Here are some lapbooking questions I have received through e-mail.

1. How do your older children feel about lapbooking?

      My older children enjoy it even more than my youngest. In our co-op the jr. high age kids were put out when I had not planned a lapbook for them one semester.

2. Why do you like lapbooking more than narration, notebooking or worksheets?

      I do like lapbooks a great deal. I do not think they replace all other mediums. I admit that I do not care for worksheets. I like the thoughtfulness that goes into narrations and notebooking. I feel that lapbooks combine that thoughtfulness with creativity and teach kids to organize and present  their gained knowledge. Lapbooks do take more time and effort and therefore we are very selective on the topics we choose for them.

3. Do you use pre-made kits?

      No. We like to create our own. We use the Excel program on our computer to create a lot of our booklets. We also trace patterns from various sources onto colored paper. We often add clipart from public domain sites or our own artwork as well. We like adding maps and timelines whenever possible.       

      I have gotten several templates from http://www.homeschoolshare.com and http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbooks.htm.

      If you do want to look at some free kits, check out currclick for the weekly free item. http://www.currclick.com

     I believe that Jimmie's lapbooking page would be helpful to visit for additional thoughts on lapbooking. She also has other resources. http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking

      I'd love to see your finished products. Please post a link in comments or e-mail if you are able to. It is nice to share ideas with others. It keeps the creativity flowing and can inspire others.

      I hope you enjoyed the lapbooking workshop. I will be posting some additional resources and ideas next week. In the meanwhile, I have some templates for minibooks listed under the posts  entitled "Mystery of History Files to Share" and "Explorer Lapbook".  Click on the links and you can download the templates. Please feel free to alter them according to your needs.

      Please ask any questions you may have in the comments section. Then check back and I will do my best to answer in the comments section.  Many people may have the same questions and it will help to do it there. My children have all enjoyed lapbooking and I hope it benefits your family as well. God Bless!

      Before I share the rest of the 4 week plan, I wanted to address some questions that I have received.

1. How does this save you money if you don't plan from the sale flyers?

      I still use my coupons and watch for the sales, but I believe that menu planning this way does save me money for the following reasons:

      a. I can buy items that I will use throughout the 4 weeks in bulk.

      b. I can watch the sales for the whole month instead of by the week.

      c. When items are on sale, I know how much to buy with the plan.

2. I often feel overwhelmed planning for a week, how do you do it for a month?

      Around the second week to early in the third week of the previous menu plan I sit down with my cookbooks, recipe binders, calendar, and laptop. I have already developed a tentative schedule for my menus. It then is just a matter of filling in the blanks.

Example:

Sundays- Large Roasts

Mondays- leftovers

Tuesdays- Chicken

Wednesdays- Pasta or Pork

Thursdays- Chicken

Fridays- Beef or Pizza Night

Saturday- Soups or Main Course Salads

      I follow a pattern that works for us and our preferences. We love chicken and that is in our plan twice a week. It saves me time by following the pattern and because I only have to haul everything out 1 time every 4 weeks.

      I can always change the plan up if we become tired of something. In the summer when we are at the lake, Friday night becomes grilling night and Satuday becomes Crock-pot recipes. In the fall the menu includes Turkey, when prices are lower. In the spring we add in Ham and sausage with the Easter sales.

3. Do you get bored with your plan?

      No. I love having it in place. We are an active family and I find the plan to have enough variety that we don't get tired of it.

Here's the last 2 weeks of the current plan:

Week 3:

Peanut Butter Granola & Yogurt

Baked Ham, Au Gratain Potatoes and Green Beans

Crackers & Cheese with Movie Night

      Bake Bread, Make Chicken Salad, Thaw bacon crumbles

Toast, Bacon, Onion & Hashbrown skillet with Fruit

Chicken Salad with Crackers, Carrots and Ranch

Leftover Buffet

      Thaw potatoes, english muffins, pizza roll-ups and chicken

Eng. Muffins & Egg Scramble

Pizza Roll-ups with Marinara & Yogurt parfait

Marrinated Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes & Sweet Corn

      Make fruit bread, thaw hash

Fruit Bread & Corned Beef Hash

PB&J Sandwiches, Carrots & Ranch and Fruit

Cheesy Mac and Ham & Broccoli Saute

      Make Pitas & Thaw Chicken

Granola & Yogurt

Leftovers

Chicken Gyros, Homemade Pitas, Tzaziki Sauce & Cucumbers with Cream

      Make Biscuits and thaw sausage

Honey Butter Sausage Biscuits & Fruit

Ramen Noodles & Buttered Bread

Pizza Night

Lazy Daisy Cake

      Make Cake & Thaw ground Beef

Pancakes & Fruit

Lunch Out

Chili- double, Midwestern Cornbread

      Make Oatmeal and Thaw potato skins

Week 4:

Baked Oatmeal & Yogurt

Pork Loin, Sweet Onion Marmaletta, Scalloped Potatoes & Salad

Potato Skins & Game Night

      Shred pork, Bake Bread & Thaw sausage

Toast, Sausage & Hashbrowns

Shredded Pork Sandwiches, Carrots & Ranch

Leftovers

      Thaw English Muffins, pizza roll-ups & chicken

Eng. Muffins & Egg Scramble

Pizza Roll-ups with Marinara & Fruit

Chicken & Dumplings with Mashed Potatoes and Carrots

      Thaw hash & muffins

Fruit Muffins & Ham Hash

PB&J Sandwiches, Carrots & Dip & Fruit

Florentine Stuffed Shells- Triple & Garlic Bread

       Thaw chicken

Baked Oatmeal & Yogurt

Leftovers

Chicken Fried Rice & Applesauce

      Make Merry Pop-ins & Thaw groung beef

Merry Pop-ins & Fruit

Lunch Out

Taco Salad, Breadsticks & Blueberry Pie

      Make Breadsticks- double, Make pie & Thaw chicken

Sourdough Waffles & Fruit

Leftovers

Northwoods Wild Rice Soup- Triple, Breadsticks & Ice Cream

      Make Granola & preview next menu for prep

      Whenever I double or triple a recipe, it is for the freezer. Then I incorporate it into the next menu plan on busy days. I will post any recipes that are requested.

      Menu Planning is one of the most important tools I use to help myself stay organized, save my family money, feed my family nutritous meals, and save myself time in the kitchen. I don't buy breads, cereals, chips or snacks. I make my own.

      My son has Asthma and I noticed that for the first time since he was two, he was having pretty bad episodes this fall. When he was 2, we cut preservatives out of his diet. I began to create all our breads and snacks. It really did make a huge difference.

      Then we moved and for some reason I got away from menu planning. We survived that way for a year and when I look back I can see how much money we spent eating out and making extra trips to the grocery store. My son's asthma became much worse during that year. Yuck!

      I finally realized that I needed to go back to my planning. I was doing a week at a time and began to freezer cook about  every other month. I'd make between 30-40 meals and stash them in the freezer for those times when we would be busy and tempted to eat out. I went on this way for 4 years or so. It wasn't bad and the freezer cooking was very helpful. We thought that my son had outgrown his asthma. Yipee!

     This fall my daughters were on a volleyball team that travelled quite a bit. Their practices were 40 minutes away. We started to eat out more and buy a lot of snacks from the store. "Coincidentally" my son began using his inhaler frequently. He had a significant increase in attacks. He had to use a steroid inhaler and was left pale and shaky for a time. That was followed by stomach pain and cramping.

      It took me awhile, but I finally got it. Could his change in diet and increase in asthma attacks be linked? In December I began to wean us off store bought breads completely, including sandwich buns, english muffins, pitas, and tortillas.

      In January I began eliminating all packaged cereals, snacks, chips, and crackers. We are blessed to be near an Amish wholesale bulk food store. When I go there I can stock up on cheese and meat too. The prices are great and not only are there no preservatives but the meat and cheese has no growth hormones. The prices are decent. If I buy in balk, I can get really good prices. In order to buy in bulk, I needed a plan that would cover more than a week. I tackled 4 weeks and I love it.. It is very freeing. My son has not touched his inhaler since the third week of January.

      So here's the first 2 weeks of my current 4 week plan- if there are any recipes that you would like, leave a comment and I will post them.

Week 1:

Honey Almond Granola & Yogurt

Beef Stroganoff x2, Amish egg noodles, Frozen green beans from my garden, Pumpkin Walnut Cake

Bacon and Cheese Potato Skins (freezer stash)

      Bake Honey Oatmeal Bread ,Thaw whole chicken, Make chicken salad from Fri. leftovers, Bake & crumble 3 lbs bacon

Toast, Hashbrown, Egg & Bacon scramble

Chicken Salad, Carrots & Ranch, Grapes

Leftovers

      Make Pepperoni Pizza Roll-ups, Thaw Cin. Rolls & Sauasage Roll-ups (freezer stash)

Cinnamon Rolls (freezer stash) & Cheesy Eggs

Pizza Roll-ups with Marinara Sauce & Apple wedges

Garlic and Herb Butter Roasted Chicken, Roasted Potatoes, Turnips & Carrots, Blueberry Muffins

      Thaw Pumpkin Bread (freezer stash), Thaw pork chops, twice baked potatoes(freezer stash),  & corned beef hash (freezer stash), make muffins

Fruit Bread & Corned Beef Hash

PB & J Sandwiches, Cucumbers & Cream, Grapes

Sweet & Tangy Pork Chops, Twice Baked Potatoes (freezer stash), Sweet Corn

      Make tortillas, Thaw chicken breasts, Begin sourdough starter

Coconut Pecan Granola & Yogurt

Leftovers & Choc. Chip Cookies

Chicken Fajhitas, Tortillas, Toppings, Applesauce

      Bake cookies ( makes 10 dozen- freeze 6 dozen), feed starter

Breakfast leftovers

Lunch out

Sausage Deep Dish Pizza, Salad & Brownie Sundaes

      Bake brownies, Make Chocolate Sauce, Whip cream, Bake potatoes, Bake Italian Cheese Bread, Feed Starter, Check cocoa mix and make more if needed

Banana Crepes

Baked Potato Soup, Italian Cheese Bread, Apple wedges

Mint Hot Cocoa with leftover whipped cream, crackers & cheese,fresh fruit and choc. chip cookies

      Make crackers, Make double batch of Baked Oatmeal, Thaw Roast Beef, feed starter

Week 2:

Baked Oatmeal & Yogurt

Roast Beef, Potatoes & Carrots, Applesauce

Popcorn & Games

      Shred leftover beef, Fry Sausage patties-2 lbs (freeze 1 1/2 lbs)- crumble 1 lb. (freeze half), feed starter

Toast, Sausage and Eggs

Roast Beef Sandwiches, Carrots & Ranch, Clementines

Leftover Buffet

     Make English muffins ( 3 batches- freeze 2), thaw chicken, feed starter

English Muffins & Egg with Sausage crumbles, Yogurt

Pizza Roll-ups, Marinara Sauce, Pear Wedges

Chicken Pot Pie x3 (freeze 2),Cole Slaw

     Make fruit muffins (double-freeze 1), thaw groud beef, thaw ham hash, feed starter

Fruti Muffins, Ham Hash

PB & J Sandwiches, Carrots & & Ranch, Clementines

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (double- freeze 1), Salad, Breadsticks

      Make breadsticks-dbl for Sat., Thaw chicken( extra for Sat), Bake Soudough Loaves

Baked Oatmeal & Yogurt

Leftover Buffet

Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry, Steamed Rice

      Thaw Merry-pop-ins, Thaw ground beef, Cook extra chicken for Sat., Make more trail mix if needed

Merry-pop-ins, Pear wedges

Lunch out

Zesty Onion Meatloaves, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Saute

      check "instant " oatmeal packets- make more if needed

Sourdough Waffles, Clementines

Asian Chicken Salad with leftover breadsticks

Leftover Buffet & Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

      Make Peanut Butter Granola & Vanilla Nut Granola, Bake Hot Fudge Cake

      I will post the last 2 weeks later this week so check back!

      Our MOH Co-op is working on an Explorer lapbook. The link below will take you to photos of the lapbook as it now stands. I added comments with descriptions. I hope that helps to explain what every thing is. We will add to it as we move through history. We plan on working on this lapbook throughout Book 3. You can check back to this post and I will add files to the links below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24059365@N04/3297861530/in/set-72157614258270750/

      Here are the resources and templates for the mini books we have so far.

http://www.mediafire.com/myfiles.php

      This includes the following:

1. 5 Reasons to Explore

2. Anatomy of a Ship

3. Aztec and Inca

4. Cape of Good Hope

5. Caravel, Nao, Conquistadors

6. Explorer images

7. Images for some of the mini books

8. Scurvy mini book

      This beautiful Coopers Hawk spent several afternoons on the fenceline. He wasn't at all concerned with our presence. He knew we were there. He turned his head and checked us out every once in awhile. The kids really enjoyed observing him and the way he surveyed his territory. We decided to skip piano practice and study up on hawks while we had this speciman in our midst. The kids wanted to find out all about hawks and were excited to delve into this.

      Then they found out that his favorite food was song birds. My middle child's heart was saddened by this. After our study was completed the kids went out to shovel the driveway. My son came barreling back into the house and gleefully announced that there were feathers all over the driveway. He wanted a bag for a "collection".

      My daughter came in sadly and went to the window. The hawk was gone. She shook her head and said, "Well I guess he got what he wanted! I don't think I like hawks anymore. They're mean!" I would say she's definitely a gatherer. My son came back in with his collection and excitedly said, "Hawks are awesome... look at all these feathers. Mom come out and see. I think there's even some blood. This is so cool." I believe we'd call him a hunter. He asked if tomorrow was Sunday and if he could take his feathers to church to show his friends.

      My oldest daughter thought it was all interesting. She is much more scientifically minded than the rest of us and tried to comfort her sister with the circle of life story. She pointed out that we eat meat and that comes from animals. She also came to me and mentioned her concern over her little brother's excitement about the blood. She confided, "I'm a little worried about him Mom, I don't think that's normal unless you're a serial killer." I assured her that I grew up with brothers and they loved all that kind of stuff and none of them had turned into criminals, yet!  My sister will appreciate my bit of humor! For some reason my brothers don't find me all that funny.

      We have been busy working on Mystery Of History-  Book 3 in our co-op. We are working on an Explorer's Lapbook and Artists of the Renaissance lapbook that will continue throughout the whole book. I will post the mini books and pictures of  some samples of the kids lapbooks soonish.

     Last year we did several lapbooks with the elementary age groups in our co-op. Then I had several requests from our jr. high age kids to do lapbooks. I guess I thought that they would find them too childish or something. They have really impressed me so far with their work on the booklets. They have been putting even more work into them than they do on their journaling pages. I love their enthusiasm.

      In the meantime here is a link for some of the notebook pages that I have created to go with MOH Book 3, Quarter 1:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=68868bd3a93e1d81d2db6fb9a8902bda

The files include:

1. Wars of the Roses Mini book page- this includes several mini books, with House of Lancaster and York, and House of Tudor booklets

2. Wars of the Roses Journal page

3. Cosimo de Medici Journal page

4. Spanish Inquisition page

5. Lorenzo the Magnificent Journal page

6. Ivan the Great Journal page

7. Christopher Columbus Journal page

8. Empires of West Africa Notebook page- we cut out the 3 mini books and glued them in order with a description of each of the empires

9. The Safavid graph page goes with the Sunni & Shiite venn diagram- we folded the sheet with the diagram and cut so that it opened like a flap book, then used red for the sunni, blue for the shiite and green for both, we glued the mini diagram booklet to the bottom of the graph page

10. Da Vinci's Vintruvian Man group investigation page

11. Elizabeth I Journal page

      We have begun a Charlotte Mason Nature Club. We meet once a month at different places each time. I decided to begin with the basics. At our first meeting we discussed what the aim of our club would be. The intentsion is to meet and spend time observing, hiking, and sketching with time for discussion.

      We met at Bendix Woods Nature Center. There were about 30 of us total. We talked about many great resources for nature study. Our main resource will be The Handbook of Nature Study. We discussed the basic needs for hiking and sketching.

     We spent time observing a red squirrel and juncos at the window feeder. It was snowing and very cold that day. Some decided to stay at the nature center because they had younger children. The rest of us headed out into the frozen tundra that is Northern Indiana in January.

     We spotted Sycamore, Sugar Maples and a Hawthorn tree with it's needles, observed several different evergreen trees and compared their cones and branches, and found a dead tree being consumed by termittes. While hiking we observed several Cardinals and Goldfinches. The kids followed rabbit trails and discovered different mosses and fungi. It was a great start for our club.

      Christmas in Dayton- We spent a week with our wonderful friends. We had a delicious group dinner featuring Parmesan and Garlic Crusted Prime Rib, Cinnamon Spiced Pork Loin with Fried Apples, Garlic and Herb Spiced Pork Loin with Sweet Onion Marmaletta, Steve's Cheesy Potatoes, Glazed Carrots, Sue's Special Creamed Corn, Salad, Rolls, Herb Butter and Debbie's Norwegian Treats- We affectionately call them "Little Debbies".

      We shared gifts and had a rousing White Elephant game. I was very excited to get a Bird clock that chirps a different bird on the hour. They all think I am crazy, but it's one of my very favorite gifts. We had a great time together. One of our favorite things is when our friend Lary gets out his guitar and leads us in Chritmas Carols and Praise music. It is a special time that we always enjoy.

      The men have a tradition of going to the Air Force Museum together while we "hens" bake. The boys enjoy their time and look forward to it each year. This year we laid low and talked and prayed with our friend who is suffering with back problems.

      The highlight is "Couples Night". We all get dressed up and go out to a dinner theater together. We see a Christmas play. This year we saw "Miracle on 34th St." It was the best one yet.

      The kids have fun too by the way:)

      Christmas at Home- We always have Christmas Eve with my side of the family at our house. It was even more special with it being my nephew Josiah's first. I made him an Advent tree with space for 25 small gifts. Next year, each day he will be able to open one small gift from us and read a small portion of the Christmas story.  The tree is behind the kids in the picture. I only put 12 gifts on it this year. I figured he's a little young this year. After he removes the gift he can add one of the cork ornaments with the correct day of the month on it.

      My sister brought  Toasted Ravioli with Marinarra, my sister-in-law brought a cheeseball and crackers and my other sister-in-law brought punch. We had a nice dinner together. We had Glazed Ham, White Cheddar Herbed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Soufle, Glazed Carrots, German Green Beans, Salad, Pumpkin Bread, Buttery Pan Rolls and Overnight Rolls.

      Then we shared gifts with each other. We played a game of Bunco as a family. It was a lot of fun. My mom made a favorie from my childhood, God Bless her! Banana Cream Pie- real whipped cream included! Hallelujah!! She made me my own whole pie that I didn't have to share with anyone. I ate the whole thing over the course of two days and I am not ashamed.

      Christmas in Battle Creek- We traveled to visit my husband's mom and sisters after Christmas. The kids had fun playing with all of their cousins. It was loud and fast paced and they loved it.

      We ate and talked and shared gifts. My husband took the kids out to slide on the iced over driveway. That was definitely a highlight for them. They came in soaked but happy.

      We got to attend church together. It is always nice to visit Brad's old church and see some more family and friends. We shared Sunday dinner before it was time to head out.

      New Year's Eve we're going bowling with some family friends and their church. Then we are heading over to my sister's house to ring in the New Year.

      New Year's Day the family is coming over to play games and watch football. We'll enjoy some appetizers and probable a big pot of my brother-in-laws favorite soup, Wisconsin Cheesy Potato Soup. I'll make Blueberry Muffins to go with the soup and we will have milkshakes later in the day.

      I have no idea how we are going to recover from all of this merry making. I'll start thinking about that on Satuday. Time to party...

Tech Kids - Indiana State Champions- FLL League

We qualified for World Festival in Atlanta, GA in April.

Great Job kids! You made us proud.