Living Sola Gratia

Budding Authors & 6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar

2013-05-24T10:08:00.001-04:00

If you have been a LSG reader for any length of time, you have probably heard me mention that we struggle with writing. For the most part, my girls can be pretty reluctant writers. They are good with grammar, but I think they just lack confidence with writing.

Joyce Herzog's Budding Authors Series and 6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar, a review we received from the TOS Crew, seemed like just the thing to get us going.

Let me tell you a little about the series. The Budding Author series is a five book series that takes students from copywork and dictation to writing their own stories, researching topics and writing reports. The books are not grade specific, you would just use the book that best suits where your student currently is with their writing.

Step Into Writing ($10) is the first book in this series. It starts off gently by introducing dictation of simple stories, copywork and then "experiencing the story," which is when the child dictates their story for someone else to write down for them.This book also includes helpful checklists that remind students to capitalize, and check their spelling and puntuation.
Step On Into Writing ($10), the second book in the series, continues with the same format as book one, this time adding in vocabulary and "Write Your Own Story" pages.
Adventuring In Writing ($10), which is book three, is a bit different then the first two books. Here students see a picture, are given questions and a word bank to draw from. This book encourages students to think more on their own.
Then and Now ($12), the fourth book, focuses on writing paragraph. Indenting is automatic with built in indentions on the page. This book includes pictures from the early 20th century, students are encouraged to compare then and now. Then and Now helps students to develop thinking skills while learning to write paragraphs.
Writing US History ($15) is the final book in the series. This level takes students through US History while teaching them research and writing skills. Students write about topics such as Pilgrims, Patrick Henry, George Washington, the Gold Rush and the Roaring Twenties.

6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar ($12) is a small, yet meaty, booklet that gives a compressive overview of grammar. This book covers topics such as parts of a sentence, nouns, pronouns, prepositional phrases, capitalization rules, spelling rules, verbs and irregualr verbs.

This is not a traditional grammar workbook. It follows the teaching style from many years ago, state it simply and give an example. This little gem helps to make grammar concepts clear in a very simple fashion.

What we thought:

I found that I really liked this whole series, it is quite the breath of fresh air from many grammar and writing books I have seen. Very Charlotte Mason friendly in my opinion, the lessons are short and to the point. The books have a gentle start and progression.

The assignments are not overwhelming for the student (or for mom), but they are enough to get them thinking and writing.

I think that the Writing US History was my favorite book in the series. I like that it starts the students out with a picture and several key words, the student then has to go research based on the keywords given and write about their findings. For instance, one assignment shows a picture of the state of California, a man on horseback and 2 men panning for gold. The keywords for the assignment are 1849, Gold Discovered and California. Not only are they writing, but they are learning able the California Gold Rush.

Joyce Herzog is a veteran teacher that has many products helpful to homeschoolers. The TOS Crew

Members reviewed several of her products, click here to check out their reviews.

The books that I have reviewed, as well as Joyce's other homeschool products are available directly through her web store.

One Minute Science Mysteries!

2013-05-21T00:06:00.000-04:00

Once again we were introduced to a new favorite from the TOS Crew!

When you have children that love science and mysteries, One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a winning combination. This award winning book published by Science Naturally helps in "Bridging the gap between the blackboard and the blacktop."

One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! as you probably guessed is the second One-Minute Science Mysteries books. Each fiction and non fiction story, as the title implies, takes about a minute to read. After reading the story, children are then challenged with brainteaser type questions that help them to utilize their science knowledge and critical thinking skills.

In One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! you'll read stories and solve mysteries about gravity, sonic booms, magnets/non magnets, rocks and measurements.

More specifically, this book is covers topics in:

Life Science
Earth and Space Science
Physical and Chemical Science
General Science

We thought the book was challenging and enjoyable. The book is geared for children ages 8-12, but I found that my younger children (4&6 year old boys) also enjoyed it and were able to interact with us.

Eric and Natalie Yoder, a father-daughter wring team, have worked together on several books. Each available for purchase through Science Naturally for $9.95.

You can also purchase the I Love A Mystery Set, which includes all three of the books listed above, for $24.95.

These books would make great summer reads. The are stories are short, but the lessons really pack a punch!

See what other TOS Crew members have to say about the Science Naturally Books here.

Menu Plan 5/20/13

2013-05-20T16:23:00.001-04:00

Did I mention that I was in a little bit of a cooking funk? There have just been many days lately that I would have been happy to serve cereal for dinner, and actually did on a few occasions. The "healthy cereal" of course.

Thankfully, I am coming out of the funk and feeding my family real food again {smile}.

Here's what we are cookin' up this week:

Breakfasts

Homemade Granola as Cereal x2 - my kids are loving this! I had to hid the container because they will not stay out of it! I am going to try to post this recipe this week.
Scrambled Eggs, Toast and Orange Slices
Baked Oatmeal Cups
Egg Sandwiches, Fruit
Waffles, Fruit
Yogurt & Granola

Lunches

PB&J's, Fruit and Chips
Soft Turkey Tacos, Fruit
Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups, Fruit and Baby Carrots - For these I wrap turkey around a cheese stick, very easy and portable lunch.
Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa and Fruit
Homemade Mac & Cheese
Fruit & Veggie Platter (Carrots, Celery, Apple Slices, Grapes, Strawberries), Cheese and Crackers OR Pretzel Sticks - I use my veggie platter and fill each compartment with fruit, veggies, crackers, cheese and put peanut butter in the middle for dipping. This is probably my kids favorite lunch.
Hot Dogs, Beans and Fruit

Dinners

Lasagna Casserole & Salad
Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Pizza, Baby Carrots and Apple Slices
Chicken Quesadillas with Brown Rice and Beans
Crust-less Spinach Quiche, Salad
BBQ Chicken Legs, Sweet Potatoes, Squash
Tacos with all the fix-in's, and Brown Rice

Trail Guide to Learning Review

2013-05-14T18:54:00.001-04:00

We just recently finished up our Trail Guide to Learning - Paths to Exploration curriculum for the year. While I have mentioned it in several posts, I had not yet done a complete review of it.

The Trail Guide to Learning series was written by Debbie Strayer and Linda Fowler. Their goal was to create a curriculum that was completely based on the teaching philosophy of Ruth Beechick. By doing so they have made a wonderful Charlotte Mason friendly curriculum as well.

The Trail Guide to Learning series includes the following teaching philosophies:

develops thinking skills that lead to comprehension and writing ability
use the copying and dictation process to acquire language and writing mechanics
develops reading and writing skills through history, science, geography, and literature rather than through separate artificial activities
gradually connects grammar to reading and writing naturally
uses the tutorial approach, thus reducing excess paperwork
unifies and focuses the core concepts and knowledge—rather than scattering the focus through untargeted tasks, which often occurs in unit studies
builds skills naturally through reflective thinking and discussion

We received the Trail Guides to Learning - Paths of Exploration Complete Package. That included the two volume set, as well as the readers that accompany this level in the series. The books included in Paths of Exploration are:

• 2 Volume Set of Paths of Exploration Curriculum with Student Resources CD-ROM

• Meet Christopher Columbus

• Christopher Columbus

• Stories of the Pilgrims (2nd edition)

• Stories of the Pilgrims Answer Key

• Squanto, Friend to the Pilgrims

• A Lion to Guard Us

• Surviving Jamestown

• 5" RealEarth GlobeMap

• Daniel Boone Frontiersman

• Daniel Boone, Young Hunter and Tracker

• Munford Meets Lewis and Clark

• Seaman

• Trouble for Lucy

• Johnny Appleseed

• 1911 Boy Scout Handbook

• United States History Atlas

• Lewis and Clark Hands On

• Going West!

• Handbook of Nature Study

• North American Wildlife Guide

• Profiles from History

• Eat Your Way Around the World

• Classroom Atlas

• Large USA and World Outline Map

• Assessments CD-ROM

We have spent the past year studying the famous explorers and great pioneers of America. With Paths of Exploration we were able to go beyond the page or two that most history books use to explain these great people. We were able to in depth who they were, and what their goals were. Not only did we learn about their lives, but we learned great character lessons from them.

TGTL uses living books. Books that are nothing short of AMAZING! Not only did they teach us history, but they are enjoyable. Yes, enjoyable! We have not yet encountered a book in this program that we did not thoroughly enjoy. My girls always have great things to say about their readers, this is always a good sign. I personally have loved the biographies that we have read.

Next to the historical fiction and biography books we've read, digging into the North American Wildlife book has been a favorite for everyone! We have learned so much this year just from the nature studies. My kids have fallen in love with beavers and prairie dogs! When ever we are outside and there are fallen trees, Little Bits swears knows there are beavers close by. I tell him he has Beaver Fever!

TGTL also incorporates hands on activities. The activities through out the curriculum have been a wonderful addition to our year. We have especially enjoyed the cooking and science diagrams. The animal ID sheets were also a huge hit with my kids. Learning Morse code was also pretty popular.

I think that the Trail Guide to Learning Series is a fabulous and engaging way to study American history! Home schooling with TGTL is something we look forward to. I am sorry we didn't find it sooner.

The Trail Guide to Learning Series is a complete 3 year study of American History, which is broken down into 3 paths. Each path is a full year course that consists of 6, six week unit studies:

Paths of Exploration

Columbus (includes people such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Gutenberg)
Jamestown (includes people such as John Smith, Pocahontas, and Leonardo da Vinci)
Pilgrims (includes people such as William Bradford, Squanto, and Galileo)
Daniel Boone (includes such people as James Cook, Benjamin Franklin, and Handel)
Lewis & Clark (includes such people as Sacagawea, Thomas Jefferson, and Mozart)
Trails West (includes people such as Johnny Appleseed, Zebulon Pike, and Jesse Applegate)

Paths of Settlement

Growing Pains (includes people such as Samuel Adams, John Audubon and Paul Revere)
Freedom Decided (includes people such as George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin)
Nation Building (includes people such as Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and Francis Scott Key)
House Divided (includes people such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Clara Barton)
Unity Restored (Includes people such as Samuel Francis Smith, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and cowboys of the American West)
Sea to Shining Sea (includes people such as Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and Booker T. Washington)

Paths of Progress

Great Leaps
Making Connections
Perseverance Pays Off
Cultivating Greatness
Success Takes Flight
Reach for the Stars

This series in geared toward students in 4-7th grade, but they are easily adaptable for younger and older students. My 1st grade followed this program just fine, with help of course, and he loved it! My little 4 year old even did some of the activities and was in on most of the reading. I just want to encourage you in the fact that this program very flexible and great for multilevel teaching.

For the older crowd, there is a middle school supplement, which we loosely followed for my 7th grader.

Final Thoughts & Favorite Things:

Mom- I loved the open and go feel of this curriculum, all of the hard stuff was done for me. I liked being able to print out the student sheets as we needed them.

I loved that TGTL is not a spoon fed curriculum. My kids were encouraged to think for themselves, and not just regurgitate facts. Loved the discussions!

Teaching from this series, as well as learning myself, was just awesome! Just thinking over the past year with school, it was a huge blessing to use this curriculum.

Lil' Chef - "The books were the best part! Pocahontas and the Captain's Dog were my favorites."

(These were her independent readers from the middle school supplement)

Computer Girl - "I really liked learning about Daniel Boone and Lewis & Clark. I liked learning about what they did, where they went and who they met. You know, their life. Oh, and I love Munford!!"

Alpha Boy - "The Pilgrims were my favorite, no Jamestown, no Daniel Boone. Ok, I just liked it all!"

The Trail Guide to Learning Series is available through Geography Matters. There are several packages available for purchase, including just the teaching guides, the core materials, the resources and complete package. I feel like they have several selections available for different budgets.

There are several bloggers out there that use the Trail Guide to Learning series, you can check them out on my TGTL Blog Roll. Kris over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Sam at Sam's Noggin have also reviewed TGTL. Like me, they both love it!

We received this product at no cost to us in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Papa's Pearls: A Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren

2013-05-13T11:18:00.003-04:00

With age and experience, wisdom usually follows. Wisdom is exactly what Carol Joseph Flynn gained through the ups and downs of his life. Living through the Great Depression, and being a kid going down the wrong path, he turned life lessons into great pearls of wisdom.

Diane Flynn Keith, his oldest daughter, wrote about these pearls of wisdom in her book, Papa's Pearls: A Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren.

I knew when I saw this book it would be a little gem. This book is full of humor, love and of course, wisdom. The way that Diane writes of her dad shows the immense love that she has for him, and that he had for their family.

Papa's Pearls takes us through many of the lessons Papa learned in his life. I just love the sayings that he came up with to remember them! Here are some of my favorites:

You don't kick someone when their down, you give me a hand up.

Let it go, like water off a duck's back.

Be grateful every day.

Life is too short. Take a little time off.

Keep a foxy pocket.

Doodle-lee Do It!

Papa took life experiences, like growing up in the depression and living with out necessitates and turned them into little rules for himself. As he grew up and earned money he saved and invested it. He taught his children and grandchildren to do the same. He encouraged them to save half of any money they were given or earned. He even doubled any money they put in their savings account as an added incentive. He taught his kids and grand kids to always "keep a foxy pocket," so they would never be without a little emergency cash.

Diane, thanks so much for sharing your daddy with us. I was glad to hear he got his whistle back!

Papa's Pearls is available for $21.95. It would be a great summer read!

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey App

2013-05-07T16:40:00.001-04:00

Over the years I have heard great things about the McGuffey readers series. Many moms have successfully used this set to teach their little ones to read. It wasn't until recently that I got to check them out for myself.

LiteracySoft has taken a tried and true McGuffey reader, and turned it into an interactive phonics and reading app. The Phonics and Reading with McGuffey App is a complete beginner level phonics and reading program.

I loved this quote from LiteracySoft's website....

“The generations which made America rich and great all grew up reading the McGuffey's Readers.”

The goal of the program is to bring the user to a 1st grade reading level. The App consists of 53 Lessons that are based off of the McGuffey Eclectic Primer, which has been successfully used for over a century.

Each lesson has several different activities to help students learn, as well as retain letter sounds and words. There is plenty of reading and spelling practice in the program, but with enough variety to keep it fun and exciting. The program is flexible, allowing students to work at their own pace, and even repeat lessons when necessary.

According to LiteracySoft's Website, this app includes:

• All 53 McGuffey Primer lessons

• All 44 letter sounds of English and their graphemes

• 60+ letter sound animations

• 400+ practice word vocabulary

• 9000+ nonsense word audio dictionary

Here are a few pictures of this app is action....

By dragging the letters into the Phonics Blender, students practice spelling words.

Illustrations through out the lessons add interest to the stories.

Here you can see the different activities in the lessons....

This activity was probably our favorite! You are asked to build (or load) a word, after you have spelled the word correctly the truck drives off. Pretty cute!

Little Bits, my Pre-K'er, was my guinea pig for this review. He seemed to do pretty well with it. I think t hat for him, the progession of learning the letters and words was just right. I do feel that this is something that I need to be near by to keep a watch on what he is getting and not getting. This way I know what he needs to repeat.

For the most part, I was pretty impressed. I do wish that the app keep track of what they have mastered and what they haven't. We plan to continue to use this as a supplemental activity.

You can purchase the Phonics and Reading with McGuffey app for $19.99 It is currently available for your PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone. We use ours on the iPad.

LiteracySoft also offers a Lite version of this app. They give you the first 10 lessons to try for FREE!

Check out what other Schoolhouse Review Crew members are saying about this app!

Menu Plan 5/6/13 - A few new recipes

2013-05-06T23:23:00.001-04:00

I don't know about you all but I have NOT felt like cooking lately. Every once in a while the daily grind of breakfast, lunch and dinner gets tiring! What's a wife to one and mom to four to do? Well, for me, it means it is time for start to find some new or different recipes.

So that is just what I did! I pulled out a cookbook that I haven't used in a long time, Supper's on the Table, Come Home by Rachel Masters. This mama/cookbook author is a homeschool mom of 5, in other words we live in the same world, minus one child. It's actually a neat little cookbook, she has 13 weeks of recipes along with shopping lists. The recipes are of the simple, family fare variety, however, I found several new recipes and was reminded of some old ones.

Okay, enough yapping {smile}. Here's what I am serving up this week....

Breakfast

Cereal w/ Banana Slices (x2)
Waffles w/ Berries
Oatmeal (x2)
Eggs, Toast, Orange Slices
Egg Wraps

Lunch

PB&J's, Carrot Sticks and Chips
Turkey & Cheese Rolls Ups w/ Fruit
Ham, Cheese, Crackers and Grapes
Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa, Fruit
Hot Dogs, Fries, Apple Sauce
Egg Salad Sandwiches, Fruit and Chips

Dinner

Hot Dogs, Veggie Pasta Salad, Corn on the Cob
Homemade Hamburger Helper, Broccoli and Cauliflower
Upside Down Pizza, Salad
Honey Baked Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Mixed Veggies
Cavatini, Peas, Fresh Bread
Turkey Clubs, Potato Wedges, Cucumber & Tomato Salad
Broccoli & Cheese Soup w/ Panne Bread

The last 5 dinners are from the Supper's on the Table, Come Home cookbook. Do you have any go to cookbooks?

Weekly Wrap Up! {The week we had nothing to do)

2013-05-03T23:31:00.000-04:00

I tell ya, I just can't seem to keep up with this little blog lately. Life seems to be pretty busy lately. We have been keeping busy with school, taking weekly field trips and decluttering a bit.

We completed Trail Guide to Learning Paths of Exploration a few weeks ago, and have moved on to KONOS for now. TGTL is a wonderful program, and I hope to continue with it again next year.

We just finished a unit on lighthouses and we are starting to study horses now. I think that the flexibility, living books and hands on activities are a better fit for our crew at this point. I will keep you all posted as we go along.

We have also been taking field trips on Fridays with a few other families. That has been lots of fun! So far we have done a train museum, nature center, the National History Museum and today we did the zoo. It has been so nice to get out and explore!

As I mentioned, I have been declutting a bit. It all started one lovely day when I went to the garage to pull out the spring/summer clothes for the kids. I had been saving baby clothes and baby "stuff," but at this point I am feeling led to get rid of them. So I am Ebaying some things and yardsaling others, my thoughts were that the funds from selling this stuff would go nicely towards next years school books. It will also just be nice to get rid of extra stuff.

This past week we actually took our week off. You know 6 weeks on and 1 week off with school. I was kind of torn about taking the week off because other than the zoo we weren't really doing anything. BUT the down time gave me the extra time to work on the sorting through stuff and listing them online. For the kids, it gave them time to play and relax. It was perfect! There were forts, train tracks through the WHOLE playroom, READING, an impromptu trip to the park and LOTS of outside play.

Here are a few pictures from our zoo trip today....

Timeline Builder

2013-04-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

History is one of my favorite subjects to learn, ahem, I mean teach. As a high school student history was the one class that I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, it wasn't until I started homeschooling that history really came alive and clicked for me. Prior to homeschooling, what I knew about history seemed fragmented and sloppy.

One thing that I think has really helped the kids and I to put things in perpective is having a timeline. It allows one to stand back and look at the big picture. Enter, Timeline Builder from Knowledge Quest, a user friendly App for history lovers of all ages!

Things we really liked about the Timeline Builder:

We do already have a LARGE timeline on the wall in our school room, but I love that this one can be seated right next to me wherever I am. Like when the kids and I are snuggled on the couch reading a good historical fiction and we want to add some thing we learned to the timeline or look something up.

Timeline Builder is very user friendly, for moms and kids! This App has instructions that explain how to get the most out of your timeline. I felt that the timelines were easy to create, change and add to.

When adding a new timeline event or figure you can connect to Wikipedia to add facts and pictures. I must say this is quite an awesome feature!

I like that you can create several different timelines. You could have one for American history, Ancient history, your state's history, composers, scientists or even your family tree! Endless possibilities! The kids can also personalize their timeline a bit by choosing their own background.

Fun! The Timeline Builder is actually really fun to work with. The kids and I both enjoy using it. We like that you can be creative and design your own timelines. Kids love to move the pictures around to arrange their timelines.

What I felt could be improved:

While this is not a huge deal, I would like to be able to create a timeline from creation to present that we could scroll through. This doesn't seem to be possible due to the fact that each timeline is a as big as one iPad page. Not a deal breaker by any means, just a feature I wish they had.

Here is a great video of the Timeline Builder in action....

The Timeline Builder is one of our favorite products that we have reviewed. We will continue to use it for years to come!

You can purchase your own Timeline Builder through the App store. Normally it is $6.99, but it is currently on sale for $4.99.

You can see what others on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have to say about the Timeline Builder over at the SRC site.

Tasty Tuesday: Homemade Rotisserie Style Chicken

2013-04-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

This little baby is one of my crew's favorites! We love store made rotisserie chickens, but unless you can catch a good sale they can be a bit pricey. And we need to buy two of them to really have enough for our family. When I came across this rotisserie chicken recipe that I could make at home I was VERY excited.

When I make this I double the seasonings and cram two fryers into my large oval crock pot. I have also made this with chicken legs, which is also great!

This recipe is so easy, tastes great and is perfect for a busy day!

Here's what you need:

1 small chicken (I usually get a 4-6 pounder)

3 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp of Italian seasoning -OR- 21 season salute from Trader Joe's

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp pepper

4 whole garlic cloves

1 yellow onion, quartered

Directions:

Rinse and dry your chicken. Place in the crock pot.

In a sperate bowl, mix together all of the dry seasonings. Rub the dry mix on the inside and outside of your chicken.

Place the garlic and onion inside the chicken. Put the chicken breast side down in your crock pot. DO NOT add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8 hours.

I know that your first thought will probably be that you need to add liquid. I promise you do not need to do this. The chicken has enough juice and will not be dry, trust me!

Menu Plan Monday - Something Old, Something New!

2013-04-15T23:29:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted our menus in a while, so I thought I'd share this weeks plan with you all. We have a busy, busy week so simple is the name of the game!

I usually keep our breakfast and lunch ideas about the same, adding in leftovers and something new occasionally. I am keeping a simple menu of easy family favorites this week, along with two new crock pot recipes.

Breakfasts

Cereal w/ Banana Slices
Waffles, Pancakes or French Toast w/ Berries
Oatmeal
Baked Oatmeal
Eggs w/ Toast or Egg Wraps
Yogurt, Fruit and Granola

Lunches

PB&J's - one would think that kids would get tired of these, but they are one of my little peeps favorites!
Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups (no bread), Baby Carrots, Apple Slices
Cheese Quesadilla w/ Salsa and Baby Carrots
Hot Ham & Cheese Sammies, Fruit and Chips
Hot Dogs, Fries or Tater Tots and Apple Sauce
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Whatever-is-Left-in-the-Fridge Wraps
Leftovers

Dinners

Hot Dogs, Pasta Salad, Fruit
Breakfast Night - Crock Pot Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
Taco Topped Potatoes, Cantaloupe
Honey Mustard Chicken w/ Bacon - this time in the crockpot w/ Rice and Carrots
Sliders, Potato Wedges and Veggie Medley
BBQ Pork Chops, Mac & Cheese and Mixed Veggies
Crock Pot Chili Mac & Cheese, Green Beans, Salad

Weekly Wrap Up: 85 Books and a Train Museum

2013-04-05T17:36:00.001-04:00

This week seems like it has flown by. I can't believe it is already Friday.

Believe it or not, our week started out with a field trip! I have never thought I would be a field trip on Monday kinda mom, but opportunity happened and we took it. I had heard that I local train museum was inviting homeschoolers out for a visit. We had never been before so we decided to check it out. It was actually right in the town we live in, so we set out to learn about trains, as well as some local history.

The gals that offered the tours had a wealth of local knowledge. One of them was a sweet elderly lady in her nineties! She showed the children old quill pens, hankies and told them of her years as a young lady. She even shared with us how she had worked at a bank that used to be next door, and about the day they were robbed by the Tri-State Gang!

The kids got to pretend like they were purchasing train tickets for a trip, play in a real caboose and climb up and explore in the watch tower. To top it off, there was a reporter for a local paper there that took some pictures of us and interviewed the older kids. Our field trip actually made the paper, that was a first!

After the train museum, we went to a local park to play, have lunch and go on what ended up being a nature walk of sorts. It was a great way to start the week!

We have continued in our Lewis and Clark studies and followed along with Trail Guide to Learning. This week we learned about beaver, prairie dogs and grizzly bears. We are continuing to read Seaman as a family read aloud. The girls are working their way through Munford and The Captains Dog, both girls love their readers!

Everyone has been progressing with their independent studies (meaning the things they do separate on our group studies). The Lil' Chef has been struggling a bit with the actions in Teaching Textbooks 7, so we are laying that down fora bit to take time to work through the Key to Fractions books. These little books were recommended to me from a veteran homeschool mama. I am hoping they will be as helpful to us as they were to them.

Computer Girl is working her way through the Life of Fred elementary series, she is doing this along with Teaching Textbook 4. We are also ting to get all of those multiplication facts down. We have done the flash card route and now we are doing multiplication copy work. I did this with the Lil' Chef years ago, little did I know we were doing copy work. {smile}

Alpha Boy is plugging along with math and phonics. He would much rather be outside than learning math and how to read, but like I tell him it's life and he needs these things to be a productive adult. I don't think he cares much about that right now, especially when there is a backyard fort calling his name!

Little Bits and I have had a great time working through Letters, Numbers and Shapes from A Journey Through Learning. I think lapbooks are his things, for sure!

We have been reading a bunch this week, which is one of my favorite things to do with the kids! We have done lots of I Spy-ing, these are the boys go to books for bedtime. We have also been enjoying the books in the Click, Clack, Moo series by author Doreen Cronin. Trains are also a. Reading topic this week.

During our library trip this week we came home with 85 books! Yes, eighty-five!!! I say it was all the kids fault, they blame it on me. They are probably right, it was mostly me {smile}. We got all kinds of books more I Spy books, chapter books for the girls, train books, Curious George books, farm books and cook books for mama. We also grabbed more books from the Click Clack Moo series. And some to study more on beavers, prairie dogs and grizzlies. E poor lady at the check out counter looks at me and says "do you homeschool?" After I busted up laughing, I said, "how could you tell?"

The kids have also been able to spend some time outside this week, thanks to the pretty great weather we have been having. They have been having a good ol' time!

I hope you all had a great week too!

A Journey Through Learning {Review}

2013-04-04T23:25:00.000-04:00

As a home school mom I have learned that learning doesn't have to be boring. I love finding new ways to make learning interesting, as well as enjoyable! There are several ways to do this, two of my favorites things to do are add lapbooks and unit studies.

Recently, we were given four downloadable products from A Journey Through Learning for review. Here's the line up of what we received:

Letters, Numbers and Shapes Lapbook (ages 3-5)

The Earth Lapbook (grades 1-4)

Knights and Castles Lapbook and Learning Guide (grades 2-7)

Astronomy and Space Unit Study (grades 2-7)

After looking them over, I decided to do Letters, Numbers, and Shapes with Little Bits, my four year old. Can I just tell you I can hardly think of a time that I have seen a kid so excited to do school! Literally, every single morning my little guy would faithfully bring me his workbox of supplies so we work on his lapbook.

Through the Letters, Numbers, and Shapes lapbook we got to learn and trace each letter, as well as search magazines for pictures to go with each letter. We practiced counting and tracing numbers. There was even a memory game that we got to make and play, then store in the lapbook. We went over shapes and what shapes different objects are. We also got in a pretty good amount of practice with our cutting skills.

Here are some of the letters we traced and cut out pictures for. You can also see the pictures used to describe the different shapes.

More letters! There is a counting booklet where we were able to trace numbers and number words in. You can also see the cards to a matching game we got to play.

I was pretty impressed that there were even games, activities, poems and book suggestions included!

Little Bits really enjoyed all the cutting and gluing that he got to do. He especially liked the ice cream cone, bubble gum machine and fire truck for the shapes portion of the lapbook. This lapbook has become his favorite things to! I think that the variety of letters, numbers, shapes and games really helped to hold his interest.

I thought that the Letters, Numbers and Shapes lapbook, as well as the other lapbooks, were very well laid out and had a good number of components with each of them. There is enough content for a child to learn, yet not so much that they get overwhelmed and bored.

Even if you have never done a lapbook before I recommend giving it a try. They are lots of fun and the kids love to show them off and retell (narrate) what they have learned. When I first saw them I was a little intimidated but really it is just like scrapbooking. Here is a quick video on what lapbooks are and how to do them.

See, it's easy!

I would most definitely recommend the lapbooks from A Journey Through Learning! They offer tons of different lapbooks on all kinds of different topics at affordable prices. All of the lapbooks that we received are available for instant download for $13.00. There are several lapbooks that are even available for just $1.00!

Check out what other TOS Crew members have to say about A Journey Through Learning's lapbooks and unit studies!

Quick and Easy Taco Salad

2013-03-20T00:25:00.004-04:00

We had this last night for dinner, it was amazingly simple and delicious! I think it took about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Quick and Easy Taco Salad

Serves about 8-10

2 lbs. of ground beef

2 cans of pinto beans, drained

1 can of diced green chilies

2 small OR 1 large can of diced tomatoes, with juice

1 bag of frozen corn

2 cans of tomato sauce

1 cup of water

1 Tbsp of cumin (I love this stuff so I use a lot more than a Tbsp)

salt and pepper to taste

romaine lettuce

toppings of choice - tortilla chips, shredded cheese, fresh tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream

1. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet or pot, then drain.

2. Return meat to the pot. Add beans, chilies, diced tomatoes, corn, tomato sauce, water and spices.

3. Mix and cook on low-medium for about 15-20 minutes.

4. Serve over top of shredded lettuce. Top with toppings of choice.

Everyone loved this! We will definitely be eating this again.

I really liked this one because it was good and easy enough to make at the end of a long day. I think you could even make this earlier in the day and crock pot it on warm or low until dinner time.

This would be a great recipe to serve when having company!

Essentials in Writing

2013-03-18T23:26:00.000-04:00

We were given the chance to review a wonderful language arts program recently, Essentials in Writing. EIW offers curriculum for grades 1-12. In grades 1-6 the program focuses primarily on grammar skills and then starts to shift into writing for 7-8 grades, while still weaving in grammar lessons. For 9-12 grades, students work on sentence structure, paragraphs, essays and research papers, again with grammar woven into the lessons.

We were given the 7th grade level for review, which was perfect for the Lil' Chef.

The way that EIW is laid out is that you first look over your assignment (which can be printed out from a PDF. file or done in a workbook), then the student WATCHES the lesson via DVD. After gaining an understanding of the new concept, the student then completes their assignment or assignments that correspond with the lesson.

We like that Essentials in Writing is a DVD based curriculum. It is a blessing to have an experienced, former middle school English teacher teaching the lessons, and me overseeing and helping when needed. The videos lessons are laid out well and easily understood. The 7th grade level that we reviewed covers the following (from EIW's website):

Review sentences types and sentence structure (compound sentences) and address sentence errors (fragment and run on), dependent and independent clause

Parts of a personal letter & Writing a personal letter

Parts of a paragraph & Writing a paragraph

Other forms of written communication: lists/thank you note/invitation/diary entries

How to choose an appropriate writing form.

Writing a business letter (includes format and composition)
The writing process (prewrite, draft, revise, edit/publish)

Use the writing process to compose narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive writing in formal paragraphs and informal writing

Essays; compare and contrast essay, expository essay

Effective writing skills: strong details, transitions, beginning/middle/end concept, logical sequence of events, variety of sentence structure, and use of figurative language including simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole; vivid language

Revision: word choice (use of a thesaurus), using strong details, a variety of sentence structure in writing, & figurative language when appropriate, adding dialogue when appropriate

Research Project - a complete research project including planning, gathering information, drafting, revising, and publishing.

Supplemented with:

Capitalization rules: beginning of sentences, names, city/state, holidays/countries, titles

Punctuation rules: period, question mark, & exclamation point, and comma usage; titles

Grammar: subject/predicate (both complete and simple, and compound subjects/predicates), nouns, proper nouns, action verbs, adjectives, pronouns, linking verbs, possessive nouns, subject/verb agreement, adverbs, propositional phrases, appositives, proper adjectives

Spelling rules for plural nouns

Mechanics of dialogue and purposeful dialogue

The Lil' Chef has a pretty good foundation in grammar, which is recommended before starting this level (the 6th grade level offers a pretty intense grammar course, from what I understand), at this point we really need to focus on her writing. Essentials in Writing 7 pretty much jumps into writing, but as I mentioned, it also weaves grammar into the lessons. With EIW, grammar rules are reviewed and not forgotten.

So far, the Lil' Chef has done some grammar review, worked on paragraphs and now we are on to essays. The video lessons have been helpful for her in understanding new concepts and improving on her writing skills. I have noticed that EIW has also increased her confidence level with her writing. At this point she is plugging along in the program and doing great!

Essentials in Writing is a great program that is also very budget friendly! Each Essentials in Writing level is only $40! I was pretty amazed at the price to be honest. For $40 you receive the writing lessons via DVD, as well as the PDF files that can be used with multiple children. If you prefer a workbook over printing, they offer a student workbook for an additional $20. A bargain either way!

Check out what other TOS Crew members have to say about the different grade levels from Essentials in Writing.

Menu Plan Monday 3/18/13

2013-03-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

I think we are finally getting back on track. The kids are better, other than a few runny noses, thank you Lord! Life goes on and so do the hungry bellies at the LSG House. Here is what we have planned for this week.

Breakfasts

Cereal & Banana Slices (2)

Waffles & Fruit

Oatmeal (2)

Egg Wraps

Scrambled Eggs, Toast and Orange Slices

Lunches

PB&J's, Chips & Fruit - some how my kids never tire of PB&J's. They actually prefer them over most things.

Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups, Baby Carrots & Apple Slices

Cheese Quessadillas, Salsa & Pears

Hot Dogs, Smiley Fries & Fruit

Hot Ham & Cheese, Celery Sticks & Fruit

Egg Salad Mini Pitas, Pretzels & Fruit

Dinners

Scrambled Eggs, Pancakes, Bacon & Oranges

Spaghetti & Fresh Bread

Simple Chicken Enchiladas, Green Beans

Sliders, Tater Tots & Broccoli - my family asks for this e.v.e.r.y. single week. Seriously!

Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup - The Hubs requested this one. Best soup EVER!

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes - if you have not made these easy, kid friendly little guys - GET ON IT!

BLT's & Tomato Soup - not sure what took me so long to pair these two goodies together.

Trying anything new this week?

TouchMath - A Multisensory Approach to Math

2013-03-17T17:18:00.003-04:00

For the last several weeks Little Bits has been "doing school," just like his brother and sisters. He was so excited to start his new math program, TouchMath Kindergarten.

TouchMath is a multisenory math program developed by an elementary school teacher that saw a need to help children connect abstract and concrete ideas. She met this need by creating numbers that have counting points or "TouchPoints" on them, one for each count to get to the number the student is working with. Counting the "TouchPoints" in the TouchMath program is really the key to the program, and what sets this program apart from the rest.

The TouchMath program consists of four units, each one includes 90 student activity sheets, that are to be spread out through the school year. As you can see, TouchMath covers a wide range of topics:

While the activity sheets are heart of the curriculum, there are many other components that can be added to enhance your child's learning experience. We were given the four units of activity sheets, TouchShapes, Kindergarten Software and the 3-D Numerals.

This is the first official math curriculum that Little Bits has used so far. While he is not quite in kindergarten yet, I felt this level was a better fit for him than the preschool level. He seems to be doing quite well with it. He is not writing on his own yet, but he is still learning the concepts from using the 3-D numerals, TouchShapes and the computer program. He really LOVES the Kindergarten Software program!

At first, using the 3-D Numerals and counting the TouchMath way was a little foreign to my little guy. I think he had a hard time understanding why he had to count some of the dots on the 3-D numerals twice. After a little practice he got it, and now enjoys using them.

We like TouchMath and plan to continue using it for his kindergarten year. I think it is a very thorough program. TouchMath is laid out very well for the homeschool mom, I felt that it was simple for me to understand and teach. I liked that it was very hands on for my busy little boy. One major plus, Little Bits really enjoys it!

TouchMath has programs for grades Pre-K through 2nd grade:

Each of the TouchMath units are available for $59.95. You can also purchase all 4 units for a discounted price of $199.95

There are additional components to the TouchMath program available:

We found the Tutor Software, TouchShapes and 3-D Numerals to be extremely helpful pieces of the program!

Please take a peek at what other TOS Crew members have to say about TouchMath!

A little bitty update...

2013-03-06T16:22:00.002-05:00

Well it has been a little while since I have posted. Life has been a bit busy. I was dealing with vertigo for a little over a week, my girls were sick and Alpha Boy was in a wedding (he was the cutest little ring bearer I have ever seen BTW). I am thankful that we are better and that we are on break this week!

We finished our Daniel Boone unit from Trail Guide to Learning last week. So, following the 6 weeks on and 1 week off schedule that we are trying this year, we are mostly taking it easy and just doing things around the house. We had a field trip scheduled for today, but rescheduled because of all the snow we were supposed to get. The kids have been busy playing with friends from the neighborhood, catching up on chores and playing games like Clue and Pick & Draw.

This is my creation from one of our games of Pick & Draw. It's the new me : )

This is the one Computer Girl made. Hehe! As you can see we had fun!

I have come to really love this 6 on and 1 off schedule. It gives my a few days to catch up on stuff that doesn't always get done when we are schooling, lesson plan and relax a bit. Oh, and catch up on NCIS!

Name Above all Names

2013-02-24T01:30:00.000-05:00

by Pat Sczebel, Joel Sczebel

From the brightness of His glory
Jesus, the Son of God, descends
Takes on the nature of a servant
Jesus, obedient to death
The Father willed to crush Him
As a sacrifice for sin
He satisfied God’s justice
And in victory rose again

CHORUS
You are highly exalted
Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
You are reigning in glory
Jesus, You’re the King
Over everything
Exalted to the highest place
Given the Name above all other names

The tomb is empty Christ has risen
Jesus, the Lamb once crucified
The angels never cease to worship
Jesus, in heaven glorified
To Him belongs the power
The wisdom, might, and strength
All glory and dominion
To the Lord of every age

Our knees will bow
Our tongues proclaim
That You are Lord of all

Tasty Tuesday: Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

2013-02-19T16:15:00.003-05:00

Usually the chicken soups I make are chicken noodle or chicken tortilla, but this time I wanted to do something different. As I was meal planning last week {whoops I think I forgot to post that one} I found a new recipe to try, Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Doesn't that just sound delicious!

Let me start off by saying that if you are on a diet spare your self, run fast and run from away from this one! Move on from this post immediately, unless you are willing to modify the recipe {smile}.

This is one of the most delicious soups I have ever had! It is very rich and creamy, not really good for the waist line, but great for a once in a while meal. It is a real crowd pleaser!

This time I followed the directions pretty closely, but I think next time I am just going to use plain old milk and not heavy cream.

Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Serves 8

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 cooked, boneless chicken breast

halves, shredded

1 package quick cooking long

grain and wild rice with seasoning packet

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

4 carrots, chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cups heavy cream (or milk)

Directions

1.	In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.
2.	In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute carrots, celery and onion. Next, stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream or milk, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
3.	Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. ENJOY!

Flowering Baby Review

2013-02-19T15:34:00.000-05:00

My youngest child is 4 years old. Many times I have wonderful intentions of doing this and doing that with him. Sadly, many times these ideas continue tobe just ideas. We read together and do a few letter crafts here and there, but for the most part that is about it.

When we got the opportunity to review a fun and interactive preschool curriculum called Flowering Baby I was pretty excited. After I looking over the sample activities, I knew that they would be a good fit for Little Bits, and simple enough for me to implement. You may also have read that I am contemplating/ taking classes to open a home daycare. I also thought that Flowering Baby would be a great fit for a home daycare curriculum.

Flowering Baby is a simple, yet effective, curriculum that helps children to develop cognitive, language, gross and fine motor skills, emotional, social skills and independence.

We were given Volume 4: Three to Four Years & Volume 5: Four to Five Years in CD form to review. While we used Volume 5: Four to Five, I did look over Volume 4: Three to Four Years. I felt that they were similar in nature, just a younger level.

The Flowering Baby curriculum is laid out by calendar month, and includes 10 -15 days of activities, each taking about 30-45 minutes per day. During the month of January you learn about the color blue, ears, healthy foods, and cold days, while reading books like Blueberries for Sal, Owl Moon and The Berenstain Bears: Too Much Junk Food.

The suggested activities focused on the areas of language, math, music, science and foreign language. More specifically you do things like:

practice writing and counting numbers

focus on a new letter each day by practicing to write that letter and looking for things that start with that letter

when learning about shapes you do activites like reading a book about shapes and then making some of your own from paper

reading and then having children retell (narrate) back to you what they just heard

learn about holidays and make various crafts to go along with that particular holiday

learn about body parts, colors, weather, firestations, magnets, etc..

learn Spanish words for colors, shapes, numbers, etc..

The second part of the curriculum is the theme or mini-unit study part. Each month gives 2-3 suggested themes. For instance, the themes that they suggest for January are Aquarium, Arctic Life & Dinosaurs. The activities in this section include books, crafts, field trips and fun ideas to cement what you are currently learning from the reading.

What I liked about Flowering Baby:

Just as I suspected! It is fun, creative and SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE! This curriculum allows me to focus my time on my son and teaching him, not on planning. The curriculum guide is easy to understand and very detailed, giving you a list of supplies needed, suggested books to read and specific activities to do with your child.

I liked the different themes, I think they offer the perfect amount of activities. They study a topic long enough to learn about it, but then they get to move on to something new and exciting the following week. I feel that the activities included are enjoyable, engaging and challenging for my little guy.

If you know me, then you know I have a love for books. I think Flowering Baby did a superb job with their literature selections! And I LOVE that she has these little guys narrating back! Never had I thought to do that with my little one.

I also did not feel bogged down by this curriculum, you type A mommys now what I mean! Things were simple enough to accomplish in a short period of time, it was just enough. It was freeing to me that there where not scheduled activites to do every s.i.n.g.l.e day, especially at this age.

What I would change:

As far as the curriculum itself, I think they did a fine job and I really would not change anything. They have letters and number concepts down. And they include LOTS of great books and activities!

Purchasing Info:

Flowering Baby is currently available in CD and PDF form, which is great for keeping costs down. I actually received the CD for this review. They are currently working on a printed option.

The CD and PDF files are available for each age level. Birth to One, One to Two, and Two to Three are $30 and Three to Four and Four to Five cost $38 each. You may also purchase all five year plans for $132. This is a very reasonable price for all that is included. The Flowering Baby curriculum is available for ages:

Would I recommend this?

I would indeed! If you are interested, but kind of on the fence, try out a months worth Flowering Baby for FREEEE! You can do this by clicking on one of the links above and scrolling to the bottom.

Birth to One
One to Two
Two to Three
Three to Four
Four to Five

When you order PLEASE take advantage of a 10% discount by using the CODE: Blog10
(good only at www.floweringbaby.com)

Please check out what other TOS Crew members have to say about Flowering Baby!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Behold Our God

2013-02-17T02:00:00.000-05:00

by Meghan Baird, Jonathan Baird, Stephen Altrogge, Ryan Baird

Who has held the oceans in His hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice

CHORUS
Behold our God seated on His throne
Come let us adore Him
Behold our King nothing can compare
Come let us adore Him!

Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His Words?
Who can teach the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?

Who has felt the nails upon His hands
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man?
God eternal humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior risen now to reign!

Men: You will reign forever!
Women: Let Your glory fill the earth

Tasty Tuesday - Slow Cooker Taco Soup

2013-02-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

We had this waiting in our crock pot when we got home from church on Sunday afternoon. Everyone loves it, the girls and their friend all went back for seconds.

I assembled it the night before, put it in my crock pot dish. and then into the refrigerator. I stuck it in the crock pot on low before we left for church. It was ready and waiting when we got home.

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 can of black beans

1 can of light kidney beans, drained

1 can of dark kidney beans, drained

1 small bag of frozen corn

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 large can of diced tomatoes

2-3 bell peppers - you can just use what you have on hand. I used a bag of frozen mixed peppers (red, green, yellow) that I had in the freezer.

2 cups of water

1 cup of salsa

1 packet of taco seasoning

Optional

Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Sour Cream

Tortilla Chips

Directions

Brown ground beef and chopped onion, then drain. Add to crock pot. Add all beans, corn, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, peppers water, salsa and taco seasoning. Either place in the refrigerator to cook tomorrow or set crock pot to cook on LOW for about 4-6 hours

Before serving top with shredded cheese and sour cheese. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

What is your favorite soup?

12 Easy Valentine Crafts & Snacks for Kids

2013-02-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

This heart wreath is cute and simple, simple! You could use construction paper or scrapbook paper, the latter being the cutest of course!! We are making these for our front windows.

My girls would love to wake up with these lollipop cuties on their dressers on Valentines Day! What a sweet idea (pun intended)!

Popcorn Valentine Hearts! If you stuck these in a little cello baggie with a red ribbon they would make adorable valentines for kids to give their friends! These are definitely on our list for next week.

The Lil' Chef is going to make these butterfly lollipops with the little kids that she helps with during my Bible study. They are 2 year olds, so she is going to have them already cut out for the kids to decorate.

Heart Shaped Valentine cupcakes! Need I say more {smile}.

My little men would LOVE these airplane candies!

Its a bird, its a plane, no its Valentine Man! How stinkin' cute is this!!

I think these love bugs are my favorite!

For the kid that loves dot painters! How creative!

These are really cool! I think I am going to have the kids make these secret message valentines for each other, but the recipient will have to paint their hearts to reveal their message!

I think we will be having these heart hot dogs for lunch on Valentines Day!

And these Red Velvet Valentine Whoppie Pies for dessert! The Lil' Chef got a whoopie pie maker for her birthday. I think will be a lot of fun to make and decorate.

Do you have any fun Valentine crafts and goodies planned?

Menu Plan 2/11/13 {w/ Recipe Links}

2013-02-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

Here is what we are cooking at the LSG house this week:

Breakfast

Yogurt & Fruit - I am making my own yogurt now and LOVING IT!
Cereal (granola), Banana
Eggs, Toast & Fruit
Waffles, Oranges
Oatmeal
Egg Wraps
Pancakes, Bacon & Fruit

Lunches

Turkey & Cheese Wraps, Carrots & Apples
PB&J's, Chips and Pears
Hot Dogs, Tots & Melon
Mac & Cheese
Cheese Quesidillas, Celery Sticks
Hot Ham & Cheese, Carrots, Fruit
Left over soup!

Dinners

Taco Soup
Homemade Hamburger Helper
Quiche - I am goign to make two of them. One will be this Country Quiche, which I make a few weeks ago and everyone loved it. The Hubs is a huge fan of spinach, it is actually his favorite veggie, so I am going to try a Crustless Spinach Quiche.
BBQ Pork, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Breakfast Night - Eggs, Bacon & Pancakes
BLT's w/ Tomato Soup
Cowboy BBQ Bake

I generally try to come up with my menu for the week on Thursday evenings, and then grocery shop on Friday morning. My menus tend to run from Friday to Thrusday, so by the time this gets posted I have already made several of my meals.

I wanted to share something that I have been doing for the past several weeks that has really been a blessing. On Saturday when I am making Saturdays dinner I go ahead and cook for Sunday as well. I cook all the meat at the same time, assemble both dinners at the same time AND clean up ONCE! Sunday dinners are usually a big pot of soup, spaghetti, chili or stew. Not only is it nice to not cook AT ALL on Sunday, but it is delightful to come home to a crockpot of hot soup. We eat it for lunch and then when the people get hungry in the evening I send them to the crockpot for seconds and maybe a PB&J.

This is a little different for me. I grew up with my mom and grandma always cooking on Sundays. Just about every Sunday we would have a big dinner together. While there are times that I really miss that, I have also come to love to rest and relax with my family on Sunday while not having to cook in the middle of it.

With all of that said, I am totally on board for cooking once and eating twice! I think I am even going to start incorporating that into my weekly cooking.

What are you cooking this week?