The End of Week 4 . . . err . . . 3

As I mentioned in my last post, we're a little behind where I would like us to be. We are just finishing up week three in the Core (Bible, history, literature), week 2 w/ science & readers. But with the read-out-loud's(literature) we're in week 5. We just finished My Father's Dragon. Since we're so far ahead there, I went to the library & picked up the two sequels, Elmer & the Dragon and The Dragon's of Blueland. We've gotten halfway through Elmer - the kids bring it to me about 5 times a day asking me to keep reading. We're all terrible at putting down a good book.
Science is going well, except for the experiments(you think that part would be easy for me, being a former science teacher & all . ..). Lil'J is just eating up everything. One thing that I did w/ his science - I took all the worksheets & put them in a binder. Whenever we do a science related activity or project I hole punch it & add it right into the binder. Hopefully it will be portfolio-ish when we're through. When we do experiments, I plan on having him draw a picture of what we did & then have him explain to me what he learned while I act as a scribe. Those will also go in the binder.

This week we spent lots of time coloring or writing with pencils. At one point, Stella says, "Mom, I'm gonna wight your name." I make eye contact, nod & keep up w/ my kitchen cleaning not thinking much of S's ability to write yet. A few minutes later she proudly announces, "Look, Mom! I wrote your name!" I looked as all good Moms should do, but to my surprise I actually saw "MOM" on the paper!! I about fell over. She then informed me that the picture was of me & that the other 'writing' on the paper was "I Love You!" I love her!

It's recipe time again! This will be the second recipe I've posted, but it is one of our absolute summer favorites! Chicken Penne Salad! I don't give amounts here because I've stopped using all measuring devices when I make this. I go by what I know we as a family like. At times I make it with less pasta - when DH is concerned about calories. Other times I make it with a whole box of pasta because the kids gobble the noodles faster than anything else in the salad. This summer though, my kids started eating lettuce salads, so this has been an hit w/ the whole family!

Chicken Penne Salad

box of Penne Pasta, cooked, drained, rinsed (I use whole wheat pastas)

romaine lettuce

cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

basil, chopped

parsley, chopped (I often substitute dried b/c I forget to pick it up at the store or was so distracted I grabbed cilantro instead)

garlic, minced or grated w/ a microplane grater

green onions, diced

chicken, preferably boneless, cooked or grilled & cubed or cut in strips

Cardini's Caesar dressing (You're going to have to trust me on this one!)

In a large bowl, toss all except for the dressing. Let each person add their own dressing, as some prefer more or less. For awhile my kids would only eat Ranch . . . I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!