The New School Year

I have been having so much fun planning our lessons for the upcoming school year. We've already finished two weeks, but decided to postpone the third week to accommodate a heavily planned week. I decided that since it is still July, and we got started a bit early, it would be better to take a week off than attempt to cram it all in.

Over the next two weeks, we will be studying Jamestown and the Great Fire of London. We use Story Of The World as our history spine but I like to plan supplemental activities to go with our history topic. My kids are still young, so I doubt we'll do everything on my list but here is what I have lined up-

Week 3 - Jamestown

Reading-

• Story Of The World Volume 3, Chapter 3
• A Child's History of The World, Story #66- King James The Servant
• Pocahontas: Princess of the River Tribes by Elaine Raphael
  The Story of Pocahontas by Caryn Jenner
  American History Stories Volume 1, pages 55-63
• Meet The Pilgrim Fathers, by Elizabeth Payne, Chapters 1 and 2
• A Visual Dictionary of Native Communities, by Bobbie Kalman, page 5
• William's House, by Ginger Howard, take the quiz on Book Adventures
• Our Strange New Land: Elizabeth's Jamestown Adventures by Patricia Hermes

Activities from The Story Of The World, Volume 3 Activity Book

• Map
• Coloring page
• Celebrate Guy Fawkes' Day
• Cooking Colonial Pottage

Additional Activities

• We'll watch the movies on The Jamestown Chronicle website. This is a fantastic resource if you can't make a trip to Jamestown.
• Art Lesson Plans on the Historic Jamestown website 
• Build a paper replica of Jamestown. This is part of the American Revolution sampler at Homeschool In The Woods.  

My Homeschooling FAQ

I've been confronted with quite a few homeschooling myths recently. Here are the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.


Homeschoolers have lots of free time.
We are busy. Just because we are home all day does not mean we are available all day. We do school, then we do chores, then we practice piano and go to lessons and run errands. 80% of the time the day is over before we've had a chance to do it all. I love you and I want to see you, but there are certain days of the week I'm just not available. I'm sorry.

**yes, I know there are some homeschoolers who manage to learn everything they need to know by simply living life and "unschooling." I'm not that smart. I use books and the books take time.

Homeschoolers are weird and unsocialized
This is probably the most common homeschooling myth. We go to scouts, church, group piano classes, sewing classes, science classes, story time at the library, swim lessons and more.

What? Maddie doesn't like Bratz and Hanna Montana?
Okay. This isn't a homeschooling myth, but I hear it so often. Hmm. maybe this does make us a little weird. But it's a good weird, so I'm happy with it. We do watch television but very rarely watch the Disney Channel. Most of our tv watching is Netflix on demand family movies or documentaries.

Well since you are home all day, you have time to (fill in the blank). Of all homeschooling myths, this one is probably the one I hate the most. Just because I'm home all day does NOT mean I'm cleaning my house and cooking fabulous meals,. I'm overseeing my kids' education and preparing them for their future. This takes time. And I'm cleaning up the cereal the 3 year old spilled and trying to find time to write enough articles to pay for our extra curricular activities and school books.

Where do you get those books that you use? Are you sure they are good?
Okay not a homeschooling myth, but this is what my father asked me one day a few years ago.
I'm not flying by the seat of my pants. We use real curriculum and I teach all subjects and we have lesson plans. I teach Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History, and Art. I have hand picked the best curriculum for our family in each of these areas. We work from the beginning to end of each book, then start the next grade. The curriculum I use is real and published by people who know what they are doing. Even some fancy private schools use the same curriculum I use. I didn't just buy some hillbilly homeschool manual from ebay and throw it on the school table.

I know there are many more homeschooling myths to cover, but right now these are the ones driving me the most crazy. I will probably come back and post more later.

Benjamin is 3!!!

My little man turned three years old last week and I've been so busy getting ready for The Hope Project that I didn't have time to blog about it. He started out the day by eating breakfast at the table Maddie and I decorated for him. Then, he opened his presents- a plasma car, a Thomas the train board game, a motorcycle that does wheelies, and a large batch of new hotwheels cars.

After breakfast we decided to take the plasma cars to the park and the kids had a blast! We actually ended up with two of them because they were on sale and we wanted the other kids to have one to share. I have a feeling we'll end up buying another one very soon because they are just too much fun.




We had a picnic at the park, then visited Yogurt Mountain for the first time ever! YUMMY!

We attempted to visit the zoo (too crowded) and the Southern Museum of Flight (closed), but we ended up at one of our favorite places- the McWane Center.

Ben's dinner choice was hot dogs! I lucked out on his cake! My plan was to make him a plain sheet cake and decorate it, but I happend to find a Harley cake at Walmart and knew he'd love it more than anything I could create.

Why I Will Not Take My Kids to the Shoe Store

Picture this. I'm sitting on the floor of a shoe store, helping my son try on shoes. He doesn't like the nice Merrells I picked out for him, despite the fact that they will last forever and aren't an eyesore like the Iron Man, blinking, glow in the dark, shoes that just happen to be out of stock in his size. He's arguing with me, telling me he doesn't care if they are too big. He wants them anyway.

Meanwhile, my toddler decides that the shoes do NOT belong on the shelves. The look much better on the floor, so now would be a good time to walk down the aisle, knocking them all on the floor. When I realize what he's doing, get up off the floor, leaving my 5 year old sitting on the bench, wearing one shoe.

Toddler takes off running. I chase him. 5 year old, wearing one Merell, carrying his old shoes, begins chasing me, yelling "wait mom, don't leave me here!" 7 year old daughter, who has been well behaved until now, freaks out thinking I won't catch my 2 year old, who is giggling like mad as he runs through the shoe store. People stare. We are all making noise. I am embarrassed.

"Ben, get back here!"

"You can't catch me!"

"Mom, wait I'm only wearing one shoe. I can't keep up!"

"Get him, Mom! Get him! Are you gonna get him?"

By the time the ordeal is over, I've convinced myself that there is nothing I need so badly that I will put myself through that again. My kids will go barefoot before I take them all into another shoe store. Thankfully we live in modern times and I will order on the internet.

Yesterday we discovered that my 5 year old needs new shoes right now, and I almost took the kids to the shoe store this afternoon, but then I remembered. Instead I traced his foot onto a piece of paper and sent him off to play. After I pour myself a cup of coffee, I will figure out how to determine his size and then order him a nice new pair of shoes. When they arrive, he will be so thrilled that a package came just for him that it won't matter that they aren't ill fitting, ugly, or flashy. I'll probably spend less too.

Night at the Spa

One of the things my daughter loves best is to get a pedicure from me. At her age, this consists mainly of soaking her foot in warm soapy water, putting on a little lotion and then polishing her little toe nails. I don't put her through the torture that sometimes occurs during real pedicures. Speaking of which, I'm way overdue!


Anyway, back to Madelyn- this love of mommy pedicures inspired the idea for a "spa night" birthday party sleepover. Kayla and I spent the evening doing facials, hair, makeup, and fingernails. Pedis were planned but one of our guests was already wearing her footed pajamas so we decided to wait til morning when they were dressed. We had pizza from Hungry Howies, and made The Pioneer Woman's Springy Flower Pot Desserts. The following morning, we did pedicures and the girls had Batter Blaster pancakes, which are just as fun to make as they are to eat.

I must mention a funny from the evening. Nicholas, my sweet 4 year old, wanted to be involved. How could we have a party without him? But when it came time to do facials he was done. As the girls rested with cucumbers on their eyes and baby lotion "masks" he told me that when he has his birthday party, all the boys are going to put burgers on their eyes!!!!! The mental image I have of that is so perfectly funny I just might let him do it.

Benjamin's First Birthday!

My sweet baby boy turned one on Feb 20th but we were so wrapped up in worrying about him being sick that I completely neglected to post his birthday pictures. This was only hours before he became very ill and the pictures probably show that he was not his happy self. He wouldn't even eat the cupcake we gave him.

Winter Wonderland

Today was a day unlike any I've seen in a very long time. We awoke this morning the the marvelous sight of freshly fallen snow on our front lawn. By the time the morning light shone through our master bedroom window, at least 2 inches had accumulated. This is only the second time I've seen snow in Alabama. The first time was just over a year ago when I was still pregnant with sweet Benjamin. Last year, it barely stuck. Today the kids got the rare treat of enough snow to form snowballs and snow angels. The snow continued to fall until around noon. Eventually the sun came out and all of the snow had melted by 3pm. It was fun while it lasted.

Happiness!

Today is a happy day! My family has been battling a horrid stomach virus that basically trapped us in the house for the past 2 weeks. Normally, when one of the kids gets sick we keep the family quarantined until 24 hours has passed since the last time something nasty comes out of the last kid to have the illness. Today is a happy day because it has been 24 hours and now we can leave the house!

It's a beautiful day, so I forced the kids to play outside. I don't know why but apparently riding on bikes and swinging on swings is torture.....they'll get over it. Hopefully my neighbors don't call the authorities when they hear the kids yelling "Mom, please let us come in the house!" every 5 minutes from the back yard. At least, I hope they don't do it this week. The house is a wreck. It will take me at least a week to catch up after this illness.

Luckily the weather is nice and I can open some windows, kick the kids outside, strap the baby to my back, put on some music and get to cleaning and disinfecting.

Halloween 2008

Halloween is over. My big kid is at a friend's house, which is normal for a Friday night. My little beauty and the two beasts are in bed sound asleep for now. We had a great night at our church's fall festival. The original plan was to go trick or treating but this afternoon we decided to do something different this year and I'm so glad we did. Not only did the kids get candy, but they got to play games and have fun. On the way home we picked up a pizza for a late night dinner, so all in all it was a good night.

Almost 2 weeks ago, Maddie and Nicholas both came down with chicken pox. That was interesting. Thankfully we have some friends who would like their children to have a natural lifelong immunity and were happy to bring their kids over for a pox party. A few days later, I was going crazy wanting to get out of the house, so we went to a costume party with some similarly minded friends.

Once the kids got all better and were no longer contagious, I just had to get out of the house. We decided to take the little ones (Kayla didn't want to come with us) to a local pumpkin patch and we had an awesome time! The kids got to pick cotton, jump in a huge pile of cotton, climb hay mountains, ride on a mule drawn wagon, and play on some pretty cool tractors. Boy it felt so good to be out of the house finally!

Here are some pictures taken tonight and over the past 2 weeks...in no particular order becausse I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Enjoy!

A few favorite recipes and a picture of a cute boy

First, here is a recent picture of Ben that I took at my friend's house. She knitted this hat for her baby and it was so cute I couldn't resist putting it on Ben and snapping a picture.



Okay, now to share some recipes. These are a few of my favorites that have been requested often throughout the last few years. I like to cook from scratch and use my crock pot as often as possible.

Tortilla Pie-

1 two layer pie crust
3 TBSP olive oil
1 C chopped onion
1 gr bell pepper
15 oz can black beans
1/2 cup salsa
1tsp chili pepper (optional)
8 oz shredded cheddar
3 eight inch flour tortillas

Prepare pie crust

Heat oil in skillet. Add onion and pepper. Saute 5 min. Add beans, salsa and spices. Simmer 7-10 minutes.

Layer 1/3 mixture into crust. Top with 1/3 cheese, top with tortilla. Repeat twice and end with cheese. Top with 2nd pie crust, seal edges and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

I like to serve this with salsa and sour cream.




Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 tsp gr cumin
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken
2 cups peeled and chopped potatoes
1 1/2 cups bias sliced carrots
1 cup coarsley chopped cooking apple
2 cloves garlic
1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped (I do not use this because it's too spicy for my kids)
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules
1/2 cup water
1 13 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
Hot cooked brown rice (optional- I use basmati rice)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts

In a large plastic bag combine the flour and spices. Add chicken, and shake bag to coat.

In your slow cooker combine potatoes, carrots, apple, onion, garlic, pepper and bouillon granules. top with chicken. Pour water over all.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hrs, or high for 3-4 hrs.

If using low heat, turn to high setting. Stir in coconut milk and cover and cook for 30 minutes more. Serve over hot rice and sprinkle with peanuts.

My FAVORITE ever turkey chili recipe-

This is sooooo good and tastes different than most other chili recipes. I love it because it's good for you!!! I make it in the crock pot- high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Top with sour cream and/or shredded cheese.


1 1/2 pounds ground turkey- cooked
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 (7 ounce) can salsa
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or coarsely chopped tomatoes packed in puree
1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Smoky Black Bean and Vegetable Soup-
I make this in the slow cooker as well but I have no idea how long....I just put it in sometime during the day and we eat it for dinner...maybe 6 hours on low?

2 cups chopped onion
1 cup carrot
3/4 cup sliced celery
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 cups water
3 15 oz cans black beans
2 14 oz cans vegetable broth
2 14 oz cans plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped

The recipe says to saute the first 4 ingredients until tender, then add the spices, cook for 1 minute, then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 2 hours. I've been known to just toss it all in a crock pot on a busy day and it turns out fine. Top with yogurt, lime wedges and fresh cilantro. I keep a small pot of cilantro growing on my back deck because I use it so often.

Scrapbooking

More pages for Bens scrapbook-

From To print

From To print

Sad, funny and true

Birmingham is so normal compared to Pittsburgh, PA where I grew up. People speak differently there, use strange words and behave in such a manner that can only be seen in Pittsburgh. It's true and very odd. I bet if I go back to Wilmerding and go to the Sports Page,
half my old classmates from EAHS will be there, still doing what they were doing the last time I was there. I grew up in a strange town.



You know you're from Pittsburgh when........

Hey Yuz Guyz" is your traditional greeting.

You know the time and location of every Wing Night in a 10 mile radius.

You know the location of the following towns, know someone from them and have spent time there: Monongahela, Altoona, Bethlehem, Ligonier, Harmony, and Wilmerding.

You've memorized lines from the movie "Flashdance".

If you're a guy, your biggest fear is seeing your best friend drive into the "fruit loop". You're second biggest fear is seeing him drive out with Kordel Stewart.

If you're a girl, you're biggest fear is getting hit on by a hairy-chested man, heavily weighted in gold chains, who refers to his friends as "junior" at Chauncey's.

Your latest cultural experience: On your way to partying at Slippery Rock University, having to stop your car to let the Amish buggy cross the street.

As your out-of-town friends brag about their latest trips to Europe, you think to yourself, "Polish Hill will suffice."

You eat out at least once a week at a mafia-owned Italian pizza parlor.

Your father has worked for the same company for over 20 years.

You don't see what all the hype is about Disney World when Kennywood is just around the corner.

You're having a hard time on where to take your date out for dinner and a night on the town: - "meat on a stick" in the south side and the guzzling IC Light at Jack's... Or splitting an order of "O fries" and guzzling IC Light at Peter's Pub.

" N at' " is eloquently added to the end of every sentence.

You've taken deliberate field trips to the Andy Warhol museum.

You water ski on the Youghiogheny River Lake.

You feel the only good bands out there are Donny Iris, Joe Grushecky, The Blue Oyster Cult, and of course.... Rusted Root.

You're more worried about Jerome Bettis's health than your own.

You own more than one original Terrible Towel.

You don't understand what all the hype is about for Rolling Rock beer. You've been drinking it for years, although Penn Pilsner is better.

You consider a great vacation a trip to Conneaut Lake or Lake Erie. For something a little more exotic, a trip to the Jersey shore.

You're 35 years old, have never been outside of Allegheny County, and don't see the need to leave.

You only own four spices: salt, pepper, Heinz ketchup, and the bottle of Trappey's Red Devil you swiped from Primanti's.

For the life of you, you can't understand why your all your out-of-town friends don't get the "fries and cole slaw" thing...

You have 101 favorite recipes for kolbasi and sauerkraut.

Words like: hoagie; chipped ham; pop; and gumband actually mean something to you.

You can use the phrase "Firehall Wedding" and not even bat an eye.

You walk carefully when it is "slippy" outside.

You often go down to the "crick".

You have to "red up", before company comes over.

You've ever gotten hurt by falling into a "jaggerbush".

You know that Ahia is a river, a boulevard, and a state.

You've ever "warshed" or "wershed" the laundry.

You know you can't drive too fast on back roads,cause-udda-deer.

You've drank an "Arn" .

You've told someone to "quit jaggin around".

You know that Clinton, Monaca, and Beaver, are actually names of towns.

You've called someone a 'jaggoff'.

You hear "you guyses", or "yins" and don't think twice.

You hate Cleveland, although you've never been there.

You drink "pop", eat "hoagies", pierogies, and gyros(jy-rows).

You know what a still mill is.

You can find Zillionopal on a map.

You go 'food shoppin' at 'Jine Iggle'.

You believe that "Ize" is the abbreviaton for "I was.

You know someone from 'Sliberty, E-sliberty, or Wesliberty.

You know the Pittsburgh Zoo is in 'Hilinpark' and have been there for school field trips.

You know what is meant by "The Point".

Chipped ham was always in your refrigerator when you were growing up.

This makes it all worthwhile

Check out his little tongue sticking out in between laughing. I love him. He's so sweet.

We love our Daddy!

Mike is coming home tonight. He has been on a business trip for the past 3 days. I need him here to help. Life is so hard when you have 4 kids, are trying to homeschool, run a teen taxi service, do chores, and find time to sleep. Bens schedule is so off right now and I have no idea how to get it normal again. He stays up til after 11 most nights and today he slept til almost 9am. Staying up late is fine when Daddy is holding him, because then I have a chance to do dishes, laundry, tidy up the house, work on ebay listings, etc after the middle kids go to bed. All of this is IMPOSSIBLE when Mike is not here because I have to hold the baby. Yes, I can wear him, but it's just easier not to. Also, I can't figure out why he's only happy playing by himself when it's not absolutely necessary. He simply cannot be content with anything but being held after 8pm. I'm just exhausted.

Today, I think I've hit rock bottom. I did Maddie's reading lesson with her, read some books to Nicholas and showed him some number flashcards, then told the kids to go upstairs to play. It was time for Ben to take a nap and I wanted to lay down with him and nurse him to sleep. I passed out too and here I am, still in a sleepy haze at 11am. I get up at 5:30 and I still haven't truly woken up yet! Yikes. I'm still in my pjs and haven't showered. I ALWAYS shower at 7am, but today I just couldn't do it!

We are calling off school for the day. Thankfully we started in July and plan on schooling year round, so taking a day off here and there isn't a big deal. As long as Maddie is ready for first grade work by July 1, I'll be satisfied.

In the future, I'll be skipping school when Daddy is out of town. It will lessen my workload for the day and make it more manageable.

Oh, and I've again decided to do something different with school starting in first grade. We are going to follow The Well Trained Mind. I just read the book and it is amazing. For those who don't know, it's a book about how to give children a classical education at home. If you don't know what that is, you can google that or I'll write more another day when I have caffeine in my system. I only have decaf today. That is probably part of the problem today.

I must stop on the way home from the playground and remedy this situation.

Dear Benjamin

Dear Benjamin,

You are adorable and I love you with all my heart but will you please stay asleep when you pass out at 8pm? It's not cool to wake up at 8:30 and stay awake until nearly midnight every night. Mama needs to get up at 5am. I know you think you are cute, rolling around on the floor saying dadadadaa and giggling at the dog as she looks at you. I'm sure it's hard during the day when you cannot be the center of attention but believe me, I can be a whole lot more entertaining when I've had a few hours of sleep and lately it's not happening. Besides no one believes me that you do all of these cute things, so do yourself a favor. Sleep at night and be adorable during the day when you have a little more of an audience.

Love always,
Mama

Shhhh......

It's 9:13 am and we've already showered, eaten, and done a reading and math lesson and calendar. All we have to do now is read the next page in our geography book, read a chapter in Alice and Wonderland, read about hyenas, write about zebras, and make a rhino, and do a science project!!!! I'll get most of that done before we leave at 10 to go to storytime and finish up while my dinner is cooking! Woo hoo!

Right now Maddie is in the school room practicing making worms, snakes, ants and grass using Ed Emberly's animal drawing book. I love that she is fine tuning her writing skills and doesn't even realize it! She thinks she's having fun and taking a break after working hard on math and reading. Today she learned "th"!

Nicholas has been happily making sculptures out of crayons and playdough the entire time. I wonder if he learned something while sitting at the table with us?

Homeschooling rocks!

78 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

It's working!!!!

We started our 3rd week of school yesterday and so far we are doing very well with math but have decided to start at the beginning with reading. I put away the Advanced K language arts curriculum for now and we are doing daily lessons from Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. So far so good. We are on lesson 8 and progressing smoothly. Once she can read well, we'll pull out the Adv K curriculum and start over again.

Animal Worlds is going well too, but I didn't know this until yesterday. We have been studying the African Savanna, learning about what types of animals live in the grasslands. Every day we read in our DK Animal Encyclopedia and our One Small Square African Savanna book, in addition to some other books that we look at only a few times a week each.

I really thought Maddie wasn't enjoying it, but yesterday while I was cooking dinner, she pulled out some plain white paper and announced "I'm going to draw the grasslands!" She started by drawing ants climbing blades of grass. She learned how to do this earlier in the day using Ed Emberly's Drawing Book of Animals. After she drew the ants, she added a gazelle and a lion, asking me to open the Animal Encyclopedia so she could be sure to draw them correctly.

In addition to all that I've mentioned above, I am reading to them daily from Socks by Beverly Cleary, The Little Learners Bible Storybook, and we are studying Geography using a great Children's Atlas that I picked up last week at Books A Million.