Menu Plan for August 9th

So, as I mentioned last week, this week we are switching to new eating habits! I'm hoping to see some big improvements in everyone's overall health. So what exactly are we doing? Well, we are cutting out all processed foods, wheat, soy, and sugar. And for this first week, at least, we are cutting out grains in general (although, we will be letting the kids have a few grains). Our goal is not to cut grains entirely, just for a week or two. Breakfast and lunches will basically be the same throughout the week. So, here it is:

Breakfast: Eggs, leftover veggie from night before & a fruit. We will also offer the kids oatmeal (I think they'll balk at eggs 7 days a week!)

Lunch: Lunch will be leftovers from dinner the night before.

Monday - Chicken, salad, broccoli

Tuesday - Steak, salad, spinach (and probably corn for the kids)

Wednesday - Fish, salad, asparagus

Thursday - Black bean soup, salad, cauliflower

Friday - chicken, salad, spinach (again, kids will probably get corn)

Saturday - Turkey, salad, broccoli

Sunday - Roast, salad, cauliflower.

So that's our plan. I'll let you know next week how well it went over :o)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings

Sweet Shot Tuesday 8/3/10

Little P watchin' the parade.

For more Sweet Shots, visit Darcy at My 3 Boybarians.

Blessings,

Our plan for this school year

If you've been following my blog at all, you probably know that last years plan got blown out of the water. Being pregnant, having baby and adjusting to new baby, did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. Consequently we missed A LOT of school. And I struggled with feeling overwhelmed ever since. You can read more about it HERE and HERE.

However, I now have a plan for this year! We will be starting school on August 9th (yes, one week from today) and we will be 17, YES 17, weeks AHEAD. No more feeling guilty about being behind! No more feeling like we can't do something spontaneous because we can't miss anymore school! It's a very freeing feeling.

So, without further ado, here is what the plan is for this year:

Cast of Characters:

Munchkin - 9yo - 3rd/4th grade
Peanut - 5yo - Preschool/Kindergarten
Little P - 2.5yo - Preschool
Little Bit - Baby/toddler

Our Spine:

We will continue to work our way through MFW ECC this year. We finished through week 17, so we will start school on week 18. I haven't fully decided what we will do if we finish ECC before the year is over. We may move right on to Creation to Greeks. Or we may do another unit study to finish out the year and start C2G at the beginning of next year. I'll make that decision if/when we get there.

With ECC we will all do Bible, Geography, Music/Art, Book Basket, Science & Read Aloud (these last two with dad) together.

For the other subjects:

Munchkin:

Language Arts - We will be doing the copywork & Vocab from ECC and will add Writing Strands 3 this year.

Spelling - We recently started Sequential Spelling 1, so we will continue to use that.

English - We will continue to use Language Lesson's for the Very Young (Queen Homeschool). If we finish, we will move into the next book.

Math - We will continue with MUS Beta. If we finish we will move on to MUS Gamma.

Reading - We hadn't been doing anything for this because she is such a good reader, but I started to wonder if she was really comprehending what she was reading. So we started back on the Pathways readers (we used them in 1st grade) at level 5. We will continue for this year.

Foreign Language - Will still have not decided on a foreign language. I've been considering Latin, using either Latin Christiana or Prima Latina. However, right now I just want to focus on the basics and get into a routine. Maybe sometime in January, I'll reconsider adding a foreign language.

Peanut:

She shows some signs of being ready for school, but she still has a very short attention span. My goal is to work with her using a combination of MFW Preschool and Kindergarten. She also really wants to learn to read, so I will try some lessons from Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. I also want to do some lapbooking with her because she definitely appears to be a kinesthetic learner.

Little P:

He has moved somewhat beyond the "just keeping him occupied" stage. Plus, after listening to David Hazel's (author of MFW) lecture on Preschoolers, I no longer think that is a stage. However, I don't think he is completely ready for official "sit down" schooling. I will most likely be including him in what I do with Peanut and in everything he's willing to sit through with ECC. I will probably also throw in a few workbooks from the Dollar Store for the days he wants "to do school". (And, yes, even my children, who have never set foot in a public school classroom, think "doing school" is a worksheet! {sigh})

Little Bit:

OK, this one will most likely just be occupied {grin}. I'm hoping for the most part she'll just nap through most of our school time. But she has been difficult about getting on a schedule, so that may not happen. I may find myself assigning one kid to play with her while I work with another one. So I guess we'll just see how this goes as the year progresses.

So that's my plan in a nutshell. To see more curriculum plans and reviews, head over to the "Not Back-To-School" blog hop on Heart of the Matter. And stay tuned for next weeks edition, "School Rooms".

Blessings,

Menu Plan for August 2nd

This weekend is my husbands family's annual family "campout" (we don't actually camp anymore), so I don't need to plan meals for Friday or Saturday. We just have to show up with two desserts. =) So here is my plan for the rest of the week:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Steak, roasted potatoes, green beans

Wednesday - Pork chops, au gratin potatoes, corn on the cob

Thursday - Chicken Caesar salad

Desserts for this weekend - Chocolate drizzled peanut butter cookies & Fruit pizza.

Next week will be totally different. Hubby and I have decided it's time to change our eating habits. It will be challenging and difficult, I'm sure, but I believe the Lord has been leading us in this direction for some time now. I'm looking forward to our new adventure =)

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Blessings,

It's almost time...

...for back to school. Or as we homeschoolers like to say "NOT back to school!" {grin}

Everywhere you turn you see "back-to-school" specials and sales. I have to admit, it makes me giddy! I LOVE shopping for school supplies! It was my favorite part of back-to-school when I was a kid. And now as a homeschooling mom, it's even more exciting. I just love looking at all those supplies and imagining all the possibilities! And the deals aren't bad either. I mean, lets face it, when else can you get spiral notebooks for 10 cents? Or, heck, even a FREE backpack?

Of course all these sales mean something else as well. It's time for the "Not back-to-school blog hop"! This year it will be hosted at Heart of the Matter. Here is the schedule for this year:

• Monday, Aug 2 – Friday, Aug 6: Curriculum Week
• Monday, Aug 9 – Friday, Aug 13: School Room Week
• Monday, Aug 16 – Friday, Aug 20: Student Photo Week
• Monday, Aug 23 – Friday, Aug 27: Day-in-the-Life Week

I'm looking forward to participating and giving a little "peak" into our school life. Hope to see some of you there as well! =) For more information (and to participate) visit Heart of the Matter.

Blessings,

Sweet Shot Tuesday 7/27/10

Since I shared the cute film strips of each of the kids on Friday, I decided to get a little more "artsy" with my sweet shot today. I just love Little P's hands. They are just so chubby and cute! And, yes, his sister's painted his nails :-) I guess that's what happens when you're the only boy!


For more "Sweet Shots" visit Darcy at my3boybarians.

Blessings,

Menu Plan for July 26th

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken, potato wedges, corn on the cob

Wednesday - Hamburgers/hot dogs, fries and salad

Thursday - Pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Friday - Chicken Alfredo, broccoli

Saturday - Tacos/burritos, rice and beans

Sunday - not sure yet.

For more menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie.

Have a blessed week!