A Recommended Read

I'm not much of a literary critic & don't really want to delve in those waters. BUT . . .

I absolutely loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

If you are a lover of P&P, then you should read MPLS. As I was reading it, I kept thinking that it's P&P in the 21st Century & with the older generation. Couldn't put it down!

Has it really been a month already?!?

Wow! The time sure flies by! We've had a busy month of September. A wedding, camping without the twins, me on a weekend craft retreat & then Jarrod working the weekend we have been running! This month our small group started back up & so did AWANA. I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. Looks like I better be a better blogger in October. :)

The wedding was fun - we all danced. S decided she really, really likes The Cha Cha Slide. It's pretty fun & she does wonderful job following the directions - Jump 1 time! The boy-os were amazed with all the lights at the DJ booth and were adored by every little girl there. I'm glad neither likes to be picked up right now as it makes it easy to say, "No, you can't hold them. They don't like to be picked up." Lil'J was another story. He only wanted to play with the few toys that Grandma brought. I was thankful that he was kept busy, but I know that he really likes to dance . . . so I was a little disappointed.

Camping . . . something was missing. We left the boy-os home with G&G and I really felt it. My family was not complete & it was pretty difficult for me to truly enjoy myself. I wasn't worried about the twins. I knew they were in good hands. But Jarrod, Lil'J, S & I did have large amounts of fun. We found a frog on a night walk around the campground. Campfires were fun - the 2 kids enjoyed watching me cook on them & throwing sticks in the fire(with permission). We spent a morning hiking, a full afternoon at the beach & the following morning packing up, followed by a trip to the nature center. We also have a tradition, started 3 years ago on our first family camping trip, that we do something train related. Our first year we went to a train museum, the second year we went to a miniature scale RR & this year we went to a restaurant that served your food by train.

My weekend away was wonderful! I accomplished alot. I finished a bag I'm working on as a gift. I made a T-shirt for one of the staff & . . . I FINISHED MY QUILT TOP!! I don't have any photos yet. BOOO! The time with my girls was refreshing & energizing! I have missed them so this summer! Getting away helped me relax, catch up on some sleep & arrive home ready to chase & coach my kids again.

The last weekend in September, Jarrod worked. Those weekends are always long. Thankfully he takes the following Monday off so the kids can have some Daddy time.

And now, it's October?!?! WOW!

Lil's J's Top 5 Reasons for Attending Public School

1. I get to ride a school bus.

In reality, you don't. We are considered close enough to walk. Though, in 4K students do take the bus, which is why we see our neighbor hop on the bus every morning.

2. I get a bigger desk.

No honey, you actually would get a smaller one.

3. I get a desk that lifts up.

Maybe . . . depends on the school & possibly even the classroom.

4. I won't have Mom's pile of stuff on my desk.

Yes, this is true. But, it's technically your pile of stuff honey. It's all school & your desk is a good place for it. If you wan the extra space I'll be happy to move the pile while you are working - you just need to ask me.

5. I'll get more play time.

Possibly, but at school, they consider play time a hands-on learning time. You get plenty of that around here, plus the freedom to choose(within reason) when you want to do certain activities .

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!!

Behind Already

I know that there really isn't a "behind" when you're homeschooling. We all take it at a different pace that fits each of us Momma's & our families. But I started early so we could take time off around the holidays. But with the public/parochial schools starting up the end of this week, we have been doing last minute playdates galore. Don't get me wrong, they're great for my kids, they're great for me, but . . . I sure hope we'll have enough done to take time off come the end of November.

This week we are still in week 2 of science, week 3 of history/literature & starting Earlybird Math B. I need to get Lil' J trained to sit & do some of his handwriting practice on his own and some of his math worksheets. He really loves to take lots of time to tell me what & how he's going to do his work. It's shows some higher-order thinking skills from Bloom's Taxonomy, but it really drives me crazy! Yes, homeschooling mother's can be driven crazy!

Anyway, the whole reason I need to train him is because S is demanding, "Momma, come & teach me!!" To avoid my little distracting demander I've been waiting until it's her nap time so I can work w/ Lil' J uninterrupted. She has been so disappointed. Either way I feel like I'm losing. It's really a great problem to have & I'm so thankful that my children love me & learning. I really need a Momma photocopier so I can have 2 of myself during school.

On the brightside, Lil' J & I were reading about wind, water & weather when he stops me to say, "Mom, how does water get around?" Hearing the jest in his voice, I knew that he was going to TRY to tell me a joke. I answer, "I don't know, honey. How?" To which he answers, "With a watercycle!" He did it! He really did it! It was great! I am so proud! Take that Bloom's Taxonomy!!

On a completely different note, I have had numerous chances to sew lately. I am thrilled! It is so nice to see a project come to completion. I was able to make a little shoulder bag for which I have had the material for 2 years. And I got started on a second one for a gift. I made it about half-way. I probably shouldn't socialize so much at craft night when I know I need to get something done . . . oh well.

Busy Weekend Makes a Lazy Week

Last week we flew through our school. Lil' J & S loved it all, so we just kept rollin' along. We finished everything except our science experiment w/ air. In addition, we finished our Read-Out-Loud (ROL), The Boxcar Children - a whole 1.5 weeks early! Now my question is . . . do we just pick up the next ROL or do I get a book from the library to fill in? I'm just not sure . . .

Thankfully we finished all our school early. My little brother got married this past weekend. I needed Thursday afternoon & Friday for cleaning & preparation. We left A&B with G&G, which meant I needed to create copious amounts of notes & labels. Honestly, I probably didn't need to do as much as I did. But I knew they were nervous, so I wanted to make sure they had every advantage possible.

We all had a great weekend. The wedding was beautiful and the bride even more so. I loved seeing my brother being so organized & responsible. He is so very capable & I am proud of him!

Do I have any photos to share? No. I don't. I was too busy having fun to stop & take any photos. I left my camera with J, hoping he would take some, but alas, I have nothing.

So begins our week. I feel wiped from all the excitement & unpacking to really want to do any school. The kids are playing really, really well together. And the BIG book I started last week is due tomorrow. All the cards are stacked against me.

Yet, it all works out. Lil' J & S love learning. As soon as the twins dozed off on Monday S runs up, "Momma, will you teach me now? From my farm book?!" Off we went.

Lil' J struggled with his Math. I realized that he struggles with different orientations of shapes in patterns. We will need more practice. On the bright side, measurement is going really well. We're using Lego 4x4 bricks as our standard for measuring. It was even his idea!

S really wants to learn how to read, but I know that she's not ready. We've tried a few lessons from Teach Your Child to Read In 100 Easy Lessons. She picks up the letter sounds just great, but when stringing them together she struggles. I'll try to keep with it for another week or so to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Other than all the homeschoolin' busyness, I've been diligent to use up all our CSA(community supported agriculture) veggies every week. I had never cooked with leeks before, so I went searching for a good recipe. My first try was a leek & potato soup. We all liked it, but it didn't fill us up. It would have been great as a 1st course though. My second try had much better results. Pasta with Pancetta & Leek was a hit with everyone in the house & was much more satisfying, though we could do without the wine. I did tweak it to better fit my family. You can see the original recipe on The Pinoneer Woman's website, but I'll summarize my version here quickly.

Pasta w/ Bacon & Leek

• box of bow-tie pasta, cooked to your liking (I use whole-wheat)
• 1 package of Bacon, chopped
• 5-6 small to medium leeks, sliced & washed
• 2 Tbsps butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Parmesan Cheese, grated
• salt & pepper to taste

Add bacon to hot skillet, fry until slightly brown. Drain bacon grease. Add chopped leeks. Cook for about another 10 min. Get pasta cooking. Add butter to pan w/ bacon & leeks. Melt butter, add cream. Drain pasta & add to pan. Stir in Parmesan to taste & serve! Yummy!!

Off to start our Wednesday schooling . . .

Schoolin' Day 2 & the Farm

I don't know how we do it. But then again, I do. I believe with all my heart that God has called us to homeschool. I know if He calls us to do something He will provide for every need.

Today was a little crazy to begin with. I didn't notice right away. I thought B was up in my bed reading board books, which is not unusual as all my kidlets are bookworms. After 30 minutes I finally checked on him. Out cold. B decided to put himself down for a nap. I quickly gathered up A, tucked his blankie around him, kissed him, whispered that it was nap time, go to sleep & laid him down. Thankfully he cooperated.

Knowing that time was of the essence, I ran off looking for my IG (instructor's guide), gathering up books & calling little J & S to come up for school. They were surprised - the timing was all off. It took about 10 minutes to get them focused & on track. S loves that Leapfrog DVD, so that is what she choose to do first. Lil' J struggled with his math today - or maybe I should say I struggled with math today. Lil' J pontificates about everything he is doing making any quick task take 3x as long. Tomorrow I'm bringing my exercise ball & work abs if he talks that much again! Thankfully, he managed to finish just as S was coming down. Off we went to the big green chair for literature, history & science. We had a blast taking turns as the sun & Earth while I explained days & nights & seasons. I need to dig out our earth beach ball now - it would work much better than a uniform green ball for discussing rotation upon Earth's axis.

Our read-aloud for the next2.5 weeks is The Boxcar Children. This is a book Lil'J has been excited to read since he was 2 yrs old & found it in the library. The only reason he picked it out is because it had a boxcar on the spine & cover. Lil'J LOVES trains. So, now, finally we are reading it. Even with the gorgeous weather outside, all he wants to do is listen to me read. Yesterday we read 4 chapters & today we read an other 3. We will probably finish the book by Friday. I hope he enjoys all of this year's read-alouds as much as he is enjoying this one!

I'm not so great at transitions . . . so . . . on to our farm.

No, we do not own this farm, but we are a member of their CSA program. Tuesday's we load up & make our way down the winding, roller-coaster-y road to our farm. By the time we arrived, A & B were sleeping, so all the kids stayed in the van this time, saving exploring for another day. We picked up our box & then an extra 2 dozen ears of sweet sweet sweet corn. I spent the night preparing it for our freezer to help us through the long winters here. What I'm really trying to get at is that, I may start sharing some of my recipes . . . We'll just have to wait & see.

Literally, Rollin' Along

Yesterday we officially began little J's Kindergarten school year. It was unexpected, unplanned & somehow went perfectly. I had mentioned to little J a few times that school would start soon, but had it in my mind & on my calendar that we would start on August 22. Instead, I had a strong urge to have a little bit of routine back into our day, announcing, "Hey, J! Get ready for some school today!" In my mind we'd just do a little math & reading - a slow start, gear up a little more each week - easing into it all. So, after A&B (the twins of 16 mths) went napping, I got J working on some Singapore Math while I set S (3 yrs) up in her room w/ the Leapfrog Alphabet Factory DVD. Both were brimming with excitement. J needed some assistance with writing his numbers, but quickly got back into it. He zipped through his math, asked to do more, followed by, "OK, what's next?" I told him we were done, but he did not want to be done. We continued on, rolling with the flow. S came down before her video was finished & we completed the rest of the day's subjects together: spelling - check, science - check, history - check, readers - check!! WOW!! So much easier than I expected. I hope today will be just as wonderful!