A New Era

Friday we ended up only doing our computer lessons because we watched history in the making. We got up early and watched the entire day's worth of coverage of the inauguration. The campers actually seemed to enjoy it and weren't overly bored by all the pomp and ceremony. It's a new era for the United States with a new president in office and my prayers are with him, his family, and our country as a whole that we can be wise and stop all of this useless confrontation. Give him a chance because wanting him to fail is like wanting to have our country fail. I taught the girls how to make my tuna noodle casserole and we had a blast doing it. Turned out really well too, if you want the recipe for it simply check out this week's menu plan. We were going to do our book work on Saturday but I woke up with the worst migraine that I've had in years and so Daddy took me to the hospital. There they gave me a slurry of medicines with a saline IV and I dozed off for awhile before they released me three hours later with only a minor headache, my Imitrex that I had at home took care of the rest of the migraine and I felt over 100% better.

Sunday we had to go to early mass for Peanut to receive her scapular with the rest of the second grade catechist class. For us it was really early as we usually go to the 11:30 AM mass and this one was at 8:30! YIKES! After we got home and I drank my third cup of coffee for the day we quickly did our math and language arts assignments from Friday, along with writing out our rough draft of our letters to President Trump that we'll be sending out next week sometime. After lessons (which we got done in under an hour) I made a filling lunch (early for us because we'd woken up so early and eaten breakfast before mass) of pancakes and turkey bacon. After a few more minutes of rest I decided that we should make use of the food coloring left over from our oozing pumpkins and some shaving cream that Daddy doesn't use to make some tie died paper. I saw it on Facebook and figured that it was an easy way of using up some objects that we don't need and making something fun for the girls (although ECJ did one as well). Here's the steps and how they turned out:

1) Put down a good layer of shaving cream

2) Add dots of food coloring

3) Swirl food coloring in shaving cream

4) Lay paper on top and kind of press down lightly

5) Sqeegee off the leftover shaving cream from the paper

6) Let paper dry, repeat previous steps as you wait until you're finished

Ta-Da!

While we were making these papers Daddy was making spaghetti and turkey meatballs for the crock pot for supper. After we'd cleaned up from art I made a chocolate cake for desert, then we spent the rest of the afternoon watching Netflix together while I (you guessed it) crocheted. 

Peanut working on a shape project.

Monday when we normally would have been sleeping until around 9 AM, I woke up around 6:45 for the day (after Peanut had joined us because of a nightmare around 4:30) and Daddy was up shortly after I was because he had an appointment out of town that morning. I waited until about quarter after eight before I began waking up the campers. Breakfast and chores out of the way before nine ... well, the girls still were eating dried cereal when we began our lessons just after nine. But, being that I was up and had almost a full pot of coffee in me I was ready to teach so we got started. By 10:30 we were finished with book lessons and Peanut had already finished with the computer lessons. Daddy came back in between appointments to eat some lunch and then he was off again. The Cracker Jack's finished up with their computer lessons and then we were completely done for the day. The campers then did their individual reading and broke out the electronics to play on the drizzly afternoon. I spent the rest of the time Daddy was gone crocheting and watching Netflix (there's a series I'm watching that Daddy doesn't enjoy so I watch it while he isn't at home.). It was a near perfect Monday, the only thing that could have made it better was some sunshine to go with the mild temperatures so that the campers could have gone outside and played.

We called lessons off on Tuesday, it wasn't part of the plan but then again that's ok. I had an appointment at noon that took an hour, by the time I got home the campers had done their daily reading and chores for the entire day (barring supper dishes and cleanup from supper) and we being so very well behaved. Considering that the girls had catechism that started at 5 PM and I had to get a turkey in the oven no later than 3:30 we agreed that it could be a day off of lessons. We also agreed that we'd be making the day up on Saturday this week. You may have noticed that we've sort of done that frequently this past year or so. That's OK too. The campers went out to play for a couple hours during the afternoon because even though it was damp out the weather was mild. The girls enjoyed themselves at catechism, seeing friends that they hadn't seen since Christmas time ... ECJ got some alone time and I made another crochet preemie hat (right on target to get 31 done this month just like I did last month!). So, all in all we had a really quiet day.

On Wednesday I woke up early. I mean like 5:30 early ya'll! I couldn't get back to sleep so I began looking into just what curriculum we might be using next year. There are so many options out there and I do this every year ... "Oh this looks good!", "Oh we have to try this!" , and "This is possibly the best sounding one ever!" Yup, I do it too. You are not alone in the curriculum search that we all fall prey to from time to time. Chances are I won't mix it up too much, but then again I just might ... after all ECJ is the only camper in High School level and it's really easy to do unit studies for the girls with some regular math and call it good. I'll get things nailed down before summer. BUT, speaking of curriculum, I have decided that ECJ might benefit from Life of Fred Algebra so I will be purchasing that before the end of February. I'm hoping that it'll help him get through Algebra without the frustration he's been feeling lately. We had a normal lesson day and leftovers for supper so all was good with the world. Some more outside time was in order as well because starting on Thursday we're supposed to have chilly weather again and this way they could maximize their outside time without being cold.

Thursday was the day that Noni came by to visit. Before she got there Daddy had to run Moragon to the vet because she had hurt her back leg and was limping. Moragon now weighs more than I do and is pushing the two hundred pound mark (pretty normal for a Mastiff) and so when he lifted her into the truck it was an awful strain. I ran with her to the store to grab soda, popcorn, chips, and a couple DVD rentals. We also grabbed some McDonald's for lunch which we don't often do so it was a real treat for the campers. We hung out and watched a couple movies together in the living room and had a blast. Daddy came home without Moragon during our movie day. It turns out that she not only tore her ACL but that she had an infection in her uterus that was so bad that if we hadn't taken her to the vet we would have lost her. She made it through surgery on her stomach just fine, the ACL reconstruction is to happen at a later date, and she'll be home sometime on Saturday.

We visited Moragon at the hospital Friday and she is
recuperating well.

Friday and Saturday we'll be doing more lessons and plugging along with what we do. No major plans other than trying to keep Moragon calm so that she can heal.


This week we learned about descriptive adjectives, whole numbers and fractions, Alaska and Hawaii becoming states, and broke out Daily Devotions for the girls and a Daily Bible study for ECJ (technically it's a whole year worth of Bible study meant for kids but I figured that he could use it first this year and YCJ will use it in 2018). Both books I got from the thrift store for twenty five cents! We're still plugging away with the science book I picked up from the thrift store  a couple weeks ago and are now talking about our five senses and watching YouTube videos to go along with it. I also decided this week with ECJ having so many issues with Algebra 1 that I am going to buy him Life of Fred Beginning Algebra and see if that helps Algebra "click" for him. I'm also researching new curriculum choices for next year so I'll be blogging about my possible choices pretty soon. Keep an eye out for a review of what we've been using for Spanish next month.

What you may have missed this week:
Lots of Big Meals
My Dream

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

My Dream

When I was younger people would come up to me and ask me what my dreams were for the future. What did I want to be when I grew up? My normal answer was, "I want to be a wife and a mother." And sometimes this was smiled at and sometimes people would respond with, "But, what do you want to DO?" Yeah. I wanted to be a wife and a mother. That was it. That was all. I didn't care if I continued my education or not, had a career or not, nothing that most of my friends were saying that they wanted. I simply wanted to be a wife and a mother. By High School when asked I'd answer with something like, "Oh, I plan on having it all. A good husband, some kids, and maybe I'll be a nurse." I didn't want to go to nursing school. I didn't care what job I got if any. I just wanted to be a wife and a mother and because of how people acted when I said that I thought that there was something wrong with me and I should be wanting more.

I even attempted going to college ... twice! But neither time did I stick with it because I just really wasn't interested in being a nurse (what I went to college to try to be both times I went to college). I have about two years of college education behind me but nothing much to show for it because I just didn't want it. I did take a course and became a Certified Nurses Aide right before YCJ was born and I enjoyed that. But, I got too attached to the patients at the nursing home I worked for. I tried working in home health care but I had the same problem. Health care obviously wasn't for me. I enjoy taking care of people but not for pay. 

YCJ was two when I got married to her Daddy. We'd both been through a divorce before and had set a time line before we'd marry each other of being together longer than either of our previous marriages had lasted before we got married. I then got caught up in not only being a mother but a wife and full time homemaker. I enjoy having a clean house, making my husband happy, and raising my children. By the time YCJ was six and a half we knew we'd be bringing them home from public school to be homeschooling them. And nothing could have made me happier than the thought of having my children home with me and learning everything they could without the stigma of worrying if they were "normal" or if something was "wrong" with them if they didn't fit in with their age group.

And believe it or not y'all I didn't realize that I'd met my goal of being that wife and that mother until just last week! I've been with my husband for fourteen years now last week, this summer we'll have been married for an entire decade, and I've been a mother for nearly half of my life! I have what I wanted when I was younger. I have children who love and respect me (until hormones kick in and then it's eye rolls and attitudes but that's normal lol), I have a husband who cherishes me and treats me like a queen, I have what I set out to have. Now, I get to enjoy that every single day without people looking at me cross eyed because I didn't want a career. My family and friends all know that I've gotten what I wanted. Could I want more? Of course I could! More money, more children (I can no longer have children), more more more and more. But, I am content and happy with what I have. We live on a budget and that's fine with me.

This fall I might expand my dream a little bit and go back to school. Not for health care this time. I am thinking that I'd like to get a degree in teaching because it's something that I enjoy. I have ten more years of homeschooling (and probably a bit more with Peanut as she's only in second grade so we might have 11 more years of homeschooling to do) and I know I'll still want to teach. Not at the college level but at the elementary level where you see those light bulbs go off over the students head a lot more often. And it's not that I'm wanting more or am changing my dream. I was lucky enough to get my dream and now I'd like to help children find their dreams.

Lots of Big Meals

This week's menu plan is a lot of big meals with lots of leftovers.

Friday - Tuna Noodle Casserole (I decided on this instead of Tilapia)
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Spaghetti with turkey meatballs and homemade garlic bread
Monday - Roast turkey with stuffing, green beans, and cranberry sauce
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Turkey noodle soup
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Baked Tilapia, corn, and loaded mashed potatoes


Tuna Noodle Casserole - serves 8

• 3 cans tuna
• 2 cans condensed mushroom soup
• 1 jar salsa con queso
• 1 bag noodles (boiled)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 package chopped mushrooms (or one can)
• shredded cheese to top
• 1 sleeve of saltine crackers

Combine tuna, mushroom soup, and salsa con queso into baking dish. Saute onion, green pepper, and mushrooms until translucent then add to the tuna mix and stir well. Add noodles to the baking dish and stir until thoroughly combined. Top with shredded cheese of your liking. Crush entire sleeve of saltine crackers and sprinkle over the entire top of the casserole evenly. Bake for 35 minutes at 350* F or until bubbling and completely heated. Serve and enjoy.

Linked up with Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Crafts and Cuddles

Last Friday I had intended to do lessons with the campers when we got home from the appointments we had, however we didn't get back until later than I had planned so I moved lessons to Saturday. Daddy left early in the morning to go fix our truck at a friends house and was gone most of the day. The campers and I did all of the work that we'd skipped on Friday and then the girls and I worked on those crafts that they've been wanting to do since they got them at Christmas. Boy, was there a lot of water that I hadn't realized how wet things would get. Lots of towels ... thankfully the crafts had to be washed (twice per instructions) and then dried so the towels we used could also be washed and dried along with the crafts. YCJ made a puppy and Peanut had a kitten to make. They were able to follow the directions very well (illustrated directions are AWESOME) and I only had to help each of them twice ... once when securing the safety eyes and again when clipping the molds together. Of course I am in charge of all laundry, though everyone does pitch in, so I folded the load that I'd skipped folding on Friday and popped the crafts (secured in individual pillow cases) into the wash. The campers watched some Minecraft videos on YouTube while they waited for their projects to be done.






Didn't they turn out AWESOME?!?

Sunday, after mass, we spent the day relaxing and working on individual projects or games that we wanted to work on. I of course was crocheting as usual. And with three tablets (one is my Kindle), two regular Nintendo DS's, a Nintendo 3DS, and a computer ... not to mention the television ... we were able to stay warm while outside was too chilly (but with no snow) to play outside. 

On Monday, after my first pot of coffee (yes, you read that right), we did our lessons. Both book and computer lessons were done quickly and without fuss and so the girls and I took a walk around noon, getting back in time to enjoy some Lunchables that we'd bought while we were out on our walk. The afternoon was spent with ECJ working on a castle he chose to build in Minecraft (he's spent a good two weeks on it and it's AWESOME), YCJ spent most of the afternoon and evening watching Netflix with myself and Daddy (while I crocheted), and Peanut spent her time playing with her Littlest Pet Shops and drawing. We had potato soup for supper and agreed that next time we make it YCJ will do the work with me supervising, we all watched more Netflix after supper and then it would have been bedtime. And yet, around 9 PM both girls were back up and claiming that they weren't tired. Peanut got more play and drawing time and YCJ watched more Netflix with Daddy while I played on the computer. ECJ was the first in bed, we sent the girls to bed around 10:30 PM, and we were off to sleep pretty quickly as well.

Tuesday we did double book and computer lessons because we were going to go help Grandma and Papa on Wednesday. I got a couple grumbles from YCJ about doing double math and language arts but she quickly settled down when reminded we could either do double or she could simply work on the weekend as well. Since we hadn't scheduled to have a day off this week I wasn't going to simply not do the work I had planned on. We've had a couple snow days lately and I figure that and the days that Noni comes out is quite enough four day weeks when I usually schedule five. They worked on their inauguration unit study and listened to more Early American History (we're up to right after the Civil War). The girls were a bit out of sorts from staying up late the night before but we're big believers in natural consequences and so we simply let them be out of sorts. 





So, on Wednesday morning we woke up and got ready to go to Grandma and Papa's house. The campers and I helped Papa start undecorating from Christmas while Daddy ran to the hardware store with Grandma. When Daddy and Grandma returned it was time for Daddy and ECJ to go outside and work on fixing the fence so that the dog wouldn't be able to squeeze under it anymore. The girls and I continued helping Grandma and Papa. We got everything done and cleaned up and ate lunch as well as supper with them. We didn't get home until around 6 PM. Thursday we worked on our book and internet lessons about midday and finished around two PM, time enough for the campers to enjoy some time outside in the mild mid-40 degree weather. I'm sitting here and typing this just after they came back inside and before I start cooking supper. Tomorrow we'll do our lessons again and then slip into a quiet weekend. The forecast is for rain and that means plenty of Netflix this weekend because our antenna doesn't like bringing the channels in during rain storms.

*Yes, I did do laundry this week and YCJ did wear other shirts ... she just favors this one lately and wore it most of the week. Putting it back on as soon as it was washed both times this week.*

You might have missed the following posts this week:
Another Week
No Labels

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

No Labels

OK ... in homeschooling circles we all get questioned from time to time about how we label our homeschool. Are we traditional? Unschoolers? Christian? Etc... I'm here to say that I am no longer going to be labeling our homeschool.

Previously when asked I would reply with something along the lines of, "We're Catholic homeschoolers with eclectic tendencies with gray areas of unschooling and unit study approach." Wow! What a mouthful!

When I asked the campers how they would label our school I got cross-eyed looks and told by each of them basically, "Um... we're the type of homeschoolers who learn." Yeah. Set me back on my rear. Why did I find the need to label our homeschool when the kids really didn't care about labels and didn't see the need for them.

We are Catholic homeschoolers. Our sine of the curriculum we use for almost every subject is from a Catholic curriculum, Seton. We enjoy it. We learn about the Bible even when we're not in catechism classes and religion is steeped into pretty much every single subject we study. There is nothing wrong with me labeling our homeschool as Catholic. But, I don't need to put that label on us. Do we go around asking each other about our religions and only associating with others of our same religion? Nope. Well, at least no one I know in person does.

We are eclectic because I'll pick and choose unit studies to go along with what we're learning, we may try some living books, and we might take a day off of books completely and just see what the kids learn through every day life. We are a little bit of every type of homeschool label that I usually would tell people we were. But really ... why do we feel the need to label?

I don't see people who send their children to a brick and mortar school asking if other's children are in private schools, public schools, trade schools, etc... They don't ask what methods the teachers use to teach each others children either... They're just happy that the children are learning.

The campers taught me that I should just be happy with what they are learning and not worry about the label so much. 

After all ... who's going to care if they are eclectic Catholic homeschool students with tendencies towards unschooling and unit studies? None of their friends. Not their college professors. Our family members don't understand half of those terms and wouldn't care even if we mentioned them. They're just glad the kids are learning.

So, I'm not labeling us anymore. What type of homeschoolers are we? The type that learn!

Another Week

Ok, so another week has passed and I have to start thinking about the menu again. Why does it feel like everyone ALWAYS needs to eat LOL.

Saturday - Baked chicken, with stuffing and green beans
Sunday - Tuna noodle casserole
Monday - Leftovers
Tuesday - Chicken quesadillas and salad
Wednesday - Potato soup with butter bread
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Baked Tilapia with corn and mac and cheese

This week we have two leftover nights. Both Saturday and Sunday's meals are large even for our family and allows for plenty of leftovers. Some of our favorite things are these two leftovers and it makes for an easy night for dinner. And the potato soup I only know how to make in one size so we always eat it for at least two days. This means that perhaps soup and salad will be Thursday's supper for the entire family or perhaps ECJ will opt to make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead (as he is want to do when he's bored with what I'm cooking ... I try to teach him to cook but he figures that sandwiches will do along with cereal).

Linked up this week with Organizing Junkies Menu Mondays.

Week of the Wanderer

Our little visitor.

Saturday we spent the entire day as a family relaxing and watching Netflix. I crocheted myself two sweater vests (I love them! I wear them with long sleeve shirts and also with tank tops underneath depending on the weather. I literally get to wear my sweater vests year round!) I crocheted so much that I pulled a muscle in my back by the right shoulder blade and spent half of the day Sunday trying to get the one preemie hat finished. I did end up finishing it but decided against working the muscle too much and didn't do any other crocheting. Sunday was also ECJ's 15th birthday! I made him an orange cream cake and we all relaxed most of the day. We ended up with a wandering visitor for a few hours during the day. This little cutie pie puppy was in our yard and literally walked right into our house! We fed him and kept him warm, posted several things all over Facebook about him being lost, walked our neighborhood in the freezing cold looking for his owner, and ECJ kept him occupied. When ECJ took him outside to use the facilities the owner showed up and was very happy to have found her dog! We didn't do much crafting with the girls over the weekend and their projects got pushed to the side for them to do during the week.

Monday I had to run to the grocery store for a few items that we were missing. Usually I do my major shopping on the ninth for the entire month but since our water pump on the truck went out I only went to the local store with the neighbor. One of Daddy's buddy's will be fixing the truck in his garage within the next week or so. Considering that my freezer is still full of meat we'll be just fine until I can get to do my major shopping. Lessons were done with no issues, Peanut was very happy for it to be Monday again (she does better during the week days because she has a schedule, usually our weekends we don't do much other than go to church and she gets a little cranky with no set schedule to follow). We started my unit study that I'd put together for the campers to learn about the inauguration process. This day only the girls did any work in it and that was to color a picture. I put this unit study together with free items from Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Tuesday the local schools (public and private) called a snow day. This meant that the girls also would not be having catechism that evening. We called a snow day ourselves and sat as a family watching every single movie of Alpha and Omega that Netflix had. I crocheted (of course) and everyone snacked and just enjoyed hanging out. On Wednesday we all woke up really late. Daddy had an appointment out of town and while he was gone we did our lessons for the day. We started week one, lesson one in Spanish for You , which you might remember we've been doing the free mini lessons from the site ... I received one of the packages to use with the girls for free in exchange of a review so sometime within this month there will be a review of the product, and probably again closer to the end of the year. Because we didn't start our lessons until after noon (actually closer to one PM) we had to take a lunch break right in the middle of lessons. While YCJ cooked noodles for herself and her sister Peanut kept working on her school work and ECJ made himself a sandwich so that he could hurry through lunch and finish with his lessons. We did another worksheet about the inauguration this day as well. We have a few more worksheets to do in the unit study and then we'll watch either a video of inaugurations from the past or if I remember we'll catch this year's live broadcast.

Thursday turned out to be a rather interesting day due to a power outage right in the middle of the morning that lasted pretty much the rest of the day until early afternoon. We simply continued on with our book lessons, skipped over our computer lessons, and did about an hour of read alouds with each other while we waited for the power to come back on. It's amazing how quickly a house will chill down without a furnace running in January, we're just lucky that the day was close to 50* out so we weren't in danger of getting too cold. Well before dinner the power came back on and all three campers, now completely finished with lessons, went off into the front bedroom and began to play together. It's not often that ECJ plays with his little sisters anymore and we relished the relative peace that settled over the house. It was also an interesting day due to the fact that we'd gotten so much rain in a 24 hour period that every flake of snow melted and we had a lake for the front yard. I spent about an hour making my daily preemie hat for donation (I may decide to make all size hats to donate instead of all preemie) and then decided to finish off this week's post.

Friday I'll be going with Daddy in the morning to an appointment that he has out of town. The campers and I will do the lessons after I return and we'll probably work on some craft projects. We don't have any major plans for the weekend either so it will probably be a couple of days of quiet at home relaxation which we all enjoy. Well, Daddy has a busy day Saturday helping one of his friends but the rest of us will be staying at home ... perhaps we'll find a new book to read as a family.

This week we went more in depth with the Civil War (at least with the girls) than we've ever done before and the conversations that came from those history lessons. We also decided that MineCraft might as well be added into some of ECJ's schooling and so he "built" an Iroquois Long House, to scale, in a world he created just for school lessons. Next time he'll be "building" some forts to scale and so forth. He was surprised at how little time it took him and I was impressed that he thought to ask what items were usually inside of a Long House and that he took the time to try to make it as realistic inside and out as possible while making his scale model. The picture to the left is his Long House even though it isn't the best picture I am still impressed with what he accomplished simply by letting him use something that he enjoyed using to begin with.

Posts you may have missed this week:
A Birthday Menu
The Homeschool Reader book review

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Linked up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap Up.