Peanut butter blossoms

These are another popular favorite at our home.

1/2 cup shortening (I use half butter, half shortening)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Milk chocolate kisses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds.  Add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.  Beat till combined, scraping the sides of bowl.  Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla till combined.  Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in remaining flour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll the balls in the 1/4 cup granulated sugar.  place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes or till edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned.  Immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie's center.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.  Makes about 54 cookies.

Spumoni cookies

This is probably the recipe I get asked for the most.  These cookies are delicious, and they look nice, too!

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped pistachios or almonds
6 drops green food coloring
1-2 T cocoa powder
2 T finely chopped maraschino cherries, drained

Mix butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Stir in flour and salt.   Divide dough into 3 equal parts.


Mix nuts and food coloring into one part; mix cocoa into one part; mix cherries into remaining part.

Line bottom and ends of loaf pan with aluminum foil, allowing ends of foil to extend 5 inches over each end of pan.  Press nut dough evenly and firmly into bottom of pan.


Press chocolate dough on top of nut dough.


Finally, press cherry dough on top of chocolate dough.


Cover dough with extended ends of foil.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but no longer than 6 weeks.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Remove foil from dough.  Cut dough crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.


Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.


Bake cookies until set, about 10 minutes.  Immediately remove from cookie sheet.


Yummy!  Enjoy!

Christmas Menu

Tomorrow, I will post about some of the cookies I made over the weekend!  But real quick, I wanted to post our Christmas menu, so here it is:

Appetizers:
Mexican meatballs
Tortilla wraps
Mexican tortilla wraps (this will be new this year, Hubby wanted to try them.)
Chips & dip/salsa
Deviled eggs
Soda
Punch
Coffee

Main Meal:

Turkey made with wild rice stuffing
Sweet potato casserole
Mashed potatoes & gravy
Cranberry sauce
Green bean casserole
Rolls

Goodies:
Spritz cookies
Decorated sugar cookies
Spumoni cookies
Mexican wedding cake cookies
Peanut butter blossom cookies
Shortbread bites
Caramel brownies
Chocolate & peanut butter bars
Lemon bars
Divinity
Fudge
Holiday bark
Mint meringues
Peanut brittle
Popcorn balls
Pumpkin pie
Butterscotch pie
Peppermint pie
Upside down apple gingerbread

Sound like a lot?  LOL!  Believe it or not, the goodie list is actually pared down quite a bit from year's past.  My work is definitely cut out for me, but I DO have all the cookies done, and the chocolate PB bars.  Now all I have to do is candies and bars, and the pies I will do a couple days before we have everyone over.  Except for the Mexican tortilla wraps, the appetizers and main meal are almost exactly the same every year.  We don't eat pork here, so we don't do the traditional ham.  As I said before about the cookies, I will try and get some of these recipes posted.  Let me know if there's anything in particular that catches your eye, and I will get to that!

Christmas Baking

I love Christmas baking!  I have been a busy bee the last couple of days.  In the past, I have usually gotten all my cookies baked by the end of October, but since this year's been just a wee bit on the busy side, that hasn't happened.  I am on a roll, though, as I got the two "worst" cookies out of the way...sugar cookies and spritz.  Those, I think, are the most time-consuming, so I always do those first.  Yesterday and today I baked all plain sugar cookies...(I know, the first batch always comes out a little on the "done" side LOL)


...then I iced and sprinkled them.


Sorry, I had another picture of my stovetop covered with done sugar cookies, too, but somehow lost it.  I didn't get a picture of the spritz, either, but they are already in the freezer.  Must keep them safe LOL.  As a project on the TeachingMom's Advent Calendar, V and I also made these cinnamon roll trees yesterday.


Here is a link to the direct recipe.  Yummy!  One of the trees has already mysteriously disappeared LOL.

Tomorrow, I think I will make Mexican wedding cakes.  I also need to tackle my front porch for de-cluttering.  I decided I just can't follow a weekly system for now...I am just going to start at the front of my house and work my way around.  As long as I keep up on basics which are laundry, dishes, keeping the bathroom wiped down, keeping the house picked up and swept, and making my bed every morning.  It has been about a week, and things have been kept up pretty well!  Hopefully, it keeps up as I add more baking and the occasional de-clutter project.  I do NOT want to be scrambling around the few days before Christmas trying to get everything together.

Baked Beef Stew

Here's what we're having for supper tonight!

First, set your oven to 375*F, and spray or grease your pan.  This is really a big enough recipe for a roasting pan.


Next, assemble the ingredients...


2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups water
6 T quick-cooking tapioca (I didn't have any, so I use 1/2 amount in cornstarch)
4 tsp sugar
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 lbs beef stew meat (already in pan)
8 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I just cut into chunks, quarters seem too big)
4 celery ribs cut into chunks (which I didn't have on hand, oh well...)
2 slices bread, cubed

Toss everything into the pan and stir it around really good.


Cover and bake at 375*F for 2 hours or until meat and veggies are tender.

And that's plenty of time to get those dishes done, right?


Enjoy!

It's done!

I have finally gotten through our upstairs porch!  Now, it's not perfect, as Hubby still needs to go through all the hunting/camping stuff to organize it better, but I got what I could into bins for now and you can actually walk through the room!  I put the carpet down, too, although not tacked or anything yet...needs to be flattened out anyway.




And here's all the toys, completely sorted out!  Whew...


I am so proud of V, as he's been keeping them that way, too!  I still think we need to pare down, but at least everything's organized now.  And they are NOT going back into his bedroom...been there, done that!  I let him take out a small bucket of cars at a time, or 1 set of something (such as army guys or construction workers), or just plain 2 toys at a time now.  Everything gets put back in it's place before something else comes out.  This has been working out quite well over the last week.

Oh, and I filled the garage sale bag the rest of the way (left) and another whole kitchen bag full of garbage that I am on my way to haul out right now as soon as I get a nice tall glass of cold water.


Whew!!!!  Now that that's all done, I can finally get on to de-cluttering some other things...preferably something that won't take quite so long!  Time for a break...I'll try to be back later to show you what's up for dinner!

A fairly good start

Well, I'm off to a good start so far today.  I started my 3 day steroid treatment for my symptoms yesterday.  It didn't seem to help much yesterday, but today almost all my numbness is gone.  My right leg is still a little weak and dragging, but it's much better than yesterday, and my back has no more pain!  Praise God!  I woke up this morning and the baby was still sleeping, so I got all the dry laundry in our room folded and put away and changed our bedding, and had V change his.  This is one of the things I'm so glad I've been able to teach him!  Since he has a bunk bed, it saves me so much time having him do this.   I got A up and changed and fed, got V fed after his wake-up chores, and then ate some breakfast with my second round of pills.

My right leg started bugging me, so here I am, taking a little break before getting the dishes done.  They got piled up yesterday, so there's quite a bit, but I definitely have the energy today.  Then I need to start a load of laundry, fold and put away the load in the dryer, and then just do a good general picking up of the house.  V has already started.  He is picking up the living room for me while A is following him around in his walker.  I also need to get the bathroom clean and scrubbed down, too.  The rugs and towels are already in the basement waiting to be washed and the bathroom is picked up, so all I need to do is the scrubbing and the floor.  Yay!  If I have the energy later, all the main floors really need to be done, too, as the dog has been dragging in leaves from outside.  He LOVES to roll in them.  LOL.

I think once these pills kick in, I will have plenty of energy to do all this.  Hubby said his mom had to be on a steroid inhaler for her asthma once, and she got the entire house clean in a day!  Same house, as we purchased this house from them when they moved out of state.  Don't worry, I'm not setting my goal that high! LOL.  But, if I feel good enough to keep going, I'm going to.  Hubby works a double today, and my goals today are to have him walk in the door and 1) be speechless at how SPARKLY the house is, and 2) walk into a haven.  I want him to be able to just RELAX after walking in from working literally ALL day.  Especially after staying home the last day-and-a-half helping me during the worst of this latest episode.

Plus, he took me out to the mall yesterday.  I had wanted to get out of the house, and figured it would do me good to walk, as long as I didn't have to go up any stairs, and it was wet and cold outside, so we went to the mall.  We went to the Yankee candle store, and he let me stock up on some Christmas tarts.  All the more motivation to get this house clean and turn it back into the sanctuary it's supposed to be for the Lord and my family.

Well, I'm off to check my email, and then it's back to work!  I will try and check in later with my progress.

Test Results

I got a call from a nurse at the neurologist's office today with the test results we have been waiting for...they have come back positive, so I most likely have MS.  I have been having another flare-up of symptoms as well, so I'm not sure if I'll be on the computer very much this week, considering the last time I couldn't even type for a few days.  Tomorrow, my doctor's nurse will call and set me up with a nurse practitioner to get the medication going.  I will have to give myself injections 3 times per week.  This will not take care of the symptoms, but it will slow down/stop progression of the disease.  I will need to take a pill at the time of injection, or else I will get flu symptoms as well.  If I still need medication for the MS symptoms (aka, if they're bad enough), they will give me some sort of steroid medication for that.  Hopefully after this, the injections will slow down things enough that I won't get symptoms that often.  Of course, it may take awhile to get the right type and dose of medication in the first place, but I know it will work out.

I find comfort in knowing that God is in control, and I know He will take care of me.  I may be slowed down by the symptoms when they rear their ugly head, but this disease will NOT control me.  I still plan on living as close to normal as I possibly can.  I will take care of my home, my family, and I will keep my kids home with me where they belong.  I have been so blessed that the Lord has put me in a wonderful place with excellent doctors.

Speaking of which, I just got a call back in the middle of my typing, as the nurse had talked to another neurologist (mine is out this week) and has already prescribed oral meds for my symptoms.  Hubby will pick them up later (I am to start them in the morning, as some people have trouble sleeping if taken too late in the day).  Fun, huh?  Hubby said when his mom had to be on these meds (can't remember what for), it made her really hyper, so maybe by the end of the day tomorrow, I'll have an after picture of the room I should be working on.  LOL.

Anyways,  I hope and pray that all I do, and all my family does, with this, is glorifying to the Lord.  I am in His hands, and that is my greatest comfort.

Hope from the doctor

Well, I had my follow-up appointment with the neurologist today to discuss all the testing I had last week.  There is hope.  My MRI on the spine showed no legions there, so that is a good thing.  The fluid from the lumbar puncture did show some inflammation, though, so we are waiting for one more test result to come in...I can't remember what it is.  She said for about 99% of people with MS, this test comes out positive, but it also comes out positive for about 10% of people with a viral/bacterial disorder that mimics MS.  She said the legions found on my brain are not in typical locations as with people with MS, so that's encouraging as well.  She said only one of the legions was showing symptoms, and to diagnose MS, there has to be more than 2. Also, one of my blood tests came back with mild inflammation, which would NOT happen with MS, but with a viral/bacterial disorder.  This disorder will give me symptoms every time I get a viral or bacterial infection, but is not progressively damaging like MS, so we are praying this is what I have instead.

The doctor told me if this test result we are waiting for comes back negative, we will just leave it alone.  If it comes back positive, they will start treating me as if I had MS for three months, and then get another MRI done to see if there are any new legions and another lumbar puncture to check the fluid again.  Even though it will not be 100% positive I would have MS, this treatment (injections) would not be harmful for such a short period of time.  And after 3 months, if it turns out I do have MS, we will have gotten started very early, which is good, and we can just continue treatment.  If it turns out it's not MS, well then we will discontinue treatment and discuss where we go from there, if necessary, and get on with life as normal.  Either way, praise God that He has placed me in such good hands; a doctor that I have already heard lots of praise about from those that work with her, one that will not get pushed around and who has gotten these tests pushed through so quickly so we can find out what's going on and get this thing nipped, and one who is straight to the point and makes sure we understand everything that is going on.

Even though it's still not a definite answer, this news has given me hope and will make this Thanksgiving a little more joyful.  This whole situation makes this Thanksgiving more meaningful, as it has really given me much to be thankful for in my life.  The Lord has blessed me in so many ways!

I hope you all have a wonderful and joyous Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

Slow, but sure progress

Okay, I don't have any after shots of our catch-all room yet, but I'm making progress.  I forgot to take a complete before shot, but here's what things looked like half-hour after I started...





Waaaaay too many toys, I know!  And there are tons more in the basement, but that will be for another day. Anyways, I worked on it for about an hour today, and here's where I am so far...


Doesn't seem like much for the time I have spent, but most of it was sorting.  My 5 year old son has sooooo many sets of things that have little pieces that are dispersed EVERYwhere.  The bag on the left is things for a garage sale next spring, and the other bag is garbage, which has already been hauled out to the garbage bin.  Here's what the room's looking like so far...





Everything in this picture is sorted and organized, except for the big blue bin in front, which I need to finish going through.  I put all his little "sets" into ziplocks and put them into the sorting bins.  The blue crate to the right of the sorting bins is for all his Hot Wheels, and the bag on top is bath toys, which I will find a place for later.  When I took the above picture, here's what's behind me...


The pink bin has already been sorted, just waiting to get the rest of the room done.  The rest of the stuff is mostly camping stuff and Hubby's  hunting stuff that needs to be organized.  The big white thing toward the right is carpeting that I think Hubby wants to put down in the room when it's clean.  It's mostly big stuff left after the toys are done, so it should go pretty fast once the toys are done.  The toys will eventually be culled down and moved downstairs to our front porch, which will be used as our homeschool room as well.  In spring, we will have a garage sale and get rid of the love seat and few other pieces that are in the front porch right now, and we will have more room to put this stuff.  Hubby's hunting and camping stuff will be sorted into a few bins and be kept in this room, and we can also turn it into a guest room when needed, as we have one of those double high air beds that can be inflated quickly, along with sheets and such that fit it.

Anyways, that's the de-cluttering process so far.  Hopefully I can get more done later today.

The kitchen's coming along!

Well, this is looking much better!  First, I cleaned out the fridge...



It still looks a little crowded, but I had to make room for my pan of homemade gumdrops to set.  These are very easy to make, by the way, and you can find the recipe over at Ronda's blog.  I love her blog, she is very inspirational and has lots of wonderful recipes and crafts.

Anyways, here's my cleaned off table...


And then when Hubby came home, he fixed the cabinet shelf and...



I was able to clear off my counter and put things back in the cabinet!  It is so wonderful to open the cupboard doors and see it all organized, and to see I actually have SPACE!  LOL.  There was only 4 things I didn't keep, but somehow before I organized it, you couldn't fit another thing in there.

Today's project will be our upstairs "porch" which is a room we don't use, except as a catch all for all the stuff we don't know where to put, and for V's toys.  I really need to go through the toys and cull A LOT.  His stash is going to go down significantly, as he has WAY too many.    I will post a report and pictures later.

A tough diagnosis, and a simpler life

Well, I am in the process of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  While this is tough to swallow, I will NOT let it get the best of me!  It has been a rough week of testing, including an MRI, bloodwork, and a lumbar puncture, but it is over and hopefully we will have a definitive answer at my neurologist appointment next week.

The good news is, this has really made both Hubby and myself take a good look at how we're living.  We have both agreed that we need to MAJORLY de-clutter our home and simplify our lives.  This is great!  I have always wanted to do an overhaul, and have done some de-cluttering here and there, but Hubby  has always been wary of getting rid of stuff, so I never did anything major.  He is in the process of clearing out a nice big area in our basement to put things for our garage sale next spring, so we are already off to a good start.

I did try and start on the kitchen today, but that was brought to a screeching halt when the shelf broke in the cabinet I was de-cluttering.

The support on the left side broke and it fell down.  Hey, I was trying to take stuff OUT!  LOL.  Ugh, looks like I need to scrub it down, anyways...I guess all things happen for a reason!  I had V take all the food out and I tried to group it so that I can just stick it all in right when Hubby comes home and fixes the shelf.


Oh, and my kitchen table's a mess too...


These are some of the things I found that either I'm going to use today, or move to the fridge.  Why haven't they been moved there, you ask?  WELL, the fridge needs to be cleaned as well...




Okay, and the dishes need to be done...


V (5) loves to balance things precariously when putting them into the sink.  Anyways, what am I doing on the computer???  Now that I've thoroughly embarrassed myself, I better go make it so that I can post nice pictures too!

More updates soon...

A study on The Lord's Prayer...seeking good websites

Starting Monday, I would like to start going over the Lord's Prayer with my 5 year old son.  He has it memorized, but I want him to understand what he's really praying about when he says the words.  I found this website so far, but I am wondering if any of you out there have any favorite references for this?  I would appreciate any suggestions! 

Exciting Times

I know that I already blogged about it, but after today I have to do it again.  It is so exciting to see how much easier and easier it is getting for V to read words, even words he has not seen before.  It is also so cool how well he is doing in math.  I got him a 1st grade math workbook (he already flew through the K stuff) from Sam's, and he is just flying through that stuff.  He has a hard time sometimes with the number words, as with the phonics we are doing, he is just having to visually memorize those right now.  But even those, he is getting good at.  V even did his first crossword puzzle today!  LOL.  His grandma is always doing them, and he is finally seeing what all the fuss is about.

Meanwhile, Hubby and I are getting ready to order the next set of curriculum from My Father's World.  I just love looking through their website.  For now, I plan on using at least through 6th or 7th grade, but of course, I (or more like V) may change, so we'll see.  We can always supplement as well.  I just really like their packages and curriculum!  So far, it has been fun, and well, it's working!  LOL.  I guess I just like the style of how it's presented and taught, and the material itself is top notch.  Yes, I know it's kind of a weird time of year, but V will be finished with K around the end of October (we did start at an odd time, but it's also only 26 weeks) and then we will get him right into first grade.  I'm not sure how long the 1st grade curriculum is, but I'm guessing we will be starting 2nd grade at the beginning of the next “normal” school year LOL.

Susan's Angel

Susan Godfrey has posted an announcement of her precious angel, who is now in the arms of the Lord.  May God bless her family and give them peace and comfort during this time.

PRAY FOR SUSAN GODFREY AND FAMILY

A lot of you probably know Susan from her blogs.  I have known her over the internet for a couple of years now, and she has been such a source of encouragement and inspiration to me in my faith, as well as in practically every aspect of my homekeeping.  After being away from the blogging world for awhile, I was devestated to read this today.   In the midst of everything, Susan's unwavering faith in the Lord is shining through in her testimony to how He is carrying her through this.  I have thought about her and her family many times since I read this, and have cried many times for her.  Every time I think about her, I send up a prayer to the Lord for Susan, her baby and her family.
Please, please, please pray for Susan and her family during this time.  She will be induced this coming Tuesday morning, and she will be going to the hospital Monday night.  Amy has set up a 48 hour prayer chain for Susan and her family as they are going through this.  Please visit her blog and sign up if you can.  Biblical Womanhood is gathering email notes, verses, and encouragement for the family, as well as any snail mail you may want to send to them.
But most of all, please pray for this grieving family, whenever you think of it.

Back to school???

Not really…I may have taken a blogging break, but we have been chugging along at school the entire time.  By the end of October, we will be finished with kindergarten (which V would have just been starting today) and moving right into first grade.
The big thing is, reading is coming along GREAT.  V is reading very short stories from his curriculum right now and it is so exciting!  I taught him how to do it!  Isn't that a wonderful feeling?  Now, I know if I can teach, anyone can!  V is also doing really well in math…he finished up the kindergarten workbook I had got him, so we got him a first grade workbook, and he is just sailing along in that.  I love this!   We are both having so much fun.  I'm still just reeling from the fact that I TAUGHT MY CHILD HOW TO READ.  LOL.  I know so many of you out there know what I'm feeling.  It just gives me so much encouragement to keep on with this because I have seen that I can do it!
Heehee, time to get off the high horse LOL.

Wednesday

What another beautiful day!  We just got back from our walk.  Before that, we enjoyed a picnic lunch out in our backyard.  Our whole neighborhood smells like flowers right now, and it is so lovely to just walk through it and breath in all that wonderful air.  Lilac bushes are becoming more and more popular around here, and those are my absolute favorite flower.  It seems that they're popping up everywhere and they smell sooooo good!
V is doing so good with his phonics!  I am so excited, because the workbooks we had before were doing absolutely nothing for him and it had me worried he wasn't interested in reading LOL.  He is getting better and better at sounding things out and he should be reading short stories in no time.
V is up taking his nap right now…A started his on the walk and woke up when we got home.  I'm hoping he wants to go back to sleep for a little while because I really want to get our cabinet in the living room de-cluttered today…was supposed to do it Monday, but I just haven't had the time.  I think I will try putting A in his swing, as I can tell he is tired.  It's so funny, at night now he goes to sleep right away, but fights it so hard during the day.
I'm off to done my apron once again! 

A Beautiful Tuesday Here! And a CM Question

Ah, it is such a beautiful day in MN! This week in school we are learning the letter O and about Octopuses.  You know, I always thought the plural was octopi, but everything I've looked up says octopuses.  Hmm…
Anyway, V is loving school more and more, and he absolutely LOVES math!  We use Math Sense Blocks, which are kind of like Cuisenaire rods.  He just asked me (long after the school days over) if he could do some more math!  LOL.  I said “Okay!” and printed another worksheet for him from here.
After supper today, I loaded up A in the stroller and the three of us took a walk around our neighborhood, ending at the playground right across the street from our house.  I have been guilty of not getting the boys out enough (for leisure time, anyway) and I am resolved to do this way more often.  We all had a great time, and A didn't even fuss once!
Right now, I'm reading For the Children's Sake, by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay.  Has anyone else read this?  There are some points that I disagree with (as I'm not 100% CM), but I am getting a lot of really good ideas from the book already.  It reads pretty easy, too.  I also have The Joyful Homeschooler, by Mary Hood, but haven't really started it yet.  Has anyone read this?  What is your opinion?
Yikes, I also have a question for those of you who have been following the CM method…did any of you have a hard time getting your child to narrate back to you what you read to them at first?  It seems like V is paying attention, but when I ask him to tell me what happened, he usually says “I don't know,” after hesitating and/or thinking about it.  I'm just reading small chunks at a time (about 5-10 min for now) before asking him to narrate and am wondering how to help him along.  I'm not sure if he's just “shy” to tell it again, although he's not usually shy in nature.

Dh is homeschooling today!

Hubby took V (5) to the woods today.  Hubby is a hunter, and though it's not hunting season right now, he's taking V out to learn about some of the local animals, survival skills, and of course, some male bonding. 
So, for now, it's just me and A (4 months).  I think after he wakes up from his morning nap, we will get out of the house for awhile, maybe go shopping or something.  Or, to the park if it's nice enough, but it was pretty chilly yesterday, so we'll see.

Please pray for Missy Gray's family

Even though I didn't know her, it grieved me to read of the death of Missey Gray.  Even though I didn't know her, I cry for her family.  Please pray for this family, for this father who has 5 children to raise, including a brand new baby.

Menus for the week of 2/27/06

Monday
Egg Foo Yung
Rice
Salad
Almond Cookies

Tuesday
Meat & Potato Salad
Pickles
Carrot sticks
Apple pie

Wednesday
Leftover day

Thursday
BBQ Chicken
Sweet potato fries
Corn sticks
Pineapple & strawberries

Friday
Breakfast for dinner!
Scrambled eggs with cheese
Bacon
Glazed peach coffee cake

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Soup
Sandwiches

Getting ready for Monday

I'm sooo excited.  Hubby and I decided to order kindergarten curriculum from My Father's World.  I started V on it last week.  I have been looking through all the lessons and I am so excited to do this.  There's a lot of the Charlotte Mason approach integrated into the curriculum.  I've been doing more structured schooling with hopes of working my way to CM, but ironically, felt I needed a guided CM approach.  And MFW, I feel, is exactly this.  There is some workbook work, but it's mostly DOING things and reading storybooks; I love it!
Right now, we're in the introduction part, which usually takes two weeks, but I'm doing 2 per day with V, since he already knows his alphabet and numbers pretty well, and this curriculum starts out assuming students do not know these things.  Which will be wonderful when it's time for A to do school.  This is such an easier approach to phonics than what I started out with with V…I think we were both getting frustrated.  I had the worksheets, but no guidance on how to go about teaching phonics.  MFW even gives you what to say!  LOL That's exactly what I needed to start out!  Can you tell I am so happy and excited to have gotten this curriculum?
We have already decided we are going to use MFW for 1st grade, as well.  Since we're officially starting at such an odd time of the year, we will be done by August, have time to give V some time off, and get him started on 1st grade by September.  So he will be a whole year ahead, as he will turn 5 this coming March.
Anyway, I am going through making sure the basic house stuff is done, like Hubby's work shirts ironed for tomorrow, dishes done, and general picking up done.  As soon as we get up tomorrow, I want to have breakfast, do my quiet time in the Word, then get going on school.  Once we get that done, I can start on some serious de-cluttering around here.  It's so great to finally get back into a routine!

Menus for the week of 2/20/06

Monday
Taco Ring
Cucumber salad
Ice cream sundaes

Tuesday
Ravioli carbornara
Garlic bread

Broccoli
Grapes

Wednesday
Leftover day

Thursday
Chicken Parmesan
Veggies
Baked potatoes
Pound cake w/ peaches & raspberry sauce

Friday
Fish w/ lemon sauce
Broccoli cheddar gratin
Red potatoes w/ butter & dill
Cookies (not sure what kind to make yet LOL)

Saturday
Leftover day

Sunday
Soup
Sandwiches

Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup milk
1 box stuffing mix (such as Stove Top) with seasoning packet
1 2/3 cups water
Place chicken in crockpot.  Mix cream of mushroom soup and milk until smooth; pour over the chicken.  Mix together the stuffing mix, seasoning packet (some brands already has the seasoning mixed in) and water.  Let soak for about a minute and then pour over the soup mixture.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Enjoy!

Lots of smiles!

Oh, how I adore baby smiles 👶.  A smiled for the first time at a little over 4 weeks old, but now, he's doing it all the time!  As long as he's not cranky, I can usually get him to smile whenever I want him to, and I absolutely love it!  He even makes happy noises along with his smiles.  It totally melts my heart every time he looks into my eyes and his mouth opens in the biggest smile I have ever seen. *Happy sigh*

Menus for the week of 2/13/06

Yay, I actually finally did my menu planning!  LOL.  And I actually did them for the next three weeks!  Here's this week's.
Monday
Crockpot chicken and stuffing
Buttered egg noodles
Veggies (something from the freezer)
Cherry cobbler

Tuesday
Pizza
Salad
My “killer” brownies

Wednesday
Leftover day

Thursday
Minestrone
Homemade French bread
Fruit

Friday
Crispy chicken
Cheesy potatoes
Veggies
Strawberry shortcake

Saturday
Leftover day

Sunday
Is usually just a soup and sandwich day as we do the big lunch over at my parents every Sunday after church.

Wednesday Bright and Early

LOL I know this probably isn't too early for some, but it is amazing that I got up early enough to be on here by now.  For A's last feeding of the night, I just decided to get up and get moving.  Hubby is working all day today, so hopefully much will be done when he arrives home tonight.  He thought he was starting to get sick with a cold last night, but he awoke feeling better today.  Hopefully, the long workday won't bring back those feelings of being sick.
I have my pot of hot water brewing in the coffee pot right now.  I do that so that all the day long I can choose; coffee, tea, or cocoa.  I have a tray out on my counter that has a variety of tea bags, coffee bags, cocoa packets along with my own cocoa mix, individual creamers and packets of sugar.  Then in the morning I just run plain water through the coffee pot to keep it hot all day.  That way, it caters to whatever mood I'm in (Hubby doesn't like drinking hot beverages if he can help it).  Plus, I'm ready if company decides to drop by.
So, I'm waiting for my pot of water to finish, then I can have my quiet time in God's word.  After that, I will get V started on school, then work on the disaster zone that is my front porch.  We've got bags upon bags of baby clothes that Hubby had pulled out of the basement and that people have given us when A was born.  I need to sort these out by size and get them ready to store until we need them.
Until next time…

Tuesday for school

Well, after V's nap, he calmed down and had a pretty good day for school.  I also found a Kindergarten skill test online at www.tampareads.com/skills/kindergarten/test-html.htm
I don't really like public school “standards” but it's nice to know where most kids need to be before they enter the 1st grade.  V is doing preschool right now, and he already knows about half the stuff on this test.  Now I'm working on some of the other things in addition to what we're already doing.
V has learned “The Pledge of Allegiance” per the request of Hubby, and we start out every school day with that.  Then we do prayer.  For one of his AWANA activities, V has made his own prayer list, and that's what we pray to start out his school time.  Then we read a chapter or two out of the bible…right now we are reading the Gospel of John and just finished chapter 5.  After bible reading and discussion, we pick a devotion out of his devotional, “Gotta Have God,” which is a devotional for boys ages 2-5.  If he has a lesson to do out of his AWANA book, we will do that after this.
Next, we move on to worksheets I pick out from his book.  We bought a complete kindergarten basic curriculum workbook up at Sam's and he is working his way through that.  Plus he has a thinking skills workbook and a fun maze book (he LOVES mazes and is very good at them) that we got him from Walmart.  Today, he learned how to write his uppercase and lowercase U's and did some activities involving the numbers 13 and 14 (we're working our way up to 20).  Also, since he finished working with 12 yesterday, we dabbled into time a little bit.
Then we do a little break and have a snack, and if he wants, he can do an activity out of his Precious Moments activity book (which is usually more learning anyway).  Then we do our reading and any added activities.  Right now, we're reading out of Dinosaurs by Design.  We also have a sticker book that has all kinds of dinosaur stickers with a small blurb about the dinosaur.  We do one per day and then go to enchantedlearning.com to learn a little more about that dinosaur and print out a coloring page for V to color.  Then I hang it on our wall above our desk so that he can look at them and once in a while I will quiz him out of nowhere on what the dinosaurs are called…he's getting really good at remembering the names.  So far, we have learned about the Pterodactylus, the Diplodocus, the Compsognathus and the Brachiosaurus.
I also made reading flashcards for color words and also for number words 1-10 and we are going through that right now.  I am also going through the calendar with him now, too.  Besides the color and number words, he can read about 10 other words without help as well.  He can also spell and write his name and the word apple and ball without any help.
So, now that I've written a novel, can you tell I'm excited we're back into our school routine?
For Kindergarten, we are considering either My Father's World or KONOS.  I would love to hear opinions of those who have used either of these.  Any other suggestions are also welcome!

Sugar highs...or lows?

Oh, my, what a week it has been!  Last Monday, we finally settled back into our homeschooling routine here with V.  He has been doing really well, too, and excited to get back to it.  We started learning more about dinosaurs, as he is really into them right now.  We are reading out of a book called Dinosaurs by Design, by Duane T. Gish.  It is a really good book, as it takes on a biblical approach to the dinosaurs.
Despite being back to school, V had been acting impossible for the last few days.  Hubby and I couldn't figure out what was going on, especially since once he has school work to keep him occupied, he's usually pretty mellow.  Well, today we found out what was going on.  Hubby found on the floor a little round pink thing and we weren't sure if it was a piece of candy or some sort of pill or something.  V claimed he found it in his pocket.  I was freaking out looking on drugs.com (they have a very good pill identifier there) to see if I could find this thing on there.  Meanwhile, Hubby tried to get out of V where he got it from.  After lying and throwing a bunch of fits (very unlike V), he finally broke down and led Hubby to the kitchen closet/pantry.  In there, I have a box with holiday baking supplies, including many different kinds of sprinkles and such.  Well, he had been getting into those and he proceeded to show Hubby which ones he had tried and whether or not he liked them.  I could not believe it, but at least we know where this behavior was coming from.  By this point, V had calmed down enough to go take a nap without throwing a fit about it.  And all the sugar (and I'm sure there was tons of red 40 in that stuff as well that was contributing just as much) is hidden out of reach again, at least I hope.  I thought it was last time, too, but apparently, those darn kids keep growing and getting smarter!
So now, V and A are both taking naps at the same time…praise God!  And Hubby has gone off to work for the evening, so for the first time in a while, I've had time to get on this…this…oh yeah, it's called a computer!  I've had time to get on the computer and do a little update and catch up on A LOT of email.

Getting back into the swing of things

Well, Hubby got called in to his part time job this morning, which, while I am sad to have him gone, is really a blessing as the hours there are scarce during the winter.  Hubby has really been blessed with hours there since A was born and he took some paid time off from his full time job as we sure could use the money right now.  The Lord always provides.
So, with the call, we were up and at 'em early this morning and after feeding and cuddling with A for awhile and doing a quick email check, it was off to the kitchen to get it clean!  I cleaned the fridge and got all the dishes done.  I got everything picked up and put where it belongs, so now I have some counter space.  The only thing I have to do now is get a bunch of canning jars out of my cabinet so I can make room for bottles, as they are taking over one side of my counter.  A has been having problems latching on, so I am pumping breastmilk and feeding him through bottles for the time being.  At every feeding, though, we try the breast first and sometimes he does get it!  But sometimes he gets sooooooo frustrated, and I don't want him to get too upset about it, so we go to the bottle.  I know he will get it eventually…I have a friend who went through the same thing and all of a sudden at around 3 weeks old, her little one latched on like she had been doing it the whole time. 
Anyway, as time, energy and A allows, I am going to be working on getting this house picked up, one room at a time.  I'm not going to worry so much about deep cleaning yet, but I just want to get things picked up and to find a home for all this stuff laying around from Christmas and the baby.  The other big thing really, now that the dishes are done, is getting laundry done…it's mostly clean, but I have a huge pile on my dining room table that needs to be folded and put away.  I think once I get that done, the picking up part won't be so bad.
I also really want to make some banana bread.  It seems like it's been forever since I baked, and we have some bananas in the basket that are just about perfect for banana bread right now.  Plus, Hubby will be home close to dinner time, so I want to find a good meal to make for dinner.  This should be fairly easy since when I cleaned the fridge, I found a lot of good basics in there, plus our freezer and pantry are stocked pretty good.  The hard part will be making a decision.
Well, I best go get busy!  I hope you all have a blessed day!

Announcing...

A is finally here!  He was born Tuesday December 27 at 4:54 pm.  He weighed 9 lbs 7 oz and was 22 inches long!  I was able to have a successful vbac, so I am very happy about that.  

We're all home now and adjusting to life with a new baby.  The first couple of nights were rough, but A's only been up 2 times a night for the past few nights, so it's already getting better.  Although, I've had a case of the “baby blues” or as Nick calls it, “the hormone dump.”  That's one thing I had with Vincent that I completely forgot about.  Out of the blue without any trigger whatsoever I will just start crying.  This is really where I remember how lucky I am to have the dear husband that God has blessed me with.  As long as he's not occupied with A (or at work), he takes the time to come over and just hold me until the moment has passed.  He has been so great throughout all this transition…I could just brag on him all day 😊.