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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Lunch Bunch

In my not so humble opinion, there are many perks to homeschooling. Having to feed all these little people a million and one times a day is not one of them. Caleb would be happy eating a peanut butter sandwich every day of his life (and he does in fact eat one for breakfast most days), but some of us like a bit more variety. Anyway, here are some lunch ideas from the last week or so.

Chicken, bacon, ranch sandwiches on homemade bread, grapes, pretzels
Ham and cheese rollups with honey mustard for dipping, crackers, fruit (different for each kid because Alexa doesn't eat strawberries), carrots and ranch
Cheese quesadillas, salsa and sour cream (which Jordanna ate with her fingers), apple slices, corn

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

My New Student

Jordanna LOVES coloring lately, so I let her sit at Caleb's desk and color yesterday while I sat at my desk. Isn't she a cute new student?


Monday, March 28, 2011

Crazy Kids

Here are just a few of the crazy antics from the last few days. Caleb built this sword and shield with his blocks the other day. The shield has a handle and everything.
Jordanna (and Pooh bear) climbed into the block bucket...
on top of all the blocks. It doesn't look comfortable to me, but she stayed in there for awhile. Look at her cute new shoes as well.
And crazy parents, too. Dave and I went on a date last weekend, and after dinner, we went on a historic ghost tour. It was lots of fun!

Menu Plan Monday

Tonight - Balsamic chicken, roasted asparagus, sauteed red potatoes with garlic, homemade bread

Tuesday - Spinach calzones with marinara sauce, salad

Wednesday - Saucy pork chops, baked potatoes, green beans

Thursday - Quick chicken picatta, egg noodles, broccoli, garlic bread

Friday - Undecided, something quick and easy before movie and popcorn night

Saturday - Hot dogs over the bonfire (school event)

Sunday - Sandwiches for lunch, bringing hash brown casserole for church dinner

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Happy Birthday to Us

Last month, I bought myself this Vera Bradley tote for my birthday. I've been using at as a purse/diaper bag combo, and it has worked well so far.

So, this week, Dave bought himself this hammock for his birthday.

He plans to take it when he goes backpacking. In the meantime, it makes a great toy for the kids.

From My Kitchen: Mocha Cupcakes

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

An Interview with Alexa - #2

About a year ago, I posted an interview that I did with Alexa. She was much more cooperative today than last year and answered a lot more of the questions

What is your name? Alexa

How old are you?
three

When is your birthday?
I don’t memember, June 27, maybe

Who is your mommy?
Emily

What does Mommy do?
She cooks, and she help us. And they love us.

Who is your daddy?
David

What does Maddy do?
He help us. He love us.

Who is your brother?
Caleb

Who is your sister?
Jordanna

Who are your friends?
Jessica and and and Esther and Sophia. Garin and I think it is Rosie.

What is your favorite color?
Um, green

What is your favorite food to eat?
Uh, pizza

What is your favorite song?
I think it’s. I have to sing my song (begins to sing) Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah (quits singing). It’s that one.

What is your favorite movie?
Um, Tinkerbell

What is your favorite book?
Um, Tangled

What is your favorite animal?
Uh, it’s a sheep and a rabbit

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Uh, nilla

What are your favorite toys to play with?
I love my lion. My toy again is giraffe and um, I love. And one more food I love. For my sert, I love pie.

Where is your favorite place to eat? The pizza place

Who is your favorite person?
Um, Caleb

Who is your best friend?
Uh, Esther and Sophia

Where did your brother come from?
Uh, I don’t memembered.

What is your favorite thing to do?
Huh? (repeat question). I love Caleb and Jordanna. (repeat question again). I love doing a puzzle.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Um, firefighter

Where will you live when you grow up?
I don’t memember. Where I will live Mommy?

What do Mommy and Daddy do after you go to bed?
Uh, they always get dressed.

Where do we go to church?
I don’t memember.

Why do we go to church?
Because that’s our church

An Interview with Caleb - #2

About a year ago, I posted an interview that I did with Caleb. I enjoyed hearing his answers so much that I asked him the same questions again today. Here are his answers.

What is your name? Caleb

How old are you?
5

When is your birthday?
Uh, July 14th

Who is your mommy?
The same like Alexa

What does Mommy do?
She puts me in bed. She gives me kisses and hug (stop for a hug and kiss). She teaches me school.

Who is your daddy?
Um, the same like Alexa

What does Daddy do?
Uh, he goes to work in the morning, and he plays Wii games with me. And and and he takes me out for some games that I never played before.

Who is your brother?
I don’t have brother.

Who is your sister?
Alexa and Jordanna

Who are your friends?
Uh, Samuel. Just Samuel. I can’t think of any elses.

What is your favorite color?
The colors of the rainbow

What is your favorite food to eat?
Uh, chocolate

What is your favorite song?
Uh, Holy, Holy, Holy

What is your favorite movie?
Uh, Jake and the Neverland Pirates

What is your favorite book?
Elephant and Piggie books

What is your favorite animal?:
Uh, Elephant and Piggie. I mean dinosaur.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Uh, strawberry and chocolate

What are your favorite toys to play with?
Uh, building and my fire truck that can transform into a gun

Where is your favorite place to eat?
Chili’s. I can’t think. I don’t know any restaurants. So I just picked Chili’s.

Who is your favorite person?
What’s a person? (a human). A human is a boy. (a boy or a girl). Maybe Uncle Nick.

Who is your best friend?
Uh, we already did that. (I explained). My best friend is William and Mary Scott.

Where did your sister come from?
Hmm, I don’t know.

What is your favorite thing to do?
Uh, I love to help Daddy.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A basketball player (jumps around the room)

Where will you live when you grow up?
I don’t know. I think in the basketball game.

What do Mommy and Daddy do after you go to bed?
Oh, uh, Daddy is at work and sometimes on Tuesday, Mommy, I mean. (That’s what we do after you go to bed?) Tuesdays you do.

Where do we go to church?
Hmm, I can’t. I don’t know.

Why do we go to church?
To worship God

Monday, March 21, 2011

Menu Plan Monday



Tonight - Conflake baked chicken, wild rice, broccoli

Tuesday - BBQ sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, corn

Wednesday - Eggs, bacon, hash browns, fruit

Thursday - Homemade pizza, salad

Friday - Leftover for kids, out to eat for us

Saturday - Dinner at friends' house

Sunday - Molly's turn

Saturday, March 19, 2011

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Dave and the kids. Caleb was trying to get out of the picture.
Dave and the girls
Jordanna swinging at the park
The kids' favorite spinny thing
Sisters (No, I do not always dress them alike.)

Playing with a pine cone
Two pictures that Caleb took

Friday, March 18, 2011

Spring Cleaning

Alternate title: Why in the World Do We Have So Many Coats/Hats/Jackets/Gloves. It's Not Like We Live in the Arctic.

During:

After:

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I made green pancakes for breakfast this morning in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I just used green sugar sprinkles in place of the sugar that the recipe called for. They turned out yummy and a pretty shade of green. Everyone enjoyed them, especially Jordanna who ate 3.

The batter
Pancakes cooking
Yum!

Happy Birthday...

...to my favorite husband! I love you more each day.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

From My Kitchen: Animal Sugar Cookies

We had lunch with some friends today, so we made cookies to take with us. I cut out sugar cookie dough into animal shapes and let the kids each decorate a pan with animal sprinkles and colored sugar. You can also see the crust for Dave's birthday pistachio pie on the table.
The finished product

Teaching Time

Alexa working on matching letters to the cards
Caleb (or maybe he's Mario) completing a worksheet on ordinal numbers

Monday, March 14, 2011

Menu Plan Monday



Tonight - Chicken Fettucini Alfredo, salad, homemade bread

Tuesday - Beef tips in gravy over rice, honey carrots

Wednesday - BBQ sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, corn

Thursday - (Dave's birthday) Steak, red potatoes, broccoli, pistachio pie

Friday - (Dave gone, Molly coming for dinner) - Shrimp and grits with fried okra, salad, bread, chocolate molten cakes

Saturday - Hotdogs, oven fries, fruit

Sunday - my turn, no idea yet

Purple Girl

A few weeks ago my mom took home a pair of Alexa's pants to repair because they had a hole in them. I mentioned that I was just planning to throw them away because she didn't really have any shirts to match them anyways. So my mom bought her a shirt and patched the pants to match the shirt. Cute!
Unfortunately, she was making quite the goofy face in the only picture I got that actually showed the patch.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

15 Months

Jordanna turned 15 months old on Monday and had her 15 month check up today. Unfortunately, it turned into a sick visit as well since she has been running a low fever since Monday night. The doctor thinks it is just a virus. She got out of having her shots today since she was running a fever, so we have to go back for shots in a few weeks.

Anyway, here are her stats at 15 months.
--Height - 31 inches or 60th percentile
--Weight - 18 pounds, 10 oz (This is below the chart for weight. The doctor is not hugely concerned at this time, but she does want us to come back for a weight check in a month.)
--Still naps twice a day around 9:00 and 2:00. Sleeps about 12 hours at night.
--Is still a great eater. Some of her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, peas, pancakes, bananas, and anything Dave is eating for his snack.
--Can walk fairly well but still crawls a lot of the time.
--Says several words - Mama, Dada, juice, hi, bye, uh oh, yes, book.
--Loves bath time, pooh bear, her thumb, Daddy getting home from work, going bye, and playing outside.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Cookie Monster

Just like her daddy although he is a little less messy than she is.


Wednesday, March 2, 2011

February 2011 Books Read

18) From Head to Foot by Annie F. Downs - a devotional for teenage girls written by one of my high school classmates
19) Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois - I didn't like this one as much as the 1st book
20) Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days by Nancy Lande - a peek into the life of 30 home school families
21) My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Gannett - read this to Caleb
22) Always the Baker, Never the Bride by Sandra D. Bricker - cute, fluffy story
23) How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O’Neal - ditto
24) Listen by Rene Gutteridge - not sure how I feel about this one
25) Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond - a true story about how the author of the Pioneer Woman blog met her husband
26) Baby, We’re Meant for Each Other by Scott Simon - had some interesting adoption stories but was VERY scatterbrained
27) Skinny Cocktails by Jaclyn Foley - recipes for low calorie mixed drinks

I feel like I read 1 or 2 more, but that's all I have written down. I'm on my way to finishing at least 2 books this week.

Sisters