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

You can find us on Facebook here.

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.

The No Good

Writing about the no good, very bad days that we all have from time to time today. Because everyone has bad days and I know that in most of my posts it looks like we just go along all sunshine and rainbows, lollipops in hand, singing like the Von Trap family. Yeah righ!

There are days that ECJ with his teenage hormones, ADHD, lack of impulse control, and general attitude gets the whole house in an uproar! He's downloaded something he shouldn't have, he's online looking at things he aught not be looking at, he's opened an account that he didn't ask permission to open, he's talking to people online who aren't really good for him to be talking to. Do you see the pattern with him? His main issue is the darned Internet and his electronic use. We end up dealing with why he can't talk to so and so, no he really doesn't need that account and just whose credit card was he thinking of entering to use it (really?!?!?), his report is due for Literature and Composition and he hasn't even cracked the book open yet. YUP. That's right. We have a teenage boy in the house. One who sometimes yells at his sisters to get out of his room and then complains the next day that they won't hang out with him. One who goes outside to skateboard with the neighbor kid and forgets to take his phone while deciding to skate down to the park without informing us. One who likes to push every boundary there is with Mom and Dad just to see what he can get away with today because you know some days it's just not worth the argument.

There are also days that YCJ gets hormonal and pouts, screams, and cries over any little thing that happens. There's one extra math problem today than yesterday, I've asked her to write the sentences in English instead of just the words that need changed, she's just feeling like we're all against her for no apparent reason. YUP. She's an eleven year old girl who is just learning how to deal with all of the hormones going through her body right now. One minute she enjoys playing with her little sister or older brother and the next she's screaming that they drive her up the wall. One minute she's all hugs and sunshine and the next she's like that girl from Exorcist . This is how her life is at the moment and it means that most days we roll with the punches but some days we want to throw a temper tantrum too! A lot of her frustration in school work has to do with her dyslexia and how it can make reading something simple into something really hard that day. Sometimes she's just over tired and wanting some more rest. And some days she doesn't care what the reason is we're all trying to get on her nerves and driving her crazy! We have times when there's girl drama going on between her and her friends in the neighborhood, so and so is being bossy ... or so and so won't listen to her ideas which are so much better! You get the idea.

Then it comes to the youngest member of our camping troupe. Peanut. Oh Peanut. She's highly functioning autistic and legally blind. Most days she's an angel with lots of ideas, plenty to show us, making us laugh and smile. But there are days when she just can't handle ANYTHING! She blows her top and punches her brother in the eye, yanks her sister's hair, screams at me ... only to minutes later be crying that she did that. It's all part of life with her challenges. Living life with autism on any level isn't just a challenge for the child it's a challenge for the entire family. What do you mean that you forgot your entire alphabet? (Yes, it happened and we spent last year going through everything from her preschool books up through first grade ... which is why she's in second grade this year and not last year.) It's a challenge to know what curriculum is going to work with her... will it be visually stimulating enough, fun enough, challenging enough, and yet still be able to be dropped for a few days if she goes into her bad days.

And of course you have us parents and the animals. Seriously there are some days that we really just want to scream until no sound comes out anymore. We're not saints ... far from it! Our children stress us out, confuse and confound us, drive us crazy, AND make us proud. We're a normal every day family. No there's no phone calls from the school administration to deal with if one of the campers acts up ... but there's late night conversations between teacher and principal (read mom and dad there) on what we need to change and what we can continue, should we really expect so much out of ECJ and just what was he thinking when he .... (whatever it is he did that week). We don't always agree, and a lot of the time we compromise. We hit ruts with our camper while pulling into what we thought was a comfortable campsite only to find out that it's not as flat and comfy as we'd thought.

So ... we don't always have a no good, very bad days ... there's not always a runt when we're going into our campsite ... and we're not always nice to each other. We're just like every other family out there. Unique with our own problems but when you look at the basics we're all really the same. It doesn't matter if you send your kids to a brick and mortar school, an online public school, school at home, or even totally crunchy unschool. We all have bad days and good days. It's in how we handle it that makes us who we are. Hopefully with a little gentle guiding all of our children can grow up to be well adjusted adults who can think for themselves and raise our grandchildren in ways that make us proud.