Funny and Scary

We are on spring break from homeschooling this week. I am trying to catch up on all of the things that I let go because homeschooling Jacob and Ashlynn keeps me busy. I am also making time to relax and recharge:) I came across a couple of things while I was relaxing and looking around the internet that I just have to share.

1. Increasing number of parents opting to have their children school-homed.
Here is the link :The Onion This made me laugh.

2.Happymeal Is Ageless, here is the link: BoingBoing
This is just scary.

Meal Plan Monday

Here is my plan for the week:

Monday
Breakfast hard-boiled eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch Italian chicken sandwiches
Dinner cheese tortellini and salad

Tuesday
Breakfast muffins
Lunch pizza pasta
Dinner garlic shrimp, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Wednesday
Breakfast muffins
Lunch macaroni and cheese and apple slices
Dinner pot-roast, potatoes, and carrots

Thursday
Breakfast Oatmeal
Lunch fish sandwiches and carrot sticks
Dinner leftover potroast sandwiches and salad

Friday
Breakfast muffins
Lunch nachos
Dinner mini flat-bread pizzas and salad

Saturday
Breakfast muffins
Lunch make your own sandwiches
Dinner at grandma's house

Sunday Happy Easter
Breakfast hard-boiled eggs and toast
Lunch cheese,crackers, and vegies
Dinner lambchops, garlic rosemary mashed potatoes, and salad

Last Day To Sign Up for Doodle 4 Google Contest

This is the last day to sign up for Google's Doodle 4 Google contest for kids, and yes they let homeschoolers sign up too. Here is the link www.google.com/doodle4google. Jacob and Ashlynn have been busy putting their own creative spin on the Google logo.

Words That A Mom Wants To Hear

Jacob and Ashlynn spent yesterday afternoon playing outside with our new neighbors children. Ashlynn came home before dinner and said the neighbors had invited her and Jacob for dinner. I told her it would be okay for the both of them to have dinner next door. A couple minutes went by and Jacob came home. I asked him why he wasn't next door having dinner? He said he told the neighbors no thank you. Then he said words that every mom who cooks wants to hear. 

"They were having delivery pizza, and I knew anything you were cooking would be better than that."

I just had to share those wonderful words with all of my blog friends:) It is nice to be appreciated.

Meal Plan Monday

I have decided to start a muffin business for 2 reasons,
1. I love to cook.
2. I want a part time business that I can work around our homeschooling to make some extra money.
The first thing I think that I need to do for the business is to come up with great recipes, which means a lot of muffin baking and eating.
Here is our meal plan for this week, notice all of the muffins:)

Monday
Breakfast blueberry muffins
Lunch leftover chili and tortilla chips
Dinner The pork loin, potatoes, and broccoli that we were going to have last night, but we had chili instead.

Tuesday
Breakfast bran muffins
Lunch cheese, crackers and yogurt
Dinner chicken noodle soup, salad, and whole wheat rolls

Wednesday
Breakfast banana nut muffins
Lunch fish sticks and carrot sticks
Dinner meatballs, rice, gravy and peas

Thursday
Breakfast blueberry muffins
Lunch pizza pasta
Dinner fish, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Friday
Breakfast poached eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch ham sandwiches and carrot sticks
Dinner lasagna and salad

Saturday
Breakfast bran muffins
Lunch out at a birthday party
Dinner leftover lasagna and salad

Sunday
Breakfast mini egg souffles,whole wheat toast, and strawberries
Lunch grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Dinner homemade chicken pot pie and salad

Thankful Thursday

I love writing these Thankful Thursday post. I spend the week noticing what I am thankful for that begins with the letter for the week. This week the letter is E.

Eyes to see the people I love with, and the beauty in the world.
Ears to hear with. I especially love hearing laughter.
Erasers, they give you a fresh start.
Epidurals
Equality
Education
Earth
Eagles
Electricity
Eggs
Eggplants
Etiquette
Elephants
Elections
Exercise
Equations
Enchiladas
Epiphanies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We have been having some St. Patrick's Day fun today. We started out with green milk with breakfast. After breakfast we made leprechaun hand prints. All you do is apply green paint to your child's thumb and lower palm, and you apply orange paint on all 4 fingers and upper palm. Then you have your child press their hand on to a piece of paper. Let the paint dry, and have your child decorate the leprechaun's face.

We started making these leprechauns when Jacob and Ashlynn were small. It is fun to look at how small their hands once were, and to see how big they are now in comparison.

We are on our way to McDonald's now for our traditional St. Patrick's Day shamrock milkshakes. Yum!

Making A Plan

When the housing market went to pot, so did Doug's new construction painting business. Doug restructured the painting business, and has become a general contractor. He can offer more services to get customers, which is great, but we don't make as much money as we once did. It really hit me this winter when I really wanted to plan a vacation for this year, and realized that we can't afford one right now. I am going to be honest and tell you that while I have so much to be grateful for, I pouted about not being able to go on a vacation this year. After acting like a baby for a couple of weeks, I finally accepted that we are going to have to make do with less now. I have spent the last month making a plan with Doug to keep us on track financially.

1. The first thing that we did is decide that we are going to go on a fun camping trip this summer. It will cost much less money than a vacation, but it will still be a fun get away.

2. I have been selling things that we don't use on Ebay and Craigslist to make some extra money. I have really enjoyed selling on Ebay and plan on making it a small business for me.

3. I have also started selling Avon, well I haven't actually sold anything to anybody yet, but I think that I will soon. I put a link to my online Avon store in the corner if any of you like Avon products you can place an order.

4. I have started meal planning as all of you know from my Monday Meal Plan post, and that has really helped with our grocery budget.

5. We are trying to sell my gas guzzling suv to save money on gas. I am hoping buy a car that cost less than what I sell my suv for, so we can put the extra money in savings.

6. I never talk on my cell phone, and only have one in case of an emergency, so I canceled my $50 cell service. I purchased a tracphone which cost me $9 a month.

7. We are going to eat out less, which is probably healthier for us.

The funny thing about living with less, is that once you get used to less, it still feels like you have enough.

Meal Plan Monday

We have been busy lately, but I still made my meal plan yesterday even though I was tempted to skip a week. I'm glad I didn't because every week since I started making a meal plan I have saved about 40% on my groceries for the week.
Here is the plan for this week:

Meatless Monday
Breakfast poached eggs, whole wheat toast and grapefruit
Lunch mini flat bread pizzas
Dinner Boca "chicken" sandwiches, salad, and potato chips

Tuesday
Breakfast oatmeal
Lunch grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Dinner shrimp, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Wednesday
Breakfast buttermilk blueberry pancakes
Lunch peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and yogurt
Dinner Irish stew and soda bread

Thursday
Breakfast egg souffles and whole wheat toast
Lunch fish sticks and carrot sticks
Dinner leftover stew and salad

Friday
Breakfast homemade cream cheese muffins
Lunch eat out
Dinner chicken tacos and salad


Saturday
Breakfast vegie sausage breakfast sandwiches
Lunch eat at Jacob and Ashlynns first chess tournament
Dinner hamburger tatortot casserole and salad

Sunday
Breakfast french toast and strawberries
Lunch make your own sandwich
Dinner pork loin, roasted red potatoes, and green beans

Thankful Thursday

This is my 4th Thankful Thursday, the letter this week is D.

each day
dreams
determination
diversity
deer
daffodils
dogs
dads
donuts
dancing
the dirt in my garden
democracy
dresses
dragonflies

My Kids Make Me Laugh

We have ice cream night every Sunday night. Last Saturday we went to the local Baskin  Robbins to buy my favorite chocolate and peanut butter ice cream for ice cream night. I opened up my freezer this morning and I saw this note on my ice cream:

When Jacob woke up, I asked him if he really licked my favorite ice cream? I was so happy when he said he was joking. He cracks me up.

Meal Plan Monday

Here is the plan for this week:

Monday
Breakfast oatmeal
Lunch grilled peanut butter banana sandwiches and yogurt
Dinner macaroni and cheese and broccoli

Tuesday
Breakfast poached eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch alphabet soup and whole wheat crackers
Dinner spaghetti and meatballs and salad

Wednesday
Breakfast whole wheat toast and strawberries
Lunch fishsticks and carrot sticks
Dinner Italian chicken, rice and green beans

Thursday
Breakfast scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast
Lunch grilled cheese and tomato soup
Dinner lemon pepper cod, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Friday
Breakfast sweet potato bread
Lunch vegie corndogs and carrot sticks
Dinner Italian turkey meatloaf, mashed cauliflower potatoes, and salad

Saturday
Breakfast buttermilk pancakes
Lunch eat out
Dinner leftover turkey meatloaf sandwiches and salad

Sunday
Breakfast vegie sausage breakfast sandwiches
Lunch cheese, crackers, carrot sticks, and yogurt
Dinner at Grandma's house

Award Time

 

We received this Read Across America Award from The Way We Homeschool for celebrating Dr Suess's birthday last Tuesday by reading Green Eggs and Ham. 

Here are the conditions for accepting the award.

1.Thank the blogger who gave you the award. Thank you The Way We Homeschool:)

2. Pass on the award to bloggers who are reading with their children. I found 3 bloggers to pass it on to. 1. Small World At Home read The Lorax to celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday. 2. Mama To 3 Blessings for reading Flat Stanley to her children and introducing traveling Flat Stanley on her blog. 3.I always look forward to reading what Debbie at Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn is reading to Selena every week in her What We Are Reading post.

3. List 3 thing your children like about reading.

1. Both Jacob and Ashlynn like that impossible things can happen in books.

2.Jacob likes reading books to learn about things that interest him.

3. Ashlynn likes that books can make you laugh.

Foodie Friday Applesauce Donuts

My donut pan is one of my favorite things in my kitchen. Jacob and Ashlynn love eating the homemade donuts I make using it.

 You can use most muffin recipes to make healthy donuts with it.

 

Applesauce Donuts

preheat 350

 2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Stir until blended. Fill greased donut cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until donuts spring back when you press on them. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!

Friday Follow

It's Friday, time for another Friday Follow. I have really enjoyed the Friday Follow fun, finding new blogs to read and follow. I am looking forward to finding some more blogs this week. Thanks to Hearts Make Families, One 2 Try, and Midday Escapades for hosting.

Encouraging A Love Of Reading

It makes me so happy that Jacob and Ashlynn love to read. They read for enjoyment, and to learn about things that interest them. Here are some of the ways that I encourage them to love reading.

1.I am a good role model. I read for enjoyment, and to learn new things myself.

2. I make time to read with Jacob and Ashlynn everyday. Even though they are older independent readers, we still read together.

3. I limit television.

4. We have a silent reading time everyday.

5. I make time to go to the library and the bookstore.

6. I leave groups of 3 to 5 books on the coffee table, end table, kitchen counter, my desk for them to find and read, every couple days. I never tell them they have to read these books, but they always do. I think it works like magazines at the doctor's office. You can't help picking one up, and reading through it.

Green Eggs and Ham In Honor Of Dr Suess's Birthday

We had some fun this morning in honor of Dr Suess's birthday. We had scrambled green eggs and ham, and Ashlynn read us Green Eggs and Ham. Jacob and Ashlynn always loved me reading them a Dr Suess book when they were small. His books hold so many wonderful memories for me.

  

Poached Eggs

Last Monday April from This Is What It's All About! left me a comment on my Meal Plan Monday post asking for my poached egg recipe. Here it is:

Poached Eggs

1. Fill a skillet with 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water, add a dash of salt. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Crack eggs 1 at a time into a measuring cup, pour each egg into the water. Cook eggs for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Take each egg out with a slotted spoon, gently shaking off any water. Serve immediately,

Tip: I cook 3 eggs at a time, anymore than that I have a hard time not over cooking the eggs.

Meal Plan Monday

I have a confession. I have never made a meal plan until a couple weeks ago. What I would do is just wing it every week. I started reading different blogs Meal Plan Mondays. I was so inspired I gave meal planning a try. I have loved it. I love to cook, but it isn't any fun at the end of the day when you have no idea what to cook for dinner. I can not recommend making a meal plan for each week enough. Here is mine for the week:

Monday
breakfast blueberry pancakes
lunch peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and carrot sticks
dinner cheese tortellini and salad

Tuesday
breakfast green eggs and ham
lunch fish sticks and carrot sticks
dinner pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw

Wednesday
breakfast oatmeal
lunch chicken noodle soup and whole wheat crackers
dinner lemon pepper cod, garlic shrimp, baked potatoes and broccoli

Thursday
breakfast vegie sausage breakfast sandwiches
lunch pizza pasta
dinner Mexican lasagna recipe from Faith's Firm Foundation with salad

Friday
breakfast sweet potato donuts
lunch mini bagel pizzas
dinner leftovers and salad

Saturday
breakfast waffles
lunch eat out
dinner turkey bacon burgers and sweet potato fries

Sunday
breakfast omelet and grapefruit
lunch make your own sandwich
dinner salmon, roasted red potatoes and salad