Menu Plan 9/6

Quick menu... late.. but it's here! I've got a recipe to share later in the week!

Monday- Dinner with family

Tuesday- Shepherd's Pie

Wednesday- Baked Chicken, Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes, Rolls

Thursday- Beef Stir Fry w/ Rice

Friday-Chili

Saturday- Spinach Lasagna & Salad

Sunday- Leftovers/Sandwiches

Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas!


I'm thinking about making some banana nut muffins this week.. and even though it's only the first week of Sept, I'm already thinking about pumpkin bread!!! It's one of my favs!!


What are you eating this week?

Preschool 2010-2011

As most of you know Luke and I have been doing very unstructured preschool activities for the past year. Right now, he learns as we live... and I add a few neat crafts, experiments and activities to go with it all! We're 'officially' starting back to preschool this week and I am adding some new things to go along with what we've already been doing. So, just to share and keep a list of resources for myself, here is what we will be doing during our very unstructured preschool year:

1. Bible Time- Right now we're using this book (ok, well I can't find it online.. but I'll try to take a picture later and post it). The stories are really simple and the boys enjoy listening to the stories. It comes with a DVD of the stories being read to the pictures in the book and then there is a song after it that goes along with the story. They also like learning new songs about the stories too! I'm also hoping to purchase The Jesus Storybook Bible. Hopefully we can get it for later in the year! We will also be continuing Scripture memory (link below) to go along with our letter of the week.

Psalm 119: 9-16

"How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word."

2. Letter of the Week- Yep, we are continuing the letter of the week. We're still mainly focusing on the Uppercase. We should finish the upper case right before Christmas and we'll start the lower case in January. We will be using Kumon Uppercase and Lowercase workbooks along with all of the fun activities I use online. We'll be reading lots of books that goes along with our letter projects. Here are some of the things I use online:

Totally Tots - Alphabet Crafts
Totally Tots - ABC Scripture Memory
(I also highly recommend Song's for Saplings that go along with Totally Tots Scripture memory... my boys LOVE it!)
Confessions of a Homeschooler - I get lots of ideas and do many downloads from her site!
ABC and 123 - Again, tons of ideas!
Mama Jenn - More and more ideas...

Ok, I could go on and on! There are so many great resources but these are a great place to start!

3. Math/Science- We'll start off the year doing Kumon Numbers 1-30 and go from there. I always incorporate math and science into our activities. We learn about different animals, places, etc along with our letter of the week. We count and sort and sequence and take away and add. It really is amazing what you can tie in! For instance this week we will be talking about our sense of taste and smell! Lemons anyone? We've also talked made ladybugs and counted spots, legs, etc.

4. Other skills, etc. We'll be working on mazes for pencil skills and lots of scissor work too! Of course we'll be in the kitchen a lot! And thank goodness the weather will be cooling off soon! He's four. I'm not stressing. He will learn as we live. And most importantly I want him to know God. So... that leads me to our last and newest addition:

5. House Rules and Character Traits: We are using Gregg Harris' 21 Rules of This House. I love each one of them and they will be good for the Hubs and I to remember as well! We will be going over one a week and reading Scripture that goes along with them during family time. I'll be incorporating these Character Qualities during the day as well. We'll just talk about them as we go about our day.. nothing formal. Also on my list is the the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Ten Commandments. All of these things can be woven into daily life.

Duet 11:18-23 ~“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves."

Menu Plan Monday - 8/30

What a weekend! I had fully planned sitting down and going over my menu yesterday! Well, that didn't happen! Hopefully I can share all the details later! Money is tighter than tight this week so, we're pretty much pantry and freezer eating! Thank goodness we've got lots of meat in the freezer! What a blessing! So, here is what we're having (2 repeats):


Monday- Papa's Birthday Dinner

Tuesday- Creamy Chicken and Potatoes, Rolls *

Wednesday- Pork Chops, Green Beans, Corn on the Cobb*

Thursday- Beef Stir Fry and Rice

Friday- Chicken Tacos, Rice & Beans

Saturday- Shepherds Pie

Sunday- Leftovers/ Sandwiches

*Because of the craziness of the weekend, 2 of our meals were moved to this week!

The Turkey Sausage and Spinach Pasta from last week was yummy! I had it for lunch two days in a row! It was quick and easy to prepare. My only advice is to NOT stir the Parmesan cheese into the pasta water. Just stir in the water and then stir in the cheese last. Otherwise you'll end up with a blob of cheese at the bottom of the bowl, that you'll have to scoop out (luckily I had more parm cheese!).


See you later! Have a great week!

Check out orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas!

Letter K

So, if you read my last post on letter J, you know that I don't have the pictures for letters J and K. But to my surprise a few of the pictures from week K were in my August album that I must have uploaded along with Luke's soccer practice pictures! I did go back and take a few pictures of things that weren't there! It's been 2 weeks since we did letter K so I may have forgotten all that we did! Here are the high lights:


We started off the week talking about thing that start with the letter K. The boys colored/traced their letter K's. I got these printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler. We typically do these every week, although I don't know if I always get a picture. I usually go over how to correctly write the letter and then Luke traces his. Then he usually colors his in. Here he is helping show Eli how to draw his K!




We also took a trip to the library and to our surprise one of the story time books was about a Kangaroo. Then all of the kids colored a picture of a Kangaroo!




We also did a Totally Tots alphabet craft, which was a Kangaroo. Luke and I also watched some videos on the National Geographic website and learned some facts about two different types of kangaroos. Did you know that kangaroos hop because they cannot move their legs independent of one another? Well, now you know! There is also a species of kangaroos that live entirely in trees!

Next we made a letter K out of popsicle sticks. Luke colored them and then I hot glued them together. I couldn't take a picture of it because a certain little guy broke it! Luke also colored two more popsicle sticks to make a Kite! Luke had lots of fun "flying" his kite around the house!

Then we read Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite!

Our verse this week was "Be Kind to one another." Ephesians 4:32a. We talked about what it means to be kind and all throughout the week we pointed out different things that the boys did that were kind!

We also made homemade popcorn and did some fun measuring and sorting with some extra Kernels! I gave Luke a cup full of popcorn kernels in a bowl and then gave him several different measuring cups and spoons. We measured out basic measurements and then I just let him have fun playing and scooping them from different containers! Hello, math!

And hello sweeping up kernels from all over the floor! :)

Well, that catches us up! Next week we will start Letter L!