Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Coming Attractions

Just a quick note to share what is coming in the next few (or longer) weeks...

  • Where the Wild Things Are unit...but might hold off a bit to actually do it with Josh until closer to the new movie release (mid Oct. I think!)
  • My first review! A cool company csnrugs that has a vast line of educational area rugs, including an area rug I will be reviewing!
  • A unit on vowels
  • A Gratitude unit
  • And towards the end of summer a bit of school readiness (shoe tying, etc!)

Looking forward to sharing our upcoming school journey with everyone as well! Please feel free to share any links, ideas, or questions....as always!

Shannon

Monday, June 29, 2009

Independence Day Ideas!

Just a list of link I may use this week! We are finishing our butterfly unit and want to do just a bit about the 4th.

FYI~ I need to put them here since my laptop is not hooked up to a printer! I also want to share but <-- is my REAL motivation!

Edited to add...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Menu Plan Monday~ June 29th

Hmmm, what to eat this week? It is not supposed to be as hot here in MI this week so I might actually be able to stick to a menu! We also do NOT have any birthdays until next week, oh but of course there is the 4th...

~ Yummy Chicken Legs (Scroll down for recipe!), Mashed potatoes


~Quesadillas

~Some sort of thrown together skillet pasta meal with ground turkey. Sort of like Hamburger Helper but with out the preservatives and junk!

~Breakfast for dinner...I am thinking, if I am feeling brave, egg in a hole and left over bacon or sausage if everyone ate it all!


~Eating at the ART FAIR!!!!!

~Happy America! Hot Dogs (turkey for me!), corn on the cob, fruit, chips, etc..

~ Crockpot Chicken and dumplings


Check out the other menus!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Thrifty Thursday

A fabulous day to thrift! It is super hot out...so I dashed over to McDonald's since I had a coupon for a FREE Frappe (I had a Mocha...Oh My YUMMY!!!! And I detest Coffee!). Then we headed on over to 2 different Thrift Stores that I have previously found clothes. I am in desperate need of CHEAP summer clothes.

Anyway, I picked up 3 summer tshirts, a long sleeve tshirt, 2 pairs of Khaki shorts, a tshirt for Josh and a Children's Illustrated Dictionary...all for under $20!

Planning to swim in our "blow up" pool after quiet time...wondering what I could possibly make for dinner that would not add to the sweltering hot. Supposed to be 90's (high humidity!)tomorrow which is pretty bad for MI...better than winter though!

Hope you all are staying cool and having a super fun summer!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Menu Plan Monday~ June 22nd

7 days 7 choices...I have been failing miserably at serving the food on its assigned day. I am going to try just to come up with a week full of food and just pick what looks good to me. Mostly normal week except for my Husband's birthday on Friday.


  1. Pad Thai ~ We are trying a frozen meal that we saw on super sale at the grocery store...I personally, am expecting it to be gross but... I do love a good Pad Thai!
  2. Lemon pepper Chicken Cheesy Yummy Sandwich!
  3. Tacos or nachos
  4. Pizza night
  5. A's B-day and a going away party for a friend
  6. A's B-day dinner out with my parents...probably Red Robin!
  7. I am thinking some sort of Crock pot cheesy potatoes with a grilled meat...

Here is the cake I am planning to Make for Andrew's Birthday! It is a more cake like version of Strawberry Shortcake...which is his favorite.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

A Gentle Reminder

You should read this! Especially, if you are a mommy to young children.

I need the reminder this week!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Butterfly Study

We got our Caterpillars today! So exciting. There are 5 of them but so far only 4 are moving about...we shall see!

I will try to post pictures periodically...and now I am off to listen to a small guy read, tuck him in for a "rest" and print off a ton of buttterfly ideas!


Shannon

Wednesday's Website

Super fun Kid's music website! http://www.jitterbug.tv/index.php

As they say...You won't find any Barney on Jitterbug! My new fave song is "My hair had a party last night!" Too funny!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

So, How Does One Accidentally Go To A Used Curriculum Sale?

Hmmm, well, to answer simply...I thought we were going to a used BOOK sale. Yes...it was at the Homeschool building but...I have also attended a toy sale and craft sale there. They seem to rent out the space occasionally!

But...after my last 2 posts I will forgive you if you do not believe me! So anyway...guess what I did today?

Yep...I dragged Joshua and Andrew (day off~working 4 10 hr days right now!) to a USED CURRICULUM SALE! It was AMAZING! ...and oh so hot...no air conditioning and hundreds of women searching for their wish list items.

I had never been to a curriculum sale. Luckily, when I figured out what it was I sent Andrew back to the car to grab one of our cloth grocery store bags! We had to wait in line to get in and then when they finally opened the doors it was a huge crazy scene. There were table after table of "vendors" selling their no longer wanted curriculum and other homeschooling items. (in a gym)

So, are you wondering what I got? I spent under $20.

2 World of Language books by Ruth Heller (from my list! .50/piece! most of the books were $.50)

4 Henry and Mudge books by Cynthia Rylant

2 Magic Tree house by Mary Pope Osborne

Many of the following are from the sonlight curriculum lists that I DROOL over!

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

The Twenty-One Balloons

Mouse Tales (I Can Read Book 2)

Pinky & Rex (Ready-To-Read, Level 3) (recommended by a vendor and too cute!)

Elmer and the Dragon (My Father's Dragon) $1.50 but I would pay full price! Go get all 3 of these books!

Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary (Trophy Picture Books) !!!!!!!!!!!! I have wanted this FOREVER! Amazing resource!

and finally...

Some Body Board Game been eyeing this for a while but not in my budget until now~ $5.

So anyway, I had a great time and am super excited to start planning for Fall and our Mommy Mornings.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Summer Plans

Just a "quick" list for my own use, but feel free to browse!


Should keep us busy and out of trouble! Along with playing with friends, thrifting, outside play and lazy do nothing days...we should be all set.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

My Ideal AfterSchooling Wishlist

In other words...if I had the money, this is what I would buy! Koko's Mama asked for my list so here it is...


  1. **Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times Audiobook CD: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor, Revised Edition (7 CDs) (v. 1) Which I already bought! $26.37
  2. Ideally but unlikely, The Story of the World. Activity Book 1: Ancient Times (Revised Edition) (Bk. 1) The activity book to go with the Cd's. $23.07
  3. A Little Book of Manners for Boys: A Game Plan for Getting Along with Others $10.19
  4. GeoPuzzle USA and Canada $13.48
  5. GeoPuzzle Europe $13.65
  6. GeoPuzzle Latin America $13.66
  7. GeoPuzzle Africa $15.00
  8. GeoPuzzle Asia $15.00
  9. Draw Write Now, Book 1-8 $69.29
  10. Now I'm Reading!: Simply Science - Independent $11.55
  11. The Star Catchers: Stories for You to Read to Your Child To Encourage Calm, Confidence, and Creativity $14.95
  12. **Wood Expressions Shut-The-Box $19.95 (Luckily I found a brand new one at a yard sale today for $.50!!!)
  13. **The Global Puzzle $9.85+shipping (we bought awhile back at a local toy store!)
  14. All the "Come Look With Me..." books ~$13.00/book (These are really cool art books that show works of art, give artist info, and provide discussion ideas and questions! Check your library if interested!)
  15. World of Language Series ~$7-8/book

Okay, seriously, I could go on, but these are definitely my top choices. Some of the books I can just get from the library. (although ours does not have 2 from my list #11 and #3??? even through the inter library loan..have not checked on #10) The items with the ** I already purchased. The rest, well??? I really want the Geopuzzles but that is a ton of money right now, everything else I can probably do without. I will probably buy 1 of the Draw Right Now books to see if Josh will even like it. We are extremely fortunate to have a Homeschooling Building with a bookstore fairly nearby.

Can you imagine how long my list would be if Josh was not going to school???

What is on your list for the Fall?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wednesday's Website

Shu-Chen Jenny Yen's On-Line Montessori Teacher Albums for 3-to-6 year old children

This is an invaluable Album I have used for years! I am re posting this link because it has been moved to a new web address!

If you have not checked it out...do so!

Shannon

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

What a Weekend!




Thursday started off so great! We had a fun play date with friends, actually the Mom and I have been friends since middle school. We even were roommates for 3 years in college! She has 3 boys and Josh had a ball playing with them. Including a light sabre battle! (HI JO!)

Friday I had a DR appt., just the annual exam which included an over due Tetanus shot. No big deal, right? My Dad watched Josh and I came home, did a bit of yardsaling across the street and had a fairly normal day. I worked on preparing for the arrival of Grandparents for Josh's Birthday celebration the following day. I did make an emergency Grocery store trip when I realized while starting the cake baking that we had NO eggs....what?

So this is about when things started getting crazy...

At the Grocery Store, I ran into my midwife who "tried" to help with Josh's delivery. Weird, just cause I had not seen her since his birth and it was his birthday week. She is a lovely woman and I was so happy to see her again! While still at the store, I got in one of those check yourself out lanes, you know, because I was in a hurry and did not have that much stuff. Well the poor woman in front of me had the worst time checking out and the people that "work" in the store just were not helpful. So, I helped as much as I could and eventually she got through. So, anyway, it took forever and I was exhausted and just not really feeling great...

Saturday, I woke up very early with tremendous pain in my injection site, achey body, a headache, and just so tired. I still needed to decorate the cheesecake with a spiderweb and finish the last few cleaning chores. Thankfully my sweet neighbor Sarah lent me cake decorating supplies, so I quickly dyed the frosting with no dye cranberry juice and made the coolest pink spiderweb I could! Grandparents arrived about 10am. We headed off to the super cool arcade go-kart pizza buffet place and had a pretty good time despite my constant pain and whining!

Later that night we also went out for a birthday dinner for Uncle Nate and Grandpa! (Half of our family birthdays are in June, 3 of them in the same week!) I was extremely miserable and the service was HORRIBLE.

Well, this is getting crazy and long... but to make this long story a bit shorter....I woke up this morning still in the same pain so I called the DR and they got me right in. Apparently, rarely, people have severe reaction to this type of injection and I need to take an anti inflammatory every 4 hours and ice it for 20 minutes for the next 5-7 DAYS! Oh and I probably do not want to get the shot as often and should only do it every 15 years instead of 10...yeah right! Try only if I step on a rusty nail! Hmpf !

Sheesh! Who would have thought! Thankfully, Josh had a goodtime, although we will be working on gratitude ...SIGH... over the next 6 months (gearing up for Christmas!). Any suggestions?

Oh, and we got his actually Kinder placement in the mail so I guess everything is official and he will be in the afternoon Young 5's class starting in the Fall!

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Menu Plan Monday~ June 8th

Not too much going on, so a fairly normal meal planning week this time!

Breakfasts~ Josh has been having dry cold cereal everyday lately but could also do toast, waffle or pancakes.

Lunches~ quesadillas, PbJ, Noodles, Crackers & Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Soup or leftovers.

Monday~ Taco Salad w/ ground turkey

Tuesday~ Neighborhood Party...Theme is Breakfast for Dinner! I think I will bring a giant cinnamon cheese danish.

Wednesday~ Savory Chicken Roll Ups Andrew's request this week!

Thursday~ Out to dinner

Friday~ Pepperoni Rolls with sauce to dip.

Saturday~ Pink Pasta, Ended up having a quick Turkey dog dinner last week when this was scheduled! Hoping to get Josh to try pasta with sauce!

Sunday~ Leftovers!

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Gotta Brag!


I am oh so very proud! Josh put a new roll of toilet paper on ALL BY HIMSELF! I walked in and noticed it was torn up a bit and on backwards. He came marching in behind me and said, "I know it is the wrong way but I like it!" GOOFBALL!

Thankful Thursday!



What a crazy week! It was Josh's 5th Birthday yesterday. We have friends that we have not seen in years heading over to play right now. And Grandparents arriving for the Birthday celebration this weekend. Clearly, I have a lot to be thankful for...



~Joshua, my 5 year old who insists every time I sigh about it that he will always be my baby...of course he adds until you DIE mommy! sighhh



~That even though Andrew's hours at work are pretty reduced right now...he does still have a job and not many in the car industry can say the same right now, especially here in MI.



~I got some blood work done last week and my test results came back pretty quickly. They also were better than I expected. I had somehow never had a cholesterol test and feared the worst. But it was decent, probably need to get that good cholesterol number a bit higher... And my blood sugar was fine! Hoping my appt. tomorrow gives me some ideas for all the headaches I have had lately.



~Can I add, again that I am ever so grateful that we have insurance again so that I can go to that appt.!



~I am also grateful for the generosity of friends and family who have showered Joshua with gifts and cards this week...definitely making him feel special and loved.

~Finally, I am grateful for the cleaning fairy that had better get herself on over to my house to clean it before everyone arrives. Ugh, wait...that's me...well then I guess I am grateful I am able to stay home and care for my family...and I guess...including cleaning my dirty house!

*****Picture is of Josh and his Birthday present from us! Oh my...what a job that was to assemble!