Menu Plan Monday

This week features a menu that we are doing for school, out of the "U.S. History Cookbook," by Joan D'Amico and Karen Eich Drummond.  We will be preparing and serving it on Tuesday.  :-)  We also have a few throwbacks from last week that we didn't get to, because we changed things up at the last minute, once to celebrate one of the kiddos learning how to ride a two-wheeler, and the other times just because!

Sunday:  BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches (topped with coleslaw, yummy!)
Monday:  Hawaiian Meatloaf, Baked Potatoes, Stir-Fry Veggie
Tuesday:  Shrimp and Ham Jambalaya, Bread Pudding with Fruit, King Cake
Wednesday:  Five-Ingredient Bacon Asparagus Pasta
Thursday:  Zucchini Soup
Friday:  Sweet Garlic Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Salad or Veggies
Saturday:  Three-Layer Dinner

Have a great week everyone!  And to those who are getting a ton of rain like we are right now, hopefully the sun will soon shine on all this green!  :-)

MFW 1850's to Modern Times Week 4

This was the week I was just so happy to finish out, because I could finally see that I could do school with all three boys and be consistent about it! And, it just seems to get more and more fun each week.  ALL of us keep looking forward to school, and that is huge!

This week, we wrapped up our hymn, "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus."  I think I can safely say it is a favorite for all of us.  Every single one of them was belting it out by the last day of the week.  It makes it a little tough for a mama to sing when she's trying not to cry!  ;-)

We did quite a variety of things for our Bible time this week, including learning about missionaries David Livingstone and Hudson Taylor, reading out of "A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God," and praying for protection over the United States from our enemies.  Our memory verse was 1 John 3:16:

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

The boys were excited that we finished up the beginning-of-the-year handwriting practice this week!

For history, Andrew learned about the Pony Express, and he also learned more about how to read maps.  With Vincent, we read about David Livingstone's trek through the African interior, the "resurrection" of Italy, and the Taiping Rebellion in China.  One of the activities for this was to make a stencil of the front side of a Taiping coin and use it to dust powdered sugar onto a cake.  I found the last non-gluten-free cake mix in the cupboard and made a couple of round cakes for the occasion.  Strawberry!  The temptation was definitely there, but my last experience with gluten is a VERY strong deterrent!

The boys also played a round of States Rummy together, and learned about President Franklin Pierce.

For science, Andrew learned about solids, liquids, gases, melting, freezing, evaporating, and floating.  Sorry I don't have a lot of pictures from this week, but here is one of the experiments.  One plate of water went in the toaster oven (warm), and the other went in the fridge, to learn about how different temperatures affect evaporation. It's hard to see, but the one on the right (on the hot pad) has almost no water left.  Big stuff for a second grader! ;-)

I continued to read "Farmer Boy" to Andrew, and started a book called "Courage to Run," by Wendy Lawton, with Vincent.  It's about the childhood of Harriet Tubman.  It had me crying in the very first chapter.

We finished out our week with a nature walk.  This time we went to a county park reserve near our home, and I think we will be spending a lot of time there this year...we haven't even come close to exploring half of it!

Menu Plan Monday 4/21/14

We will be going through and trying many of my Pinterest recipes this week, in an effort to clear out my "Recipes to Try" board a little.  And I do mean a little.  ;-)

Sunday:  We had pizza delivered to celebrate Andrew finally learning to ride a two-wheel bike!
Monday: Baked Beef Stew, biscuits (added from last week as we didn't have it yet)
Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Baked Artichoke Chicken, Bacon Green Beans, Salt & Vinegar Broiled Potatoes
Friday: Hawaiian Meatloaf (made with ground turkey), Baked Potatoes, Stir-Fry Veggies, Strawberry Pie for dessert

Have a great week, everyone!

MFW 1850's to Modern Times Week 3

We started this week rarin' to go!  A new hymn plus a little bit meatier history we were definitely ready for.  I'm not sure if I can speak for all my kiddos, but I think "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" has made it to my list of favorites.  By the end of this week, the eight- and five-year-olds were singing pretty loud...my thirteen-year-old is usually pretty shy about singing and is usually very quiet, but I noticed he's getting more into it as we go along.  I even heard him singing a lot louder than usual in the car yesterday when we were listening to a Christian radio station.  I cannot tell you what joy that brings to this mama's heart.  :-)




For our Bible time, we continued reading stories from "A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God," by Patricia St. John.   I am really liking this devotional, as I really think it is teaching my children how to apply passages of scripture to their own lives.  We also took the time to pray for our nation's judicial system and judges.  The first week, we prayed for the President, and the second week we prayed for Congress.  I love this, because not only is it teaching them to pray for those in charge of our country, it is also reminding me to pray for those I often forget to pray for.

Our memory verse this week was John 13:15.

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

For History,  Andrew learned about the British setting fire to the White House in 1814.  He also began learning how to read maps and directions (N, S, E, W).  We learned and sang the song "My Country 'Tis of Thee."  Please, somebody tell me that I'm not the only one that gets all emotional listening to my kids sing these songs!  We also learned of America's thirteenth President, Millard Fillmore.

With Vincent, I busted out the Story of the World Activity Book (I've been salivating over this since Box Day LOL!).  We read about Queen Victoria and the Sepoy rebellion in India.  We also learned about the Crimean War.  Nope!  Not the current one...this one happened in 1853-1856.  I found it more than a little ironic that this fell into our schedule right now.

While Vincent learned about the scientific method, Andrew learned about molecules and DNA, and then finished off the week learning about solids, liquids, and gases.  Our DNA experiment was especially fun...we saw tiny strands of onion DNA!

At the beginning of the week, we cooked up a Victorian "Tea," complete with Lemon Poppy Seed Afternoon Tea Bread and (probably a bit more un-traditional) root beer floats.  :-)  Yummy!

I finished off each of our days reading aloud "Farmer Boy," by Laura Ingalls Wilder to Andrew and Isaac.  I've always loved this book.  We've also noticed how much they ate back then.  I've tried explaining to the boys that with all the chores and work they had on the farm, they had to eat that much!  It's funny to watch their eyes when the food Almanzo ate for any particular meal is being read.  LOL!

With Isaac in K, we finished off his Turtle unit this week and started U-u-Us.  We've been learning about the five wonderful senses God has given us.  There has been a lot of blind-folding paired with tasting, feeling, and smelling.  ;-)  I was also able to turn this into a discussion about trust, because while Isaac was blind-folded, Andrew jokingly told me I should give Isaac...well, let's just say something VERY unappetizing to taste.  I talked to him about trust and how broken trust is not easily fixed.  I think the highlight of Isaac's week was listening to his classical CD and trying to move gracefully around the house while trying to keep a beanbag on his head.  LOL!

Have a good weekend everyone, and a blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Menu Plan Monday 4/14/14

For the past week, I have been revamping our family cookbook.  The only recipes that I allow inside of it are tried, true, and loved recipes (well, at least well-liked) by my family.  I've been printing out recipes from Pinterest that we have decided we want to keep, and putting them in there as well.  I also have many loose recipes in the back pocket of the cookbook that we have yet to try.  They are either from magazines, or recipes I printed off a long time ago.  I'm glad I did, because when I went to go find the websites they came from to try and link them up to this week's menu, some of the sites were G-O-N-E, gone.  In trying to give the family cookbook an overhaul, I will be trying many of these loose recipes this week, so that I can either file them into the cookbook or toss them.  So, I will post this week's menu now, and later I will post the recipes that I cannot link to.

Sunday: Tacos (since we didn't get around to tacos on Saturday)
Monday: Goulash (made from some leftovers I have in the fridge)
Tuesday: Enchiladas, Dressed
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Oven-Fried Curried Chicken Fingers, Glazed Carrots
Friday: Baked Beef Stew, Biscuits
Saturday: Three-Layer Dinner

Happy Monday and have a wonderful week, everyone!  :-)

MFW 1850's to Modern Week 2

It was another wonderful week in My Father's World as we wrapped up memorizing the states!  Vincent and Andrew played states rummy, adding more cards as we learned more states, to help them learn.  Well, it was really to help Andrew, Vincent's an old hand at this.  ;-)

They also filled in their maps and colored them.  At the end of the week, I gave them a blank map and had them write in the states without looking at anything (I spelled for Andrew, but he pointed and told me the names).  Vincent got all the states, and Andrew only missed 5!  In 2 weeks, my eight-year-old memorized all those states.  I am so proud of both of them!

 

 We read wonderful stories in a book called, "A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God" alongside our Bible reading, and continued on our hymn from last week, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."  We also sang "This Land is Your Land."

Vincent wrapped up learning the history of science, and Andrew continued to learn about atoms and elements.

Isaac started his next lesson in K, T-t-Turtle.

We wrapped up the week with our first "real" nature walk, which we just took through our neighborhood.  :-)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Menu Plan Monday 4/7/14

I'm trying to get back into my blogging groove.  I realize I go through seasons where I am willing and able to blog regularly and seasons where I don't blog at all.  And I'm okay with that.  ;-)  I'm also trying to get back into a menu-planning groove.  It's been awhile since I've sat down and planned out a whole week's worth of menus ahead of time.  I've been completely gluten-free for almost two months now, and I honestly don't know why I do this to myself...coming up with meals on-the-fly when you have to incorporate any sort of special diet can get pretty stressful--or monotonous--at times.  So, I'm going to hopefully cut out the unnecessary stress by planning ahead a little again.  So, here we go!

Sunday: Homemade Chipotle Bowls with Carnitas, cilantro lime rice, and corn salsa
Monday: Coconut chicken over rice, served with roasted carrots
Tuesday: Tuna salad (I'm making both gluten-free and standard)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Chicken meatball sandwiches (I will make hoagie buns and have on hand gluten-free ciabatta rolls), pickles, chips
Friday: Oven-fried pork chops, applesauce, baked potatoes, German red cabbage
Saturday: Baked tacos and fixin's, corn

I've been having fun trying recipes that I've pinned to my Recipes to Try board on Pinterest.  :-)  Most of the recipes on this week's menu I haven't tried yet.  I'm typing this up Sunday before dinner, and very much looking forward to our Carnita dinner.  The house smells wonderful!  We have had the baked tacos before, and it is a favorite here.  I will be changing the shells, though.  Last time we had them, I used flour tortillas.  Now, they will be made with corn.

Here's to hoping for a wonderful week!  Happy Monday!

My Father's World 1850-Modern Times Week One

This past week was the first week in a new school year for us.  I now have a seventh-grader, a second-grader and a Kindergartener.  This year, we are using 1850 to Modern Times from My Father's World.

We started each day, of course, with The Pledge of Allegiance.  Then we sing the hymn that we're learning, which is currently "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." This is the video we've been using.  I LOVE the sound!



Next, I work with my Kindergartener on any activities he has for the unit he's currently working on, which is N-n-Nest: God takes good care of me.

This week, Isaac learned about animal homes, particularly birds and their nests.  We studied all kinds of different ways birds make their homes, and in seeing what good care mama and daddy birds take in making sure they have a safe, warm nest and food for their babies, we realized how much more so God takes care of His children.  We also made rice crispy treat nests and filled them with candy eggs and those famous marshmallow chickies.  :-)

After spelling, handwriting practice, and English lessons for the older two, we learned and memorized the states along the northern and southern borders of the United States.  We also prayed for our country and it's Executive Branch.  We sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "If My People," which is based on 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

In science, Andrew began learning about atoms and started his science notebook.

We learned about chain reactions when we added vinegar to heated milk, as well as when we whipped egg whites into foam, added sugar, and baked up some yummy meringues.  :-)  Vincent studied the history of science and conducted a few experiments of his own.

We learned about different densities of solids and liquids.  In the jar above are three different liquid layers.  Corn syrup, water and oil.  We dropped in a cork, an ice cube, a grape, and a rock.

We also learned about how a reaction between vinegar and baking soda made a gas that filled up a balloon.

At the beginning of the week, we enjoyed a dinner from Colonial times of ham with cherry sauce, corn chowder, with apple crisp for dessert.

We started our new math and reading activities, and added learning Spanish to the mix.  We also started Andrew's read-aloud (which Isaac has also been listening in on), "Farmer Boy," by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I loved that book when I read it to Vincent when HE was in second grade, and I'm so excited to be sharing it with my other boys as well.

Finally, on the last day of the week, we were supposed to go on a nature walk, taking clipboards of blank paper and colored pencils to draw something that catches our eye.  Well, the night before and throughout the morning, we got about six inches of snow.  So, rather than trudging through the snow and leaving our paper white (which Vincent joked we should do, since that's all we would be able to see anyway), we looked on Netflix and found a movie about the sun.  The boys paused when they saw something they wanted to draw, and I filed those pictures in their nature notebooks.

All in all, a wonderful first week, and we're all excited about the second.  Which, we're starting today, since hubby is working, and we try to follow his work schedule with school as closely as we can.  :-)

Laundry and Kids: Choose Your Battles Wisely

With three boys ages 12, 7,  and almost 5, laundry can get to be quite a daunting task.  If I let it.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't have all the answers when it comes to taming the laundry beast.  For instance, what do I do when I find a bunch of clothes in the dirty laudnry that I KNOW haven't been worn?  It could be they weren't put away properly, but it could also be that they were dug out, tried on, and discarded for the next experiment.  But, I digress.  It's a battle that, for the moment, I choose not to fight.

Another battle that I choose not to fight is whether or not the laundry even MAKES it to the laundry room.  I used to be a total nag about this, until one day I learned the sweet relief of just saying, "Tough!"  Ironically, my younger two, who share a room, are pretty good about getting their dirty clothes to the laundry room on a daily basis during their morning chore time.  They both have favorite PJ's and clothes they like to dress up in to play super heroes or Indiana Jones.  So, they're pretty good at keeping each other accountable for their dirty laundry.  They are to take turns bringing their shared basket to the laundry room each morning.  My oldest, however, used to be really bad about bringing his dirty laundry to the laundry room.  He's definitely learned his lesson, though.  I told them all one day that I wasn't going to remind them to bring their laundry to the laundry room anymore.  And I didn't!  I also told them that if they wanted something washed after I was done with laundry for that day, tough!  They would have to just wait until I did laundry the next day.  I usually do at least one load of darks every day, while it takes 2-3 days to get enough whites for a load.  My oldest still doesn't bring his laundry to the laundry room daily, but he has quickly learned to bring it there before he runs out of stuff to wear!  Of course, he is also welcome to do his own laundry.  ;-)  He does know how, and I do have him do it sometimes.  But laundry is actually something I have learned to enjoy, and you're about to find out why.  :-)

Here's how laundry works in our home.  Everyone, of course, is responsible for getting their own laundry to the baskets in the laundry room.  Everyone knows how to separate the whites from the darks.  I have two baskets in my laundry room.  In one goes all the darks and all the bath towels and wash cloths.  In the other goes all the whites and dish towels and dish cloths.

I start the process.  The first load of the day is always the darks, since that's what we have most of.  I will start the washer and load dark clothes in, leaving the towels and wash cloths for another load.  When that load is done, I will call any one of the three boys to reboot it to the dryer.  All three know how to do this, from emptying the lint trap to putting the dryer sheet in to getting the dryer started.  Usually the younger two do it together, but that's usually because whichever one I called was interrupted from playing with the other one, so they try to get it done as quickly as possible.  LOL!  After that's done, I'll start the next load in the washer if another load is needing to be washed.  Then, one of the boys will unload things from the dryer onto my bed and do another reboot if needed.

And now we get to another choice to make in picking battles.  First, I'll tell you what I used to do.  I used to give my oldest his clothes to fold and put away.  Then, I used to fold both of the younger boys' clothes into separate piles and had them put them away.  Then, I used to get frustrated as they dug through their dressers and messed up all those nicely folded clothes.  Then, I taught them how to fold their own clothes and got frustrated with their own frustration, and how long it took, and how their folded clothes never quite looked like folded clothes.  You see the struggle?  No more!  I chose to make this a non-battle.

What do I now do with that pile of clothes laying on my bed from the dryer?  I separate my husband's and my own clothes and put them away.  Everyone else's gets thrown over to the floor by my doorway into one pile.  Then, I call for everyone to come get their clothes.  They come sort out which is whose and they know they have to get them put away right away.  The oldest folds his.  Sometimes the younger boys make a sloppy attempt at folding them, but more often than not, they stuff them into their dressers.  And I am seriously okay with that.  Because now, when they dig around for that cape (or whatever), I'm not stressing out about how they're undoing the work that I did.  The clothes are clean, they're at least put away in appropriate drawers (socks in one, shirts in another, etc.) and they're doing it on their own.  Having clothes folded neatly is simply a battle I choose not to fight.  Just like their big brother, one day they will "get it," and will appreciate how much easier it will make their life to keep their clothes neat, and will be able to do it just as easily as the rest of us.  Until then, at least in our home, pushing the issue into a battle is a completely unnecessary stress.

Menu Plan Monday

I am working on going through some of the MANY pins I have in my "Recipes to Try" board on Pinterest, especially a post on crock pot meals.  So, this week's menus will reflect that.  We will also be getting ready to go on our first camping trip of the season this coming weekend, so Friday and Saturday won't be included, as we have not planned those out yet.  Those days will most likely consist of hotdogs or hamburgers, or something similar.  ;-)

Monday:  Santa Fe Chicken
Tuesday:  Pepsi Pot Roast-this is "our" pot roast now, it is absolutely delicious!  It is a repeat from a couple of weeks ago, because the roast packs we get from Costco come with two roasts.
Wednesday:  Easy Shepherd's Pie-Not a crock pot meal, but the pot roast makes a TON of gravy.  I'll make extra mashed potatoes with it, too, and we'll use those two leftovers from Tuesday to make this super easy and yummy Shepherd's Pie!
Thursday:  Leftovers, to get the fridge cleaned out before we leave on Friday.

There you have it!  I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.  Now, back to business!  ;-)