Our Garden

We moved to our home 2 1/2 years ago, and this is my second year gardening here. I am still figuring out what to grow, but I am having better luck with things than I did last year. I love our garden and the time I spend with Jacob and Ashlynn caring for it, and the food that we eat from it. I thought I would post some pictures of our garden this year.

What We Are Doing For School This Year

It has taken me longer to decide what curriculum we would be using this year than it usually does, but after much research and input from Jacob and Ashlynn here is what I came up with:


Jacob 8th grade
Math finish up Life of Fred Pre-Algebra and Life of Fred Beginning Algebra
supplement with the Straight Forward Math series

Language Arts
Growing With Grammar 8
Writing Strands5
Write 1 research paper on a subject of his choice
Continue working on 5 paragraph essays
Read and complete a literature study on 5 books I assign.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Iliad
Midsummer Night's Dream
Watership Down
Eragon
Jacob will also read many books on his own for enjoyment
 Word Roots B-1
Read and study various poems

Logic Fallacy Detective

Ashlynn 5th grade
Math Ashlynn loved Math U See and completed the level, but she chose Saxon 6/5 for this year

Language Arts
Growing With Grammar 5
Writing Strands 3
Sequential Spelling
Read and complete a literature study on 2 books that I assign
Little House on the Prairie
Secret Garden
Ashlynn will read many books on her own for enjoyment
Word Roots A-1
Read and study various poems

Logic  Mindbenders A-1

Together
History
Social Studies Power Basics
World History 1 and 1/2 of 2 with extra reading and crafts

Science
Science Power Basics
Physics and if we can Biology with lots of experiments and hands on activities.

Spanish
Rosetta Stone level 1

Electives
Life Skills
Chess Club
Art and Art History
Piano
Baking Club (Ashlynn)

PE
coach to 5k
biking around town together as a family
golf (Jacob)
soccer and fast pitch (Ashlynn)

Meal Plan Monday

I am leaving lunches out this week because with Jacob and Ashlynn at drama camp I am going have snacks for lunch all week.

Monday
Breakfast scrambled eggs and English muffins
Dinner pork tacos, re-fried beans, and salad

Tuesday
Breakfast banana bread and cantaloupe
Dinner garlic herb shrimp, baked potatoes, and broccoli (from our garden)

Wednesday
Breakfast cereal and whole wheat toast
Dinner chicken kabobs, jasmine rice, and salad

Thursday
Breakfast poached eggs, whole wheat toast, and grapefruit
Dinner lasagna and salad

Friday
Breakfast buttermilk pancakes and strawberries (from our garden)
Dinner leftover lasagna and salad

Saturday
Breakfast mini egg souffles and whole wheat toast
Lunch potato leek soup and whole wheat crackers
Dinner hotdogs, sweet potato chips, and salad

Sunday
Breakfast french toast and strawberries
Lunch cheese, crackers, apple slices, and yogurt
Dinner roasted chicken, brown rice pilaf, and peas (from our garden)

What We've Been Up To Around Here

Jacob and Ashlynn are in drama camp for this week and next, and while they are away I am cleaning and planning school work for this year. I thought I would take a break from my ambitious plans and catch all of you up on the happenings around here.

Ashlynn played girls fastpitch for the first time this year this past spring, and she loved it.

She really liked sitting in the dugout eating sunflower seeds with the other girls, cheering on her teammates.

She also played summer soccer. Her last game was Monday.

I really love watching her play sports, but I am glad to have a break from games and practices. My break will only last for a couple of weeks because practices for fall soccer will be starting up soon.

Jacob has been reading the Lord of the Rings series and on his own drawing all of the hobbits.

 

This really wasn't a school assignment. He does this kind of stuff for enjoyment. He is such a joy to teach.

We are going to have a foreign exchange student from Thailand staying with us for the school year. Her nickname is Yim which means smiley in Thai. We have been emailing her and she is a very nice girl. She will be here the middle of August so I am trying to get ready for her. We are all excited to show her our culture and to learn about hers. The only thing I am nervous about is she doesn't like garlic and I put garlic into a lot of the food we eat.

Jacob and Ashlynn took the California Achievement Test the beginning of June. They actually have taken it every year since we started homeschooling to meet one of our states homeschool requirements. It has really helped me see if what we are doing for each subject is working for them. I received their scores the end of June and they were their highest scores yet. Jacob scored so well that he qualifies to take the SAT test as a 8th grader this fall through the Johns Hopkins CTY talent search program. I am so proud of both of them.

I have decided to put off the muffin business for now. Doug is busy with our general contracting / painting business and I am busy trying to do the office work and answer the phones for the business. Between taking care of the house, school, our other business I don't have time for muffins right now. The most important thing to me and what I love doing is being a wife and a mother. I don't want to take on so much that I don't feel like I am able to take care of my family the way I want.

I will post tomorrow on what curriculum we are going to be using for school next year. For now I better get back to cleaning.

Meal Plan Monday

Jacob and Ashlynn are at drama camp from 10:00 - 3:00 Monday through Friday for the next 2 weeks. Lunches are just for me this week.

Monday
Breakfast scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch Italian chicken salad
Dinner cheese tortellini and salad

Tuesday
Breakfast blueberry muffins
Lunch breaded fried zucchini (one of my favorite foods)
Dinner turkey avocado burgers and sweet potato fries

Wednesday
Breakfast strawberries, yogurt, and granola
Lunch stuffed mushrooms
Dinner lemon garlic halibut, baked potatoes, and peas from our garden.

Thursday
Breakfast poached eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch avocado and whole wheat crackers
Dinner barbecue chicken, pasta salad, and grilled zucchini

Friday
Breakfast blueberry buttermilk pancakes
Lunch out with a friend
Dinner calzones and salad

Saturday
Breakfast cereal
Lunch chicken noodle soup and salad
Dinner pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and corn on the cob

Sunday
Breakfast omelets, cantaloupe,  and English muffins
Lunch cheese, crackers, apple slices, and yogurt
Dinner steak, garlic mashed potatoes, peas from the garden

Meal Plan Monday

Here is my plan for this week:

Monday
Breakfast scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch mini pizzas
Dinner tacos and salad

Tuesday
Breakfast sweet potato donuts
Lunch baked spaghetti and apple slices
Dinner barbecue chicken sandwiches, fries, and salad

Wednesday
Breakfast whole wheat toast and cantaloupe
Lunch make your own sandwiches and apple slices
Dinner out

Thursday
Breakfast poached eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch cheese, crackers, avocado slices, and yogurt
Dinner halibut, baked potatoes, and asparagus

Friday
Breakfast blueberry buttermilk pancakes
Lunch grilled peanut butter banana sandwiches and carrot sticks
Dinner cheese tortellini and salad

Saturday
Breakfast vegie sausage sandwiches
Lunch nachos
Dinner garlic shrimp, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Sunday    Happy 4th of July!
Breakfast french toast and strawberries
Lunch make your own sandwich, vegies and dip
Dinner baby-back ribs, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon, and salad

Meal Plan Monday

Things have been busy around here, but we are all great. I have been tackling a couple decluttering projects and planning Jacob and Ashlynns school work for next year.

Here is my meal plan for this week:

Monday
Breakfast baked oatmeal
Lunch mini vegie corn dogs and corn on the cob
Dinner chicken pesto pasta and broccoli

Tuesday
Breakfast poached eggs, whole wheat toast and grapefruit
Lunch pizza pasta
Dinner crock-pot Italian beef sandwiches and salad

Wednesday
Breakfast muffins
Lunch fish sticks and carrot sticks
Dinner-breakfast for dinner bacon, eggs, English muffins and cantaloupe

Thursday
Breakfast whole wheat toast and strawberries
Lunch peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and yogurt
Dinner garlic lime cilantro cod, baked potatoes and green beans

Friday
Breakfast blueberry buttermilk pancakes
Lunch nachos
Dinner enchiladas, rice and salad

Saturday
Breakfast muffins
Lunch cheese, crackers, and apple slices
Dinner pizza and salad

Sunday
Breakfast omelets and grapefruit
Lunch make your own sandwich
Dinner roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots