Father's Day Round Up!

Father's Day Story Starters

Fill-in the Blank Father's Day Letter

Father's Day Photo Album

Disc Photo Book!

I Love Ewe Sign

Father's Day Crown

Photo Cube Puzzle

Autumn Ideas

Halloween Ideas-
Halloween Paper Chains Print and assemble!
Halloween Paper Toys
Creepy Witch Banner Sewing required!

Language Ideas-
Halloween Word Ladders Check other links here too!

Math Ideas-
Fall Tree Dice Game Adapted to fit your child (e.g. addition/subtraction problems)

Science Ideas-
Leaf templates
Lifecycle of an Apple tree

Family Project Ideas-
Jack O Lantern Mosaic
Papier Mache pumpkin
Hand tree

Art Ideas-
Scarecrow Paintings
How to draw a Maple Leaf
Tissue Paper Fall Leaves

Decorating Ideas
Pompom Acorns and Felt leaves
Leaf garland Turn down your speakers for this blog!

Surprise!

I am going back to work (part time) starting tomorrow. I was not even looking for a job but received a phone call from Joshua's Young 5 teacher (from last year) on Wednesday. Her assistant changed jobs and they were wondering if I was interested. So, here we are 6 days later and I am back to work, eeeek!

The details are not yet worked out but they are getting there. The main issue is that I begin at 11am and Josh starts at 12. My Mom is available Mondays and Fridays to give him lunch and take him to school. Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday we are going to try to get him into a daycare for an hour. I will send his lunch and they will drive him to school. We have called 3 different places. One pretty much laughed at me for only wanting care for 3 hours a week, one has not returned my call, and the 3rd was fine with it and we are going to check them out before school tomorrow.

I have pretty much felt every emotion possible since Wednesday. I am nervous for sure, mostly about Josh. I kind of feel like I got what I wanted and now do not want it. I do want it of course but the whole daycare thing is stressing me out.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we begin another adventure!

Menu on a Monday!

Monday - Empanadas

Tuesday - Picnic Concert! Sourdough bread, cheese, maybe some oatmeal cookies.

Wednesday - Pizza bake - We just love pizza! This seems like a quick easy version to try.

Thursday - Out with friends

Friday - Dinner with family

Saturday and Sunday - Leftovers from meals out and earlier in the week.

Last week we did not do so great with the menu! We did not have Pizza Muffins or Mexican beef and beans casserole! So maybe we will try again next week!

Menu on a Monday!

Monday - Homemade Beefaroni (We had this last week Thursday, so are going to finish up the leftovers tonight!) This was really yummy!

Tuesday - Picnic and a concert night! Meijer Garden is having a free concert series ever Tuesday night in August! We went last week and it was very fun!

Wednesday - Chicken with herbs and mashed potatoes

Thursday - Mexican beef and beans casserole with tortillas! and of course made with ground turkey!

Friday - Pizza muffins Finally, recipe here!

Saturday - Out to dinner for my Mom's Birthday!

Sunday - Egg in a hole!

Menu Plan Monday~ June 28th

Monday- Empanadas

Tuesday- Twice Baked Potatoes

Wednesday- Eat out?? Probably Kid's Night at Buffalo Wild Wings

Thursday- Lasagna

Friday- Leftovers

Saturday- Our Fourth of July fireworks are tonight so... Hot Dogs and the fixings!

Sunday- Egg in a Hole

Got Josh Back!

It is summer vacation and I am loving it!

We are mostly getting along and enjoying having our days together! We have been picnicking, playing Lego, listening to music and books on J's bday Ipod, playing with Bendaroos, jammie days/movies, visiting a Children's garden with our new membership!, writing books, drawing drawing drawing, and of course following our interests. (still Ancient Egypt for Joshua!)

As is normal for us, we have a new schedule. It is not yet settled, needs a bit of tweaking but I will share what we are working with....

8am- Breakfast (morning routine!)
9am- Learning activity
10am- Get Ready
11am- Play Outside (not happening with all this rain!)
12pm- Lunch
1pm- Play with Mommy!
2pm- Computer time
3pm- Room time
4pm-Arts/Crafts
Dinner & Daddy
8pm- Reading & Bedtime

We are currently reading the first Harry Potter book together. He can read it just fine but pretty much will only read one page on his own every night.

Keeping it Real
As is the case for every family, we have our share of struggles and joys throughout everyday! Our biggest struggle right now is Josh's sassy mouth. He always knows better and more. He has struggled with this for awhile but it has become much worse after spending his first year of school with (well intentioned!) people who were a bit stunned by his intelligence.
Just today, while working with bendaroos he had a bit of a fit because the bee I created had only one body part and not the required 3. He eventually calmed down after I explained that I was just being creative not making an actual bee. OH MY!

Joys? There are many little delights but I thought I would share a funny thing Josh said today. Andrew's birthday is Saturday and I was telling Josh what I ordered him for a gift. Josh looked over at me suspiciously, and asked "Did you think that through, Mama?" Uh...why yes I did Josh...

Menu on a Monday

Strange food week...kind of looks like Josh planned it...

Monday- Mexican Pizza

Tuesday- Turkey dogs on coney rolls (Andrew's fave!)

Wednesday- BWW

Thursday- Stuffed Muffins

Friday- Pizza

Saturday- Easy Chicken and Mashed Potatoes

Sunday- Omelets, muffins & bacon

March's Menu

We are already more than half done with the month but I will post what I remember. And of course, what I have planned.

Edited to add: It is ridiculous how much we have been eating out lately. Andrew has been working 12 hour days and a while on Saturday, which means everyone is tired... and apparently lazy (me anyway)!

1. Conferences so we ate at Wendy's!
2. Crockpot Chicken tacos on tortillas
3. Buffalo Wild Wings
4. Garlic Bread Pizza
5. Cheesy Potatoes/Ham with salad
6. Out to Thai food
7. Leftovers
8. Chicken Taquitos & Salad
9. Grilled Club Sandwiches
10. Buffalo Wild Wings
11. Baked Chicken Ravioli (FAIL!)
12. Pizza Take out
13. Leftover Pizza
14. Omelets and Toast
15. Tilapia and Mashed Potatoes
16. Chicken and Fries
17. Buffalo Wild Wings
18. Spaghetti-pie
19. Garlic Bread Pizza
20. S
21. S
22. m
23. t
24. w
25. r
26. Pepperoni-Pinwheels
27. s
28. s
29. m
30. t
31. w

Ideas for the rest of the month and a few extras up to Easter (I am hosting!).

• slow-cooker-lasagna
• Easy pasta skillet
• Mexican-Cornbread
• Chicken-Tostadas
• Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings
• Hot Dogs
• Cheese and Bacon Stuffed French Toast
• Pronto-pasta-italiano
• Hot-Hoagies
• quick-crescent-taco-bake
• Breakfast/snack idea oatmeal-berry-breakfast-bars
• Easter Cheesy-potatoes, Ham, Rolls, Veggies

Kid's Things We Like!

Josh loves a bubble bath! We have a jetted tub which makes a normal bubble bath a bit of a challenge... especially with how ours is set up.

So, anyway, a year or so ago Josh saw a commercial for a bubble bath machine in a commercial on TV. I was pretty leery...those TV things just do not seem to work the way they show.

Well, I ended up giving it as a suggestion for a family member to give Josh (in a desperate...uh, what was on his list moment). Believe me, I had NO hope of it working but...

We just LOVE the Kidkleen Bath Blizzard! It makes loads of bubbles and is super easy to use! Just toss in a tiny amount of soap, fill up the rest with warm water, shake it, get the screen wet and turn it on.

We are always amazed at how long the bubbles pour out.

Cool fun product!

Menu Plan Monday~ February 22, 2010

(starting back slowly! ...miss all of you!)

Monday- Spicy Chicken Sandwiches on whole grain rolls, spicy french fries, all out of the freezer!

Tuesday- Chicken Taco Salad

Wednesday- Baked Ravioli with Ground Turkey

Thursday- OUT to Buffalo Wild Wings (Our fave!)

Friday- Garlic Bread Pizza

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Omelets, bacon, and english muffins

Eight Excuses...

for why I am not blogging!

1. We are so happy with Josh's school/Teacher, I have not had to do much extra. I planned all that science etc... and we really have not done much!
2. Josh is so far ahead of his class, doing extra feels like I am causing more of a problem. His teacher had him tested (with the K and 1st graders) so that she could show next years teacher how far ahead he was...ya know with real proof. His test scores were not at all what we expected. We knew he was a good reader but he scored as high (er) as the k and 1st graders do at the end of the year in Reading and Math. Of course we are proud, but we are also a bit scared...not really knowing what we should do with/for him.
3. My laptop keeps overheating and dropping the Ii's so that I need to keep going back and adding them. We plan to get it fixed but just haven't...partially because we do not know who to call, we bought it at Circuit City a few months before they announced they were going out of business.
4. We are still working to get our house ready to put on the market. It is slow going because Andrew works a ton (60ish hours a week) and we are just not real handy! (We still have base boards to put up, painting to do, cleaning/packing and a few jobs we will need to hire someone to do!)
5. I have been sick CONSTANTLY. (ear infections, flu, colds, currently am coughing up my poor poor lungs!)
6. I volunteer twice a week in Josh's class and lately have been asked to do a bit more for various reasons. I really do like doing it but see #5! (oh yeah...that is why I stopped teaching...I was always sick...anyone have an immune system to spare?)
7. I have been journalling...with PAPER AND PENCIL! I got Wreck This Journal for my Birthday in October and finally got around to using it just lately (car pool lane is perfect for writing!) I am REALLY enjoying it.
8. Finally, I seem to spend all my spare time playing with Lego, Playmobil, Batman, Wii. It is as it should be!

So, what have you been up to?

Ho, Ho, Ho!

So, I have been putting off the trip to the jolly old elf this year. I avoid the mall most of the time anyway but especially at Christmas time. Plus, it is always so tense...waiting in crazy long hot lines with Josh who is never really "sure" of the whole thing. He wants to go but...

Anyway, my sweet neighbor told me about this store near us that was having a Santa event today. She said that it involved reindeer and santa but that is really all I knew. Since it did NOT involve the mall I was all in!

After lunch today we jumped into the car and headed to Horrocks market!
We were directed by a grandmotherly lady, heading to her car, to the area where Santa was sitting. He was at the end of a line of children (of course!) but on the way was a fenced in area with the reindeer. They were wandering a bit and you could feed them. It was very cool! And it made the wait go by super fast. Josh pet Comet and tried to feed them but they were not really hungry!

It was finally our turn for Santa. He was stationed in a cute little sleigh that the children could sit next to him in, not on his lap! Luckily I thought to bring my camera. We snapped a few pictures and Josh read him his letter to Santa. (thanks Kylie Our Worldwide Classroom!)

Then we headed into the store where they had free face painting, free ice cream, and all kinds of goodies!

What a super fun FREE day! Our pictures turned out pretty good and I even uploaded my card order to pick up tomorrow! (We love Costco)

SNOW DAY!!!!

We are having our first real snowday today! Very exciting for sure! So far, we have watched the original Grinch movie, Charlie Brown Christmas, and are starting in on Ichabod and Mr Toad as I type. Of course he has also spent the morning stamping, playing with Lego's, making a "movie" with his Little People Nativity, and building his new lego kit from the Lego City Advent calendar.

Busy Busy Busy!

I personally am exhausted (long night...see yesterday's comments if interested in an update but all is fine!) and have just laid here on the couch all morning watching the flurry of activity!

We do have big plans for the afternoon however! We are making a button wreath from our Advent activities list. (yesterday's activity...good thing I saved it huh?) He has also decided to make puppets with the cutout nativity people. (todays activity!)
http://sjbacb.blogspot.com/2009/11/advent-calendar.html (LAZY LINKAGE TODAY!) Oh yeah, and FINALLY finish decorating the tree!

We are likely to have another snow day tomorrow, they are predicting 2 inches an hour all night. So I think I will gather up the supplies for gift making and try to get some of that knocked out if we are home again. Also, tomorrow should be a bit better for outdoor fun so for sure we will be heading out to enjoy the snow.

Enjoy your families!
Shannon

Please...if you pray...

Andrew's brother is having surgery any minute. He was injured and is having his eye socket repaired. Please spare a thought for him and the family today. They are struggling with the weight of all life is throwing them right now.

Thanks so much
Shannon

Falling into Fall!

In all honesty, I am struggling a bit right now trying to find a rhythm for our days. We have a lot going on.

Josh has started school. He is really enjoying it and thinks his teacher is hillarious. (his words!) What that means for me is that I am now spending 1 hour in the car everyday just getting him back and forth. That time does not include wait time. And I can not believe all the after school/evening meetings!

We are getting our home ready to be sold. Which means oh so many projects. Painting, cleaning, power washing, priming, sanding, etc...

Then there is the life happens category. Things like normal living... Which also includes our newish furnace leaking mysteriously, and my new project of selling all our unwanted stuff on craigslist.

So what is suffering? Oh, you know... dishes, laundry... the normal stuff.

We are doing pretty good at keeping up with our at home school. We are working along at our human body study. The Story of the World is also going great. I keep adding more and more to it because we are really enjoying it. All we have done for geography is put together our new NA geopuzzle. (love it by the way but more on that later!)

So that is what we are up to! How is Fall treating you?

MIA...again!

Just spending our last weeks before school starts together! Been a bit crazy...including new family members on the way (Not me!), family members moving far away, marble swallowing along with poop inspecting (it turned up!), new flooring, many...many...many school meetings, house hunting, house "staging", and just normal life craziness.

Be back soon!

Shannon

What? Another New Schedule?

Oh yes...it is true. Our old family evening schedule was no longer working, or at least we were no longer working with it.

So here is the new "after dinner activity schedule"...

Monday - Movie Night (same since we need to just do nothing and veg on a Monday.)
Tuesday - Reading Night (we all pile into A & my big bed and read to each other.)
Wednesday - Board game Night
Thursday - Math/Science night (will help to ease our "afterschooling schedule" and include A in our scholarly pursuits!)
Friday - Wii night (so many fun family games!)
Saturday - Video Game night and my night off!
Sunday - Art night

Book Basket

Thinking of adding the set God's Design for Sex by Stan and Brenna Jones to our book basket, it was recommended by Se7en! We are definitely upfront, to the point parents and this seems "our style"! Hmmm, wonder if our library has it for me to preview?

Anyone else read it or know of any good..."the talk" books?

Menu Plan Monday~ July 27th

I missed a few weeks...we were on vacation and then apparently it took me a week to recover and get back on track! This week we have a pretty normal week. One evening we are going out to dinner with neighbors/friends and one evening I have a Tastefully Simple Party to attend.

Monday~ Buffalo Wild Wings out with friends!

Tuesday~ Lemon Pepper cheesey chicken sandwich-yum (make extra chicken!)

Wednesday~ Egg in a Hole with leftover bacon from Tuesday's sandwich. TS Party for me!

Thursday~ Spaghetti and meatballs on the side.

Friday~ Empanadas

Saturday~ Extra leftover Lemon pepper chicken from Tuesday and Half Baked potatoes.

Sunday~ Hot Dogs...A's favorite! I might do some roasted potatoes just to use up some of our potatoes and to make it a little more...uh...Shannon friendly!

Have a great week everyone!

Check out the other menus at http://orgjunkie.com/!