household management

Letter A week~preschool

/ Jeanette / Leave a comment

When we started back to school this year, I was excited to find I have a very eager 3 year old wanting to participate too. This is both a blessing and a pain in my butt. But I have 4 kids so adding to my craziness is not hard. Last year he would sporadically do school. But now he wants more structure and more learning. He wants paint, glue, pencils and books. He even had to have his own backpack. And he specifically asked for his ABC’s.

Letter A~

For the most part we are sticking to the letters and just recognizing them. But I also throw in some shapes and colors once in a while because he knows those. And we have a monthly number we learn.

This was letter A. We colored alligators and practice tracing lines.

We painted a red apple.

And we traced his hand and arm to make a tree. Then glued red pom-poms for apples.

This was a slow week for us.

Wait until you see letter B.

International Homeschool Spirit Week

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Last week was International Homeschool Spirit Week. Basically all around the world homeschoolers thought why should those public schools get all the fun. We have spirit, yes we do, we have spirit just like you!!!!! But in the comfort of our home and pajamas. Ok now that  I got that out of my system, here’s how our week went.

Monday was Homeschool away from Home. Problem was I didn’t read my email about this fun week until Monday afternoon. But my kids had a laid back Monday due to our schedule changes. So we had mostly fall fun stuff planned.

Tuesday was Comfy Cozy Day. We spent the day in Pajamas and just laid around while doing school.

Wednesday was Crazy Sock Day. This was fun. My grandma had gone out the day before and bought us some tall crazy socks. And the kids loved this. I especially loved the looks I got when I had to go to Walmart. Some just laughed and one shook her head and glared at me.

Thursday was Mismatch day. I meant to take a picture because my kids and me looked CRAZY! I mixed hubby’s hawaiian shirt over some crazy patterned clothes and then did 80’s hair and make up. My kids came out with a different sock on each foot. Mismatching clothes were easy for them because I am always telling them they are mismatching.

Friday was Twin Day! Cailin and I were twins, as were Dakota and Brianna. Again another day I meant to take a picture! But we were having so much fun! And I forgot!

I am hoping this happens again next year. My kids had a blast!

Back to School~ schedule

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Homeschool is in session. We have been back to the grind for the last 4-5 weeks. It has been a slow start up process. But we are definitely making head way. Though a little slower with a 3 year old wanting to get in on everything, but we are on the right track.

With having 3 kids at home on 3 different levels, we decided to try a block schedule. For the first 3 weeks, we had subjects 1-5 on Monday and Wednesday, subjects 6-10 on Tuesday and Thursday, and all subjects on Friday for a review day. But I started thinking about Bri’s learning disabilities and realized reviewing on Friday does no good if you have 2 days off right afterwards. So this is our new schedule for now.

Monday is our review day. We cover all of our subjects and just review and go over what we learned the previous week.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are subjects 1-5. We usually take about an hour on each.

Wednesday and Fridays are subjects 6-10.

Spelling is done everyday because if not my kids will get confused and lost.

So here is the basic set up.

Monday~ Writing, Spelling, History, Reading, Geography, Science, Art, PE, Math

Tuesday & Thursday~ Reading, History, Science, PE, Spelling

Wednesday & Friday~ Writing, Geography, Spelling, Art, Math

Our school starts at 8:30am. We get an hour and half for lunch from 11-12:30. And usually finish up between 1:30-2:30. I always leave Math for last because that is my kids longest subject. Meaning sometimes it takes them a while. And my kids are the type that don’t stop unless its done or I tell them too. So this more relaxed for me and them as we aren’t worrying about the subjects we still need to do because it’s last. I may switch Art and PE. That way they get their juices flowing with PE right before Math. I think and hope that is the last change I need to make. So far it has worked out for us.

Next up~ what we are covering in each subject.

Depressing

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Monday was the first taste of fall weather we have seen down here in Florida in about a year, possibly more. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the smells, the holidays and the nice cool down from the summer heat and humidity. You can usually find me and the kids outside homeschooling or with the windows open.

But yesterday wasn’t a typical fall day. Instead it was very depressing because we can’t go outside or open the windows. Instead we are prisoners in our own home because of our mosquito swamp that the rains from the last month or so have created in our yard.

Our vehicles have been getting stuck. Rain boots are still the “in fashion” around here. I’m constantly sweeping and vacuuming the dirt and mud. My carpet is this fantastic shade of gross. I am exhausted and depressed looking out at my yard.

All I gotta say is THIS SUX!!!!

My backyard, where we would usually be set up with tables, as of yesterday afternoon.

Sunday dinner with the girls….and Lil’ Man

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My husband is all about “man food” meaning anything that is heavy. Meat, potatoes and if there is pasta there better be some heavy sauce with bread on the side.

So when Hubby went to the Buccaneers opening day game and left me with the kids and Grandma, I decided to make sure girly food. I knew my girls would love it because of the accidental veggie tacos from the week before. It showed me that my girls don’t care if there is meat on the plate or not. And with Hubby gone it was the perfect day for a meatless meal.

We had Buttery Lemon pasta with steamed broccoli and a side of fresh organic fruit topped with homemade whipped cinnamon cream.

YUM!!

Butter Lemon Pasta~

Cook your pasta according to package and drain.

In a skillet melt 5 TBS. butter in a skillet. Add pasta to the skillet. Stir. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the juice of 1 lemon. Add lemon zest, as much as you prefer. Stir and serve.

I then added some steamed broccoli on top with some shaved parmesan.

Enjoy!

 

Pinterest

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Have you heard of the new addiction? Pinterest.

It’s a fun website where you can keep all these ideas that you find on the internet into one organized site. It’s a M~ADD mom’s memory. At least for me it is.

But has the thought~ Does that really work? ever crossed your mind.

ME TOO!

Which is why I am putting some of the things I see to the test.

So here are things that have worked!

 

Growing your own celery using the bottom of the celery that you usually throw away. This did work as you can see here I stuck mine in a cup of water and within a few hours it started growing. My mistake was getting so busy that I didn’t get around to replanting it in a pot. So don’t make that mistake.

 

 

 

Putting a wooden spoon over a pot really does keep it from boiling over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making my own vanilla with Vanilla beans and a (free, thanks to one of hubby’s customers) bottle of Vodka.

 

 

 

 

 

More will it work projects coming soon. Until then you can follow me on Pinterest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOT Back to School week 1

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As homeschoolers we have the luxury of doing what we want, when we want.

With my oldest heading off to school this week, I decided to give my homeschoolers a couple of fun weeks. Yes they are filled with learning experiences but my kids wouldn’t know it. They think it is all about hands on activities.

Take a look at our week in pictures….

He was cold so he had to wear Mommy’s jacket. Getting up early is hard to do, you know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

School time or so he thought. He wasn’t thrilled that there was no school and that I was also taking his picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First day picnic lunch. Because of rain we had to do this indoors with a movie.

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for our homemade bouncy balls to be ready.  The kids thought it was fun how I could capture them in movement with the Sport setting on the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy kids! I am convinced they get it from their father.

 

 

 

 

 

I honestly love this picture. They are so happy and carefree and young. Gosh how I miss that.

 

 

 

 

 

By the way the bouncy balls were a dud for us. Instead of bouncing they went THUD.

Cheeseburger Pizza

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With my homemade pizza dough, I made this cheeseburger pizza. I was a little unsure of how my family would react to it. But it is definitely a keeper.

Start with your rolled out pizza dough. I spray my pan and sprinkle some cornmeal so the crust doesn’t stick.

Next add the sauce, which in this case is Ketchup and Mustard. I used more ketchup than mustard but it’s whatever you prefer.

Now your ready for the toppings.

Sprinkle a little bit of cheese. I used shredded Cheddar. This just helps to stick the toppings to the crust. Then I piled on the hamburger that I cooked in a skillet.

Now comes the fun part. Stop and think about what you love on a cheeseburger. Is it pickles, onions, or tomatoes? Great now get those items out. Chop them up and sprinkle on top.

My family is a little picky and were skeptical of the idea of pickles on pizza, so I just used pickles this time.  Next time I am gonna add some tomatoes and maybe sprinkle some lettuce after the pizza has cooked.

Then finish with some more cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. If you prefer you can add some extra ketchup or mustard on top but my family didn’t request any.

YUMMY!

Homemade Pizza Dough

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A few days ago I tried my hand at something I have dying to make. Homemade Pizza Dough. I see it ready made at the stores and have always wondered can I make it at home cheaper. And the answer to that is YES!!!!

I have this wonderful machine called a bread machine. A lot of people have complained about theirs but I love mine. I have had it about 10 years and have never had a problem with it. And it makes homemade yummy bread easy.

I used a recipe for a 2 pound pizza dough. And this was enough for 2 pizzas for my family of 7.

The dough process takes about 1 1/2 hours.

Ingredients:

3/4 tsp salt

4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 3/4 cups water (it called for 1 3/8 and I don’t have a measuring cup with that measurement. LOL so I used 1 3/4 cup and it was fine)

3 Tbs oil, olive or vegetable

I put liquid ingredients in first.

Then comes all the dry ingredients except the yeast.

I then make a little hole in the center of the flour and put the yeast in there.

Put the machine on Dough setting. And go about your life until it beeps.

I then flour my cutting board or countertop.

Knead the dough a little.

Cut in half and roll out half of it until it somewhat resembles a pizza.

Now at this point you can use both halves to make 2 pizzas or you can freeze the other half for another day.

Don’t fret if it’s not perfect it will still taste good.

I spray my pizza pan with cooking spray and sprinkle some cornmeal to keep the crust from sticking.

Not add toppings and bake at 400 degrees for 15- 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Crazy weather

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So as I was enjoying my relaxing first day of “NOT back to school” week. We had storm pop up and wreck havoc on our little piece of heaven out here in the boondocks. And I say this storm popped up because I texted my mom and she was getting nothing and she is only about 20 miles away.

We had massive rain, swirling wind, lightning and thunder. I mean it came down in buckets. The best part was it really didn’t look extremely bad outside when all of this happened. Our power was going off and on. Trees were swirling in circles and rain was coming at all directions. Our yard is perfect for mudding right now. I have never seen it this bad before.

So once it had stopped I decided to jump in my truck and drive back to hubby to see if he wanted some homemade cookies. I walked out the front door, glanced over towards our front gate and freaked out!

Our tree snapped in half and was completely blocking the road. We live on a dead end road so this wasn’t good. I jumped in the truck drove back to hubby horn honking and screaming about the tree. Almost got stuck twice trying to drive up for him to get in without soaking his feet.

So let me go back and say this tree blocking our road was not just a huge problem because I live on a dead end road but also because it was 3:20pm and the school bus for high school comes at 3:40 and it was raining. Thankfully the bus was almost an hour late and we were able to clear a path on the road before then. And there was no way around the tree because our rain came so much, so fast and so heavy that everything is a swamp and the one car that tried to get around got stuck and Hubby had to pull him out.

Anyways our power line got knocked out to our yard lights. Our fence got smashed along with our very expensive mailbox.

Here are some pictures….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is after Hubby pulled it over the fence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This our fence. LOOK at all the standing water!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my backyard this morning. Can you say waterfront property? Now I understand why I needed flood insurance even though I am miles and miles from the water. Oh and By the way more rain expected today with a possible Hurricane on Monday. YIPPEEE!

 

 

 

Hubby going to work. Needless to say we are now proud owners of rain boots. Just bought them this morning at Tractor Supply. Cashier said they were open for 15 minutes and have already sold 4 pairs. Geez I wonder why?!?