregg Harris

Book Review

This book is a great how to start, and maintain focus, of your homeschool in a Christian way. It begins with reasons why the authors think that homeschooling is the best option and gives tangible examples. Throughout the entire book the Bible is referenced in conjunction with their opinions and really makes you realize that indeed homeschooling can be a calling from God.

There are eleven well written chapters in this book, as well as a complete introduction and conclusion. You will never find yourself lost as you read this book. I'll admit that it took me nearly a week to finish reading it, but in my defense I only read when in the bathtub soaking and I only soaked my aching back three times in the last week. A homeschooling mom needs to get her breaks where she can ya know!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and not just because of it's Christian nature. There are great pointers on how to get ready to homeschool. Looking into the laws of your state, getting and choosing curriculum, looking for support groups or co-ops in your area, and joining the Homeschool Legal Defense Association.  There's plenty of other books and periodicals that the author mentions might be a good place to look for more information or read.

I really don't want to go word for word through this book with you as I think you should either buy yourself a copy online or borrow a copy from your local library and you'll soon see why I enjoyed this book so very much.

The fate of empires depends on the education of our youth.

Aristotle

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Shopping and a Menu

So, I've had several people ask how I can do one main grocery shopping trip each month, have enough food to last, and still feed five people on less than $420 a month. Because of that I've decided to do a quick post this week about how I manage to do that. I don't use coupons mainly because I don't tend to buy name brand items ...  I do, however, use store coupons but only on products that I would already be buying. What good is a coupon for buy one get one free anything if it's something that no one in your house is ever going to eat?

I start with a simple list of what we've run out of, or are short on, already ...

This month this is what that list looks like:

• pork (chops, loins, whatever is on sale)
• ground turkey (at least five pounds)
• fish (at least four pounds, preferably six or eight depending on price)
• boneless/skinless chicken breasts or loins (for chicken quesadillas and chicken wraps ... three packages)
• turkey bologna and hot dogs (five packs each)
• sliced and shredded cheeses
• cream of mushroom soup (about 24 cans, we go through a lot)
• Ramen soup (chicken and beef ... a case of each)
• bananas
• apples
• oranges
• potatoes
• onions
• tomatoes
• lettuce
• salt and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and chicken seasoning
• nacho cheese chips (for nachos)
• salsa con queso cheese dip (for nachos)
• sour cream
• tortilla shells
• variety of juices
• pickles and olives
• variety of cereals and oatmeal
• eggs
• 2 containers of butter
• peanut butter and jelly (two containers of each)

I already have a lot of chicken in my freezer (a shelf and a half full) so I won't be doing a huge shopping trip for meat this month. And honestly my pantry is pretty full considering that the teenage boy swallows food like a black hole. Notice that there's very little junk food listed. I don't buy much and then it's usually for a special occasion like if we host a BBQ or something like that. That list is relatively small for a month worth of food and although I would like a TON of fish it really just depends on the price. I'll buy four pounds if it's not on sale and probably eight pounds if it is, which would mean that I don't have to buy fish for next month. I shop clearance sections for several of my meat items and an off brand grocery store that is more reasonably priced than the regular stores. We eat pretty much the same thing every month so that makes it easier for me to plan.

You'll notice that bread and milk are not on the above list. Neither is the couple of things I need to pick up for the Christmas holiday. I pick those things up each week, or in the case of the holiday a few days beforehand. We go through about two gallons of milk a week and three loaves of bread, so every week I pop into the store for bread and milk. I store the bread in the refrigerator so that it's fresher and not as soft when spreading things like butter or peanut butter on it.

This week's menu:

Saturday - nachos
Sunday - baked chicken with stuffing, buttered noodles, and green beans
Monday - ground turkey tacos
Tuesday - pork chops, baked potatoes, and corn
Wednesday - chicken noodle soup (using up the leftover chicken from Sunday)
Thursday - chili dogs and french fries
Friday - baked fish, mac and cheese, and spinach

Nachos done simply

1. one - two pounds ground turkey meat
2. one - two jars of salsa con queso
3. garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper
4. one - two bags of nacho cheese chips

Brown ground turkey in frying pan with seasonings. When meat is finished cooking add the jar(s) of salsa con queso into the same pan and heat until just warm. Put chips on a plate and cover with meat and cheese mix. Top with sour cream, tomatoes, olives, peppers ... whatever you like on top of your nachos. ENJOY!

Linked up today with Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

In the Groove

Friday we did our monthly errand running, which I had scheduled the day off for. We also stopped by Grandma and Papa's house because it was the day before Papa's birthday. We visited and gave gifts before heading back home. Saturday we spent the day relaxing and recharging, last week had been particularly hard with Peanut's autism. The last day of the weekend, Sunday, we went to mass and then did last Thursday's lessons so that we could start the week fresh. We had a ham dinner with cheesy potatoes and afterwards we began the process of making two big pots of split pea and ham soup... one of the pots would be going to Grandma and Papa's on Tuesday and the other would be Daddy's and mine dinner Tuesday night. The girls got to stay up late and chatted about a friend's birthday party that they would be attending on Tuesday where they'd be having pizza and soda pop for supper. ECJ began wrangling to stay home on Tuesday while us parents ran an errand during the party the girls would be attending ... only to be called out by Daddy about not having finished his assigned reading for the day. ECJ is now reading Little Women (which he read a few years back, but it's part of his assigned reading for the year) and he's not enjoying it.

On Monday we slipped into a nice easy groove of doing our lessons. We're finally getting back to what we consider normal, it's only taken since September to get here! Sometimes it takes a little longer depending on what we're doing that school year, but I didn't panic this year since we've been doing this a few years now ... it gets easier to "read" what's going on in our homeschool each year. We got our book lessons done in less than two hours and then I went with Daddy to his doctor appointment. We picked up the dog food, some house supplies, and ran another errand while the campers did their online lessons and watched the DVDs I'd scheduled for the day. It seemed like the day just flew by ... that could be because Daddy let me sleep until 11:00!

Tuesday, after drinking some coffee, Daddy and I went to my friends (Learning Life with 3 Sons) to drop off some books, yarn, and other yarn related goodies. The campers watched two educational DVDs while we were gone and ECJ worked at reading Little Women . When we got home, instead of cracking the lesson books I pulled out the other educational DVDs that I wanted them to watch this week and told them to have at it. Online lessons were done and CNN Student News was watched. I took a break from crocheting for a couple of hours and played a video game, I had made two scarves over the weekend and decided that that allowed for me to have a break. In the afternoon/evening the girls missed catechism class to go to a friend's birthday party where they had pizza, cake, and ice cream. Daddy, ECJ, and I ate pea soup with garlic bread for supper.


On Wednesday we did our book lessons. Not the double lessons that I'd originally planned because the campers answered a trivia question about Pearl Harbor. Lessons took less than two hours (which is our usual book lesson time) and Daddy had an appointment in another town and was taking pea soup with ham to Grandma and Papa. After lessons the campers ate lunch and then watched a few videos of their choosing while I did laundry and worked on a crochet hat that had a hole for a ponytail. Since we were having pea soup again for supper there was little else that I needed to do. Both ECJ and YCJ helped me with the laundry.

Preemie hat for donation.

Thursday was our double lesson day. We've done these about once a month for the last four years so the campers don't worry about it too much. They just get to work and get it done usually in just over three hours. This day they beat their usual time and got the book lessons done in two and a half hours. We woke up to a light dusting of snow and it snowed on and off all day long, not too much accumulated but it was pretty to watch. Daddy again had an appointment in another town that took him most of the day, so we were on our own with the lessons which was OK since unless there's a problem that I can't handle Daddy pretty much just makes sure the campers aren't talking back to me during school hours (and the rest of the time too, but in our home he's basically the principal). Peanut did her daily dose of Holy Heroes: Advent Adventure , the older two chose a different way to study Advent this year because they feel they're "too old" for Advent Adventure.

Tomorrow is Friday and we don't have any big plans. I must go on my monthly grocery shopping trip, Daddy is going to the scrap yard, and the campers are finishing their lessons for the week. Nothing much planned for this weekend either. It's amazing how much you get done on those days that you plan to do nothing though.

Posts you might have missed this week:
Tasty Tid Bits - menu plan Monday
Home Schooling : Parents as Educators - book review

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Linked up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap Up. 

Home Schooling: Parents as Educators (book review)

Home Schooling

Parents as Educators

By: Maralee Mayberry

J. Gary Knowles

Brian Ray

Stacy Marlow

BOOK REVIEW

(I received nothing to review this book. The opinions written here are my own and are unsolicited.)

Let me begin by saying that I didn't even read the back cover of this book when I picked it up from the library. I didn't glance at anything but the title. As soon as I opened this book I knew I was in for some trouble. This is a very research based book and was written by professors and assistant professors who received a grant from the government to study homeschooling from different angles. It is, by it's nature, a very dry read. The authors sampled home educators and school superintendents from three different states, with varied results, and limited replies to their questionnaires. They are very up front about this.

Reading through just the introduction to the book you quickly come to realize that you are in for a very dry read highlighting the differences between home education and "professional" educators. Research was done in the early 90's to preface this book and so is also slightly out of date. 

I found I was forcing myself to finish each page, chapter, and finally the book. Like stereo instructions, it's something that you might not want to read and therefore are only reading it because it MAY contain information that you will find useful at some point in the future. The text is littered with what I call hundred dollar words, or to put it another way ... words from a literary dictionary that aren't widely used in conversation. Even though I pride myself in my vocabulary and have some college education I stumbled over a few or the words here and there simply because I come across them so infrequently. 

Scattered throughout the book are stories and quotes from home educators who responded to the initial questionnaire and were later interviewed for further information. There's also several tables of statistics in the book based upon those initial questionnaires. Most of the information that I gleaned from this book I did not previously know ... in that one way it was educational and enlightening. 

Perhaps having this book in your home library would be a good thing (it's relatively short, only seven chapters). I suppose it could be used as something to present to a local superintendent that may be unresponsive to homeschooling. Certainly it doesn't take up much room and if you've read it once I seriously doubt you'll go back to it unless you find that you have a need to reference some of the data given. I honestly think that you would be better served with just about ANY other homeschooling book no matter how dated it's information may be. 

Just because this book isn't for me doesn't mean that it's not for someone. 

Tasty Tid-Bits

For this week's menu I went for tasty. Not for anything fancy but just good, solid meals that taste good.

Saturday - Chicken with stuffing and green beans
Sunday - Baked ham, au gratin potatoes, and spinach
Monday - Pork chops, buttered noodles, and corn
Tuesday - Split Pea and ham soup with garlic bread (and butter bread)
Wednesday - Leftover night - possibly sandwiches and soup
Thursday - BBQ chicken (baked if it's snowing), bacon/ranch pasta salad, and green beans
Friday - Talapia (white fish), fried potatoes, and corn

See? Nothing fancy. Just good meals for the family that we all enjoy.

No recipes for you this week. Hubby likes to keep his pea soup recipe to himself and not even I know it.

Joined up today with Organizing Junkie for Menu Mondays.

A Mixed Week

Advent has begun! Baby Jesus left in only for this picture.

This past weekend we didn't really do much. The kids played inside and out, with electronics and using their imaginations, and generally were just kids. Some reading got done in the evenings but mostly they just played. I made another Christmas ornament (still have to put the handmade ones on the tree and finish a Santa one) and worked on some gifts for my nephew and nieces. I also played on my computer game some and Daddy watched a lot of Netflix, some with me and some I was in the other room for.


Monday and Tuesday we had regular school lessons. Although, since I had tapped out the weather DVDs from the libraries in the area I looked up more videos on YouTube (awesome when used as a resource for school and not to find horrible challenges like the salt and ice challenge). ECJ's hand is healing from when he did the salt and ice challenge, he's certain that he's learned his lesson about doing crazy things without checking them out first. He says that he seriously doubted that it could hurt him. Of course the girls have learned from their brother being not so smart and have decided that they'll NEVER do anything so goofy themselves. Math and Language Arts were done from our text books and we cracked the History books as well. We sat together and watched the clips from Advent Adventures by Holy Heroes, which ECJ opted out of because he feels too old to watch. The best thing in my opinion (besides the knowledge shared of course) is that Advent Adventures is completely 100% free! We've been doing it for several years now and will probably continue each year until Peanut feels she's outgrown it. And since Advent began on Sunday, November 27th, I have our nativity scene (minus baby Jesus) in the center of our dining room table. YCJ did a little crocheting to make gifts for her sister and brother for Christmas, which of course she gave early because she simply cannot wait that long to give gifts. And we didn't spend much time outside either of these days due to rain on Monday and a prevading wetness on Tuesday.

YCJ wearing a
sweater from Noni.

Wednesday morning Noni came and picked me up. We went to go help Santa out with some purchases for the upcoming Christmas extravaganza! Stockings must be stuffed and things other than what is made by mom must be tucked away to be gift wrapped and hidden until Santa comes to put it all under the tree. We had fun shopping the morning away and brought home some fast food for lunch for everyone. The campers didn't do lessons because Daddy hasn't been feeling well, so when I did lesson planning last Thursday I simply scheduled them for the day off. I worked on more crochet in the evening and we relaxed watching Netflix after coming home from a successful shopping trip that has us mostly prepared for Christmas this year.


On Thursday we went to the library before doing book work. We picked up several books and even more DVDs. School wise the DVDs were Bible stories for history and the Human Body for science. We're revisiting the human body over the never couple of weeks and then will move on to animals and everything about their life cycles and what they need to survive in January. Our librarian gave us this entire set (shown in the picture) of 30 books absolutely free! And instead of doing our book work that I'd planned we decided to instead watch a couple of the Bible story DVDs and allow for a free day after that. Sometime before Monday we'll get to the book work that we had scheduled for today since I had tomorrow as another scheduled off day due to errand running. The weather is supposed to be rather cold over the next few days so it shouldn't be too hard to do one day's worth of lessons that will take us two hours at the most to complete.

And this is where I'm going to leave you. We're preparing for another quiet weekend at home after another successful week homeschooling. ECJ even finished his report on The Red Badge of Courage  on time! We've had more wins than losses this week!

Posts you may have missed this week:
Easy Menu
Why Outside

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Linked up this week with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for the Weekly Wrap Up.

Why Outside

So, why do we participate in the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge (link is to their Facebook page)? Well, once you realize that the average American child spends somewhere around 1200 hours a year with their faces in some sort of electronic device or eyes glued to the television you begin to remember that when you were a child you spent most of your time outside of school ... well, being outside. Somehow along the way we've lost this. Instead of sending the children out to play in the yard or in our neighborhoods we simply allow them to turn on the TV, flick on the computer or tablet, turn on the game council and completely veg out!


Not only is this not healthy because they're most likely snacking during that time and not burning the excess calories so you end up with over weight children ( check out some statistics ) but we're also not nourishing their minds and letting them expand their imaginations. Oh, sure, those games are entertaining, TV has become everyone's standard past time, and information is no farther than a click away on most electronic devices. My children would actually ask, prior to us starting this challenge, to go outside and play and if the weather wasn't what I had predetermined to be perfect I'd redirect them to an inside activity.

Then I learned about the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge and it opened my eyes! This is the fourth year (I believe, it could just be the third) that we've done this challenge. The goal is to get at least 1000 hours outside during the course of a year. That averages out to be something like 20 hours a week of outside. And yes, I can hear some of you now ... but, we have homework to do after school (most non-homeschoolers and some homeschoolers) there's no way we can get 20 hours outside during a school week! But you can get some hours no matter what your afternoon activities are. 1000 hours seems like a GIANT goal but it can be reached. We even passed the goal one year.


The first year that we started the challenge everyone started on Labor Day and ran until the following Labor Day. That year I didn't make 1000 hours because we had such a harsh winter that I literally could have been harming my children since the temperatures that winter here in Michigan were well below zero even before the wind chill. Even still, we did spend time outside that winter ... building snow forts, igloos, and sliding down the mountain of snow at the end of our street. 

The dates to start have varied since that first year but I still go from Labor Day to Labor Day (it's easier for me to remember). And some years we make the goal, some years we pass it, and some years we fall short. But it gives us a goal to work towards and ensures that at least some of the time we won't all be on our electronic devices. I keep track of the hours we're outside each day in a notebook and post our new year to date totals (along with our weekly total) on our Facebook page each Saturday evening between 6-9 PM depending on the time of year.

And since we started this you'd be amazed with what my children will find to amuse themselves outside with. Of course that's changed as they've gotten older as well, but at least they're outside each week for several hours. They're enjoying nature and learning about it. They're spending less time on their electronic devices (which seem to accumulate more each year) and certainly less time in front of the television. We've gotten rid of cable because the only time of year we'd even really use it was winter! That's a hidden money saving bonus that we hadn't thought about at first! 

Just give it a go. Start whenever you want. Strive for even five hours outside each week and watch your children bloom.

Easy Menu

Well, for this week I'll again be posting our menu. Nope, not doing it every week because some weeks I don't know day to day what we'll be eating because I have no intention of planning anything out. And, yeah, this week the menu could change pretty easily depending on what we're in the mood to eat.

Friday - pork chops, rice, and mushroom gravy
Saturday - baked BBQ chicken, butter noodles, and corn
Sunday - split pea and ham soup
Monday - chili dogs and mac and cheese
Tuesday - breakfast for supper: turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes after catechism class
Wednesday - chicken wraps
Thursday - leftover night where we eat all the leftovers we haven't already eaten for lunch the next day
Friday - pork chops, green beans, and buttered noodles 

As you can see there's nothing special about this week's menu. We're not even using Thanksgiving leftovers because we didn't bring any home from Grandma's house this year. My freezer is completely stocked with chicken, pork, fish, and a bit of beef. OH! And an extra ham because this month hubby found two hams on sale for under $20 each! We rarely eat beef anymore but I do have a beef roast in the freezer thanks to a buy one get one free sale again this month. Our main staples are chicken (due to the price), pork, and fish. I'd give you a recipe for this week but really there's nothing that requires a recipe and our split pea and ham soup varies each time we make it.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful week full of yummy good food!

Joining up with I'm an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Thanksgiving Week

Over the weekend the bottom dropped out temperature wise around here. We went from the high sixties to the mid forties! So, in between bouts of playing outside the campers watched a lot of Pokemon and I crocheted while warming back up. Friday it had been nearly 70* outside, Saturday it was down in the 40s and snow was blowing around with the wind gusts, and come Sunday we actually had a little snow accumulation to go along with those wind gusts with the temperature (before wind chill) at 36*. Only one of us didn't have a scarf this year so I made up a quick scarf for Daddy. I also finished a preemie baby set to give to a friend in the coming weeks. The weather also had everyone's sinuses acting up again. Every year at the season changes we go through this, sometimes for just a week and sometimes for much longer. Here's to hoping that the weather makes up its mind quickly and either stays warm or cold for awhile. And while I'm not a huge fan of snow and cold, since I know it's coming anyway ... why not just let winter start?



Important side note: Sometime over the weekend ECJ decided to do the salt and ice challenge and severely wounded his right hand. His entire palm, while not blistered, is burned! This is NOT a good challenge for kids to try! I thought I should let all of you know because I had no idea about this challenge until the day after he did it! He never complained about the pain and Daddy was the one to notice his palm. Then ECJ began to complain about the pain. We've been treating it with burn ointment and bandages at night while allowing it to breath during the day. (Who came up with this stupid challenge to begin with?!?!?)

Monday we had a pretty good day homeschool wise. There was a few moments of "snarkiness" during the period of time that we had ECJ helping YCJ with math, but other than that book lessons went smoothly. Online lessons were breezed through as well. Then I broke out some new DVD's from the library for science and history, they're from the Schlessinger Library DVDs. Here's the link to one of the DVDs for the history of the US government that I found on Amazon. The prices for these are reasonable and the content is great. Each DVD is around 20 minutes long and they have several different topics in both science and history. They've been well received by the campers and they actually learn from them. So, if your local library doesn't carry them you might want to invest in buying some (no, I am not an Amazon affiliate ... so I get nothing from you buying anything from there if you use my links).

On Tuesday we had a pretty full day. Lessons were done with little to no complaint and more DVDs were watched (from the same series). Cooking and cleaning was done along with (you guessed it) more crochet. Of course this was after a night of Peanut sleeping between Daddy and I due to a nightmare, and Daddy and I getting very little sleep. Needless to say much coffee was consumed during the course of the day and we made a concentrated effort to keep our cool. The afternoon was spent decorating for Christmas. The tree is up and decorated, the village is arranged, stockings hung, and outside lights as well. Some years we wait until the first of December and other years we decorate right around Thanksgiving. The only thing that isn't out yet is the glass nativity scene, that won't be put out until Sunday (right in the middle of our dining table and the pumpkins there now will be put away until next fall) when Advent starts this year. Baby Jesus won't be added until Christmas eve. Hmmm... perhaps I should crochet an Advent wreath for the table...

Wednesday the campers were getting excited for Thanksgiving, which will be at Grandma and Papa's house again this year. It wasn't hard to keep them on task for lessons but they were definitely more antsy in their seats. Book lessons, computer lessons, and watching of DVDs all happened this day. Isn't it just a coincidence that the history DVDs had to do with Native Americans and the early settlers and immigrants? It's almost as if someone (I don't know who) planned it this way! Since the DVDs are only about twenty minutes long each they really do grab the attention. 

Thursday. Thanksgiving day! Turkey day! We all got up after sleeping in a little and went about our day pretty normally until around noon when we began getting ready. The drive to Grandma's house is about an hour from our house and there wasn't any bickering to be had (minor miracle there!)! Everyone had a great time visiting with family and eating Grandma's turkey and stuffing, everyone agrees that she makes the best stuffing. And after such a large meal and another hour long drive home we were all ready to rest and relax.

I'm writing this before I head to bed Thursday night. Tomorrow is another day. More lessons to be had because we only took the one day off this year since we'd pretty much had about two weeks off just recently (no book lessons = off school since the campers don't count online or hands on learning as school). It's been a full week! And as I sit here typing I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who take the time every week to read these wrap ups. I know that we usually lead a pretty boring life since we're homebodies for the most part and I really appreciate the time you take to read my blog each week!

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Icky Sinuses

My portion of the free
yarn.

We had a wonderful weekend with lots of time outside and lots of movies. We also had a quick visit to a friend's house where I shared some of the yarn I'd been gifted for free on Sunday. Nothing major went on.

Monday Noni came out for a visit. We went shopping for some of the winter weather essentials you need in a snowy climate. Peanut got new socks (that's all that she needed). YCJ got new boots, new shoes, and new socks ... her feet went from a size 4 in June to a size 8 now!!! ECJ also got new boots and socks, as well as a new winter coat because his one from last year had ripped so it had been tossed out. We did some window shopping for Christmas, had lunch at McDonald's, and Noni bought each of the campers a tiny Nerf dart gun so that they could have mini battles. It was a fun day! But, Monday night Peanut came in and slept with us because her "throat felt funny".

Moragon in her service
vest that I made for
her.

Moragon on her hind feet
with Peanut hugging her.

Tuesday we didn't do lessons because everyone woke up with something wrong with them. Daddy and I both woke up with migraines. Peanut's sinuses had let go to where her voice was froggy, her nose stuffy, and her throat sore. ECJ and YCJ both where a little stuffy as well. It was a simple call to say, "NOPE, no lessons today!" Everyone simply relaxed and took some medicine. We watched movies and played video games. I picked up my prescription for Imetrex and battled my migraine back to a dull roar.



On Wednesday (after another night of Peanut in the bed with Mommy and Daddy) we did some quick lessons just to get back into the swing of things. English and Math were all that were done text book wise and some online learning to round it out a little. Peanut sounded even worse this day but said that she wanted to do some school.

So, on Thursday we all woke up a little late ... we slept in until 10 am! Peanut sounded a little better but her nose was still running like a leaky faucet, here goes the second roll of toilet paper in less than a week used to blow noses. We concentrated on English and Math in our text book and did our online lessons. Nothing very exciting happened because we decided to stay inside and relax so that we'd all feel better (couldn't just make Peanut stay inside especially when she insists that she is NOT sick).

I got a lot of crochet done this week, including a scrap blues baby blanket that I have no one in particular to give it to. Lots of Christmas ornaments  (7!) and work on December decorations for a wreath I intend to make and a table top centerpiece. Friday should look much like Wednesday and Thursday except for the fact that we'll be making a library run sometime during the day. 

It's lovely that we got some work done this week even though we weren't feeling good.

Here's two posts that I wrote this week:
The No Good (Bad days)
Homeschool Highway (Book Review)

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Joined up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for the Weekly Wrap Up.