OK. It's not REALLY summer, but it sure feels like it.  And Bug sure is enjoying the outside like it is!  I decided to move us outdoors for the afternoon.  I'm planning school and Bug is playing.  Here are a couple pictures of what I see right now.







Hmm... I wonder if I can get away with not planting anything there and just letting him have it as a mud pit all summer.  It's shaded, it's safe, and it's fun!

Thanks to the ladies over at HSS, I was introduced to this great concept, the workbox system. There are many many other homeschool blogs around that explain how and why they use it.  I've modified the system to fit us, and we used it for the first time today.  I'm trying not to be premature, but our first day went very well. 

I set it up and explained to Bug how it would work.  He quickly understood that he was to go through them in order and he spotted a couple things that are not normally 'school work' that he was looking forward to doing.  I also told him that if the box wasn't ready for him when he woke up in the morning, then there was no school that day.  He thought that was great.

For our modifications, I used large, clear plastic bags that I got from the Dollar Tree, and a milk crate.  It doesn't take up too much room and is easily transportable.  It's also very easy to change the number of bags we use on any given day.  The only down fall is that its a little sloppy looking and the bags don't stay standing up.  But with the numbers on the bag, I don't think its that big of a deal.

The preschoolers that I babysit each got one bag with some worksheets to do.  It kept them entertained for a while.  They needed help with a lot though, which distracted Sebastian.  It'll definitely take some experimenting to see what works for them all.   Bug's last bag had a puzzle that all the kids could work on with him:

The kids enjoy playing school.  Can you guess who the teacher is?

If you like snickerdoodles, you MUST try this recipe.  It is the best.  Wish I had pictures to share. We had them with hot chocolate today. It was perfect!

Tristan wanted us to share our schedules.  Mine isn't really changing too much for the new year, other than the new schedule I started at the beginning of December for a week will again be implemented (snow days and no school got in the way).   I'm going to separate the schedule into workdays and non-work days.  I can't break it down by day of the week as my workdays change.  I've included times, but for school related items they are approximate depending on how focused we are.

Workdays:

• I set my alarm for 6am, but don't usually roll out of bed until closer to 6:30.  I get ready for the day and either my mom or I will wake Bug at about 6:45.  If we're hungry and have time we'll grab breakfast, otherwise we head out the door and catch our bus at 7:10.  I rest and Bug listens to music or plays Leapster on the bus ride.
  
• Arrive at the G's house at 8am.  We don't even take our coats off and head right back out the door with W & S to take W to school.  We are back from that by about 8:45.  At this point, Bug will get breakfast if he didn't get it before and S will finish his breakfast if necessary.  If no food is needed, the boys will play until 9:00.
  
• 9:00-9:45 -- Bug does handwriting, reading, and math.  Starting new, I'm going to set the timer for him for each subject.  He seems to focus a little better if he knows the timer is going.  During this time, S is either quietly playing near by or will join us at the table and color.
  
• 9:45-11:00 -- Play time for the boys.  I will usually figure out what is for lunch, and then sit and read or play with the boys until about 10:30 at which time I start lunch prep (depending on what we are having).
  
• 11:00-11:30 -- Pick W up from school.
• 11:30-12:00 -- Lunch
• 12:00-1:30 -- Bus ride home. Again, I'm resting, Bug is playing Leapster or listening to music.
• 1:30-2:00 -- Quiet time.  Bug gets quiet play time in room, I check e-mail and organize literature unit.
  
• 2:00-2:30 -- Literature unit studies.
  
• 3:00-5:00 -- Play time for Bug, sometimes this includes a little TV time.  I will finish checking e-mail and start dinner. 
  
• 5:00 -- My mom is home and I leave for work.
  

• Usually we sleep in until about 8.  Bug wakes up earlier, but because of my late nights I usually allow him to watch a bit of TV until 8 so I can catch a little more sleep.  Once I get up, we'll eat breakfast, play, and if we're lucky get dressed and ready for the day.
  
• 9:00-9:45 -- Handwriting, Reading, and Math.  Depending on the energy level of the day, this may get pushed back but prefer it done by 11:00.
  
• At this point, it is really dependent on what else needs to be done.  We'll eat lunch and go to the library or run other errands.  Or we'll relax and play for a while longer and do our literature unit in the afternoon some time. 
  
• I try to start dinner by 4:00 so it's ready before I go to work at 5:00. 

"You should listen to your mother."
"I do listen to her."
"Not all the time."

Bet you can't guess who said it!  Bug told me that I should listen to my mother.  It wasn't said in a snotty way, just matter-of-fact because I she 'told' me to do something.  LOL.  It was so comical the way he said it.

This week's menu was a pain to plan.  I'm trying to use up food in the freezer and I just couldn't come up with ways to use some things.

Monday:  Turkey Noodle Soup (using frozen turkey and broth from T-Day) and Homemade Rolls

Tuesday:  Enchilada Casserole and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Wednesday:  Chicken Stir Fry and Rice

Thursday:  Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup

Friday:  Baked Talapia, Roasted Red Potatoes, Asparagus, and Blueberry Pie

Saturday:  Chili (leftover found in freezer!) and Cornbread

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

• 1/3 cup Quinoa
• 1 cup Water

Bring water to boil and add quinoa.  Cover and reduce heat.  Cook for 10-15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.  Let the quinoa cool.

• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 4 tsp Lime Juice
• 1/4 tsp Cumin
• 1/4 tsp Coriander
• 1 Tbl Cilantro (fresh chopped)
• 2 Tbl minced Scallions
• 1 can Black Beans (=1 1/2 cup cooked beans)
• 2 cups diced Tomato
• 1 cup diced Bell Pepper
• 2 tsp minced fresh Chiles
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the above ingredients together then add in quinoa.  Mix well and refrigerate.  Serve cold.

So I want to start putting my menu up at the beginning of the week, with any available recipes.  I had started planning the menu this week, but it didn't get finished, until today.  Its been a long week of being stuck in the house due to snow.  And things have changed a few times, because of the cancellation of plans for this weekend.  I will now post what we ate so far this week, and what is planned for the rest of the week (recipes are below the menu).  Maybe next Monday I'll get the menu up on time! 

Monday
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: stir-fry made from leftovers

Tuesday
Lunch: burritos with beans, rice, corn, and cheese
Dinner: take-out from Mike's Drive-In

Wednesday
Lunch: Mac & Cheese, apples
Dinner: Pizza Delivery

Thursday
Lunch: leftover pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, applesauce
Dinner: Chicken Alfredo, Herb Noodles, Sauteed Asparagus, Apple Crisp

Friday
Lunch: Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Tomato Soup
Dinner: Sloppy Joes, Green Beans with Onions and Homemade Rolls

Saturday
Lunch: Leftover Sloppy Joes
Dinner: Cranberry Bean & Tomato Soup, Homemade Bread


Recipes
We're still eating out of our pantry, so many things are still have made for us.  But I do have a couple of homemade meals this week.

Chicken Alfredo:  Cook chicken pieces, open jar of Alfredo sauce, pour over chicken. Serve over noodles.

Apple Crisp:

4 cups sliced apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.

Place apples in prepared dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour water over all. In a bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Blend in flour. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.

Bake in preheated oven 30 to 40 minutes, until apples are tender and crust is golden.

Sloppy Joes:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced onion
2 (8 ounce) packages tempeh
1/2 cup minced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch ground black pepper
Heat oil in a deep, 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the onion in the oil until translucent. Crumble the tempeh into the skillet; cook and stir until golden brown. Add the green pepper and garlic; cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, molasses, cayenne pepper, celery seed, cumin, salt, coriander, thyme, oregano, paprika, and black pepper; stir. Simmer another 10 to 15 minutes. Spoon hot onto hamburger buns to serve.

Bread Machine Rolls:

3 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 egg white
2 tablespoons water Place the bread flour, sugar, salt, milk powder, water, butter, and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Set on Dough cycle; press Start.

Remove risen dough from the machine, deflate, and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into twelve equal pieces, and form into rounds. Place the rounds on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a small bowl, mix together the egg white and 2 tablespoons water; brush lightly onto the rolls. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown.

Cranberry Bean and Tomato Soup:

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallot
4 cloves minced garlic
2 ½ pounds chopped tomato
1 pound shelled cranberry beans (or other fresh shelled bean, dry beans soaked overnight and drained, or 2 cans rinsed and drained beans)
1 ¾ cup water
20 leaves fresh basil, divided, chopped
5 leaves fresh sage, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme or lemon thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
black pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan, heat the olive oil and add shallots and garlic, stir over medium heat until shallots are clear and garlic is lightly browned.

Add chopped tomato and stir occasionally for about 20 minutes or until they have released liquid and are very soft.

Stir in beans and water and allow it to cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add half of the basil along with the sage, thyme, salt and pepper, stir well and let simmer for about two minutes.

To serve, top with remaining basil leaves.

Yes, I know -- More Snow!! But that's all we've done for over a week!

OK. OK. So this is what we did when we weren't playing outside:

(that's 'Meme' (grandma) helping make cookies!)

This was just too good to pass along.  I found it over at Audrey's Blog (from WTM Forum). 

So about 5 o'clock tonight, I decided I had a craving for cinnamon rolls.   I remembered seeing a recipe over at the Homeschool Share Forum, and I'm so glad that Kelly posted it! Mmmm. They were so yummy.    Here's the recipe. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour, 1/2 white.  Not really sure why, since it's not like they are at all healthy even with that change.  But they still turned out great.  And I made up my own frosting because I didn't have enough cream cheese.  I've posted some pictures at the end of the recipe.

Clone of a Cinnabon (from allrecipes.com)

Dough:
* 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 eggs, room temperature
* 1/3 cup butter, melted
* 4 -4 1/4 cups bread flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast (one package)

Filling:
* 1 cup brown sugar, packed
* 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 1/3 cup butter, softened

Frosting:
* 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

I love to read. I've always got at least one book going, usually multiples.  I have a tendency to stick within the same genres - either romance or suspense/thriller.  I've been really trying to expand a little lately.  The library is especially helpful with this, as I (1) can place on hold anything I hear about from other people and (2) can browse through the shelves and find something that looks interesting.

I've decided to join a couple book challenges for the year.  Possibly more if I find out about them.  The two I'm going to join for now are at J. Kaye's Book Blog.  I'm not sure exactly how I came across this blog, but it was through someone else who is doing the book challenge.  And chances are, that someone else is a homeschooler since thats pretty much the only blogs I read!

100+ Book Challenge

Here are the guidelines:
1) You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading your books prior to 2009.
2) This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is December 31, 2009.
3) You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.
4) If you don’t have a blog, please join our Yahoo Groups.
5) When you sign up under Mr. Linky, list the direct link to your post where your 100+ books will be listed. If you list just your blog’s URL, it will be removed.
6) All books count: children’s, YA, adults, fiction, non-fiction, how-tos, etc.
7) Feel free to post in the comment section or on Yahoo Groups your monthly progress as well as your favorite books that month.

My list:

1. Bounty Hunter's Bride by Victoria Bylin

2. Rex by Cathleen Lewis

3.

Support Your Local Library Challenge

Here are the guidelines:
1) You can join anytime as long as you don’t start reading your books prior to 2009.
2) This challenge is for 2009 only. The last day to have all your books read is December 31, 2009.
3) You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2009.
4) When you sign up under Mr. Linky, list the direct link to your post where your library books will be listed. If you list just your blog’s URL, it will be removed. If you don’t have a blog, leave the URL blank.
6) Our goal is to read 12, 25, or 50 books checkout from our local library in 2009. Please decide which when you sign up and don’t change it.
7) These can be audios, downloads, children’s, YA. As long as it’s a book, format and target age group does not matter.
8) Feel free to post a link to your reviews in the comment section below. That way, we can visit your blog and read your review.

My goal is 50 from the library. My list:

1.

This week was long, especially for me.  I was only home for 5-6 hours a night, the first half of the week.  But I persevered and I'm not in the middle of a relaxing weekend.  Hopefully it'll snow big time tonight, and I'll enjoy another day or two of the weekend.

After a great morning Monday, we skipped the 3 R's on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I was just too exhausted and it was a whole lot easier to let them play then to try and teach.  We did go to the zoo Tuesday afternoon, and had a fun time.  We all came home tired, but it was totally worth it.

First we saw Baby Sam (Samudra), the Asian Elephant born a few months ago.

Then we walked through 'Africa', and proved to Bug that we really DID have zebras at our zoo.

Our last stop was at 'Lorikeet Landing' where we got to feed the Lorikeets.
(I think this is my new favorite picture of Bug!)

The G's wouldn't get close to the birds. I barely was able to get this pic!

And of course, a self-portrait: Me with a bird on my head. 

Thursday and Friday went well.  We got some work done at the G's on Thursday. And amazingly enough we did work at home on Friday as well.  I introduced Bug to spelling, as I want to cement his sight words more into memory.  He can read them just fine on the flash cards, but has difficulty when he comes across them in books.  Since his writing is not ready for spelling, I organized the magnet letters and had him spelling that way.  It worked BEAUTIFULLY! 

All the letters were on the big white board, and he spelled onto his little one.

And yes, that is a pizza crust in his mouth.

Friday afternoon we learned about Armadillos (finishing Armadillo Rodeo).  I was too tired to try and do it earlier in the week, as much as I wanted to. 

The break down by subject for the week:

Math: Still working on money.  Introduced quarters, which is adding a new level of difficulty.

Reading: OPGTR Lessons 45-47. Going smoothly.  Sight words - to, said, you, I, for, on, she, the, had, was.  Memorized on flash cards and started working on spelling.

Handwriting: HWT letters F, E, and D.  So far, the program is working like I hoped.  He's willing (and at times excited) to practice his handwriting.  I just hope it keeps up like this!

Unit:  Read - It's An Armadillo! by Bianca Lavies  &  The Armadillo by Steve Potts.  We really enjoyed It's An Armadillo, but both books were full of information yet not dry.  We also used Armadilllos by Don Patton for some additional information that wasn't included in the first two (like how high can Armidllos jump?).  Then we filled out our Animal Classification page for our Animal Notebook.  We then did a mini experiment using a plastic bag and water to show how the Armadillo sucks air into its stomach to float.  Bug thought this was great fun!

Just wanted to pop in a quick note to say It's Monday!  It's going to be a long week, but at least we started it off in the right way.  We were to the G's house on time this morning (gasp!) and Bug did all his morning work with barely a protest (only at the very end, but he still finished!)

We really focused on reading every day last week, and I'm trying to do the same this week.  I've already seen a jump in his fluency.  In OPGTR, it has you do "Two Review, One New".  Meaning review two previous lessons then do the new lesson.  We did a review of the consonant blend of "lk" today, then when he later read it in one of the stories, he got it without even sounding it out! I was very proud.  The blends are a little difficult at first, because he can get it by sounding out the letters individually, but I think learning the blend is making him a little more fluent in the long run.  Just takes some practice to get there.  His comprehension as he's reading also seems to be improving, as he'll comment at the end of a sentance about what he read.  Probably the most difficult thing is the fact that some of the words he's reading, he doesn't know what it means! 

In math, we'll be doing more money - focusing on quarters.  He really struggled with them today, but he figured out he could use the worktext at the top of the page to help him remember how much each number of quarters equaled. 

We also started Handwriting Without Tears today.  I have no opinion on it yet.  He did the letter "F" which is a letter he already knew, and it doesn't change from what he was doing to HWT.  I will wait to comment until we advance further into the program.

We'll be continuing with Armadillo Rodeo this week. Learning about the armadillo mostly.  The plan is to head to the zoo tomorrow as well.  It's $2 Tuesday, so Bug and I can take the G kids and all get in for $8.  What a deal!! It's been a while since we were at the zoo, and it's not suppose to rain tomorrow (at last forecast anyways).

If I can get through the sleep deprivation this week is going to bring (long days at the G's and working KHP), this week is looking to be fun and productive.

This week we switched up or schedule.  We started bringing math and reading to the G's house (with handwriting to be added this next week) and we're doing HSS (and Bible this next week, hopefully) in the afternoons at home.   It went REALLY well. 

We got through 4 lessons in OPGTR, working on double consonant endings (tt, ff, etc) and 'ck' endings as well as 'lk', 'lp', 'st', and 'nt' consonant blends.  Although much of this Bug already knew because you can sound out the sounds seperately, I think learning them as one sound (especially 'lk' and 'lp') helped a lot.

We also did 3 pages of Math Mammoth Money.  It was more review on counting money using pennies, nickels and dimes.  Also working on figuring out how to make a specified amount using the same coins and some addition of money.  Bug is very excited about learning how to count money with quarters, starting next week.

We also read Armadillo Rodeo this week and will be continuing next week.  Bug continued to ask for it to be read over and over again.  He LOVED it.  We did boot colorings and descriptive language on Monday and continued into Tuesday.  (Tuesday was a free day for him in the afternoon).   Wednesday and Thursday we learned about the state of Texas, reading L is for Lonestar.  In this book, we learned that chili con carne, Dr. Pepper, and Fritos all come from Texas.  So what did we have for dinner Friday night? You guessed it:

Bug didn't really like the Dr. Pepper, but he loves chili, and the Fritos were a big hit.

An additional highlight of the week was the fort we built last weekend that stayed up half the week.  He did all his playing at home in it, and even slept in it 3 or 4 nights.  We finally had to take it down when we wanted our dining room table back!



Most of Friday was taken up by errands and cooking for the bake-off at church today.  Bug decided on sugar cookies with frosting.  The entire thing was up to him to do, with me simply telling him how much to put in.  He did a great job.  Unfortuantely, he only wanted to decorate a few, so only 5 actually got brought to church with us.  But they turned out delicous!

(I have no pictures of the finished product -- silly me!)

That was our week.  It felt productive and fun! I hope next week can be the same!

We headed to my aunt's for T-day, as always.  We had a wonderful meal, just Bug and me, my Aunt, my Mom, and my Brother.  Ate too much, watched some football.  Overall, a good day.

Bug and my Aunt

My Aunt teaching Bug how to play with candles

My perfect pumpkin pie - don't you think? I made it completely from scratch!

On Friday, we of course were up and out of the house at 4am to hit the Black Friday sales.  Bug got a Leapster L-Max, a kids digital camera, and a mp3 player.  The Leapster has been played with non-stop. I got myself a mp3 player as well. 

A very good last couple of days.  I love Thanksgiving!