HH Families Get $1 Admission to Indy Children's Museum

I pressured Hubby into going to the Indy Children's Museum, thinking I needed to use the coupon that expires tomorrow: Buy one adult admission, one child gets in free. However, you can only use one coupon per household.

On the way up, my sis called to let me know if your kids have Hoosier Healthwise, admission to the museum is only $1 per person: We got in for only $4! I spent $7 total because I took the girls on the carousel ride! To top it off, the lady at the counter told me I can do the same thing at Conner Prairie, the Indiana Historical Society, and a few other places! WOOHOO!

You simply bring your HH cards & Indiana photo I.D. to the counter, fill out a form, and you receive an All Access Pass, good for one year. Why hadn't anyone told me about this before?!!

Owl Pellets

After we finished painting our caves, we attempted to go for a bike ride. Snugglebug still has problems, but I was pleased to see her actually pedaling for a change! we made it half-way down our street before she fell off her bike, but it was a long half-way back! I decided to turn around because it was so horribly hot today!

After biking, we had a short music lesson teaching patterns/rhythm with the clearance instruments I got at Michael's last week. Next, we finally dissected the owl pellets I had bought at the homeschool convention. Lovely and Snugglebug really got into taking the pellet apart, and Snugglebug sat with me while we glued the entire skeleton together. Lovely got tired of all the bird bones, though, so she left to work with puzzles while I was making the final glue-down.

What will tomorrow have in store?

Cave Paintings

I don't know what got into me today, but I went overboard with learning activities! We began with grammar and writing, then we colored pictures and maps to go with Story of the World. Next, we made cave paintings--by far, one of the most fun activities we've done! I took a paperbag from Whole Foods, cut it in half and then cut out the bottom to use as a paint pallet. Don't forget to crumple the bag to make more realistic walls! We used red, brown, orange-ish, and I threw in some blue (maybe there were blueberries near these caves :/). First, I had the girls draw pictures with charcoal, then they painted them, and then they told me their stories:

The Mad Happy Ending by Lovely (Top)

The deer got bigger and the man tried to kill the deer. The man started bleeding because it was a moose, not a deer, and the moose got the idea to fight and see who is the winner. The moose was the winner. The man bled so much that he went back to the village because he could not win. A big pumpkin came out of the water and saw what was happening and got a sad face. Then the sun lighted up and the water came flashing out. The fish made bubbles. And then it became bedtime.

Someone is Shooting by Snugglebug (Bottom)

Someone is shooting at the big deer. Someone's shooting the bear, too. Someone's shooting the big fish, too. Someone's going to hammer the rainbow. Someone's going to shoot the sun--it's going to fall down like, "Ahhhhhh!" into the dirt. The dog is going to eat the man who is shooting. The wild bubbles are going to eat the sun. The deer is eating chips. The man is going to eat the deer. And the bubbles are popping. And all the water is melting.

Believe it or not, I have very happy children. However, they just learned about nomads, etc., and of course their father is a deer hunting fanatic (we eat everything he harvests), so this made for some interesting pictures!

School Calendar

I'm working on creating a few school calendars. Basically, I had a calendar this past year where I just checked off the days we worked in order to keep track of how many school days we completed. However, I couldn't remember where I got that one from, so I made my own calendar :) It's nothing special, but it will get the job done for now. I realized I had already lost track of when I started working with Lovely again--shame on me! I managed to add it to this post, but I don't know why it saved with some extra blank pages. Plus, the alignment is a bit off now for some reason...please remember, I'm still a novice at this!

School Calendar

On a great note, I asked Lovely if she liked 'this school' better than the other school we did, and she replied, "Yes! It's fun!" YAY!!! We've only been working a few days, but she almost has her first poem completely memorized, I've found she's pretty good at narrating (despite being so young), she's really into using living books...so far, so good! Now, I just hope math doesn't make her cringe like it did last year!

On another note, I'm really, really looking forward to the used homeschool curriculum sale next week! I mean, I'm actually having dreams about it! Although I don't really need many books, one of my fondest memories as a child was the school book fair, and to me, this is like that!

It's Disgusting and We Ate It!

Fun fact of the day: One ton of roasted spiders contains 1268 lbs of protein. One ton of cooked beef contains 394 lbs of protein. Just when you thought you were being as healthy as possible, you went and left roasted spiders off the dinner menu, didn't you?

That was just one of the many fun, interesting, and disgusting things we learned today during school.

Since my upcoming year is looking a little hectic, I've gradually been working in school for Lovely the past couple of days. (All right--I may, just MAY have an addiction to school/learning, which prompted such an early start of 1st grade...maybe!) I have to say--I LOVE this new method I'm trying! I'm only on the 4th grammar lesson and I only just started Writing with Ease, but I'm really digging it so far, as the archeologists would say (I also started The Story of the World tonight).

The grammar and writing lessons are short, simple, and to the point right now. The examples in the books actually made Lovely laugh, which is always a plus. She got a little freaked out when I gave her the copywork--she thought she had to copy both sentences several times, so when I told her just one sentence, one time, great relief came over her face.

We actually spent most of the day checking out the NA library--LOVE IT! I got a card there, so now I have a card for all available libraries in this area. I also signed both girls up for their summer reading program, so they can complete three library summer reading programs--woohoo!

My main objective was to find the books for the first three weeks of school. I LOVE using living books! They are so much more interesting because they are devoted to one topic that the author is usually very interested in. We started reading It's Disgusting and We Ate It tonight, which the girls begged me to keep reading, but I was starting to lose my voice. I'll have to post more disgusting facts another day...

I Believe in Thimbles

I've often heard a quote in church about not needing to dress like the rest of the world (immodestly) because they still sell sewing machines and goods at the store, and I've often though, "But, Lord, I'm TERRIBLE at sewing! How could I ever do that?!" I'm beginning to wonder if the time has come where I won't be able to buy anything in the store: I now feel I can sew...a little bit!

I decided to get crafty last Wed., and stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some fabric to try my hand at sewing. Mind you, I had not done any sewing of my own free will since I was 14 and was scarred for life by my older sister whose patience was exceeded. Anyway, in the past week I've made aprons for Lovely and Snugglebug, and I turned a pair of $5 jeans into a really cute skirt with a pleat in the back. I also made a necklace for the first time (not counting macaroni or string necklaces).

Miraculously, I only had a couple seams to rip out, I only cried at the very beginning when I couldn't figure out how to use my sewing machine that I had purchased two years ago, and although I have a few needle marks in the tips of my fingers, I'm really looking forward to my next project (I'll let you know once they're completed--yes, there is more than one project in my mind). I had no idea how freeing a lack of a pattern is! I used a cheap kid's apron as my example for the girls (yes, I realize aprons are a 7th grade home-ec project, but you have to start somewhere, right?) and just cut and matched the fabric for the skirt. Although these aren't grade A, excellent products, I have had a wonderful talent in the past of sewing the wrong sides of material together, making things much tighter and smaller than I had ever measured or imagined, and overall, my sewing stank! This time I used a can-do attitude, and although I've tried it in the past, it worked this time!

Here's a look at my projects:

Snugglebug's Apron Lovely's Apron. She has a fascination with "spots" right now.

Front of $5 jeans (this is Lovely's, of course)

Back of $5 jeans

Pouring Rain

When it rains, it pours, as mi madre just said. Out of the blue, I was offered a job at U of L that will pay a stipend, my tuition, and health insurance, not to mention I wouldn't mind actually saying the name of where I worked for a change. Although I love just being "mommy" and "wife" and "helpmeet", Hubby & I decided it would be best for us to struggle through ten more months with school paid for, gain further experience, and get it out of the way. So what does that mean for the rest of my life?

I'll have no life. That's right. You heard it here first. I will have NO LIFE. My house will be dirty again. I will rely heavily on frozen food (remind me to make approximately 300 freezer meals for the upcoming year). Sewing? Crafts? No, not for me. Homeschool field trips...did you say trips? Those won't be happening (unless you classify driving to and fro to g'ma's house a field trip...hey, at least the girls can see deer and turkeys in the fields along the way!).

I actually had a very good schedule for school this year, but apparently, it's meant to go down the drain--round and round it goes! This means I am starting first grade now. You got it: Now. I started First Language Lessons yesterday and Lovely said once the three-minute lesson was finished, "That was soooo silly, Mommy!" I hope she continues to feel this way.

In addition to this new job, I finally recieved a reply back from an online editing service I had applied to. Of course, my application was accepted. When it rains it pours...

I am thankful for the Lord's many blessings. In fact, I rest assured in His perfect will...and I will be watching the sky closely and ducking every now and then as I expect a maid, a cook, and a general life organizer to suddenly appear on my doorstep for help :)

Fattenin' Them Up

We have a birdfeeder. I bought it several years ago, but only recently finished painting it, etc. Sunday night, after church, we bought a bag of bird seed, but I'm too short to hang it in the tree and we don't have a ladder, so I said Daddy will have to do it.

Yesterday after he got home from work, Lovely and Snugglebug asked Hubby to hang the birdfeeder. Then, Lovely asked him which birds would come to eat the food. Hubby said lots of different kinds, and he started naming the different kinds.

"And they will get fat, right?" Lovely asked, excitedly.

"Sure," Hubby replied innocently.

"And then we can shoot 'em!" Lovely exclaimed.

Lovely has apparently learned the idea behind baiting animals. Unfortunately for her, it is illegal in the state of Indiana, and in our eyes, unethical. So, feed, little birdies, feed, without the fear of a five year old's maniacal plans!

Little Peter Cottontail

He's cute, right? And fluffy? And just as happy as can be? Exactly. He's oh so happy as he hippity-hops away from my strawberry plants. The little dear scarfed down ALL of my strawberries--even the yellow ones, depriving them of the joy of ripeness...and depriving me of the sweet juicy taste of home-grown strawberries.

Is anyone else planning an Operation Peter Cottontail? Hubby wants to set a trap and then release it somewhere far, far away from the garden. I'm a little more aggressive. Hubby said, "If you were a bunny rabbit and you found a beautiful strawberry patch, wouldn't you eat them?" I responded by stating, "Yes, but I would also realize the chance of death I faced each time I entered the garden walls."

So, how do you handle your bunny problems?

Little House

I must admit, all these years I had never read Little House on the Prairie, nor had I really watched an episode. However, I saw the book on the list of "To Read" according to The Well Trained Mind, so I thought I'd jump on it early. I now know why I never read it.

Some may think I'm crazy, as an English major and book lover, to speak poorly of Laura and Mary and the entire family, but honestly, I do not find learning to build walls, doors (some with nails, some without), a fireplace, a roof, or a floor at all (or in the least bit) interesting. Shame on me. I went my entire life passing over the books that were in a dusty brown box in the storage room of my parents house, and now I know why.

I have tried to make the book interesting. I have tried using different voices and making boring sentences exciting, but let's face it: it's just not happening. And the worst part: My daughter shows no interest in the story, either. She will sit through a reading, but she jumps at the chance to do something else, and I'm right there with her. We will finish the book (all 300 and some odd pages), but we will not be checking out more. Shame on me.

Chore Charts

I finally found a chore chart that the girls have been pretty good at sticking with! Yay! Normally, I stick a chart on the fridge, we manage the chores for a few days, and then it goes by the wayside and I remember it a month down the road. Here is our working chore chart (pun intended):

I covered the girls' names, but the actual chart has their names on the pockets, too. I had found an idea similar to this online, but now I can't remember where. I had a chore chart in mind, but I adjusted it slightly to fit our needs. I took a piece of 81/2x 11 white paper, typed their names, etc., laminated it, and then I cut out manila file folders and folded them into pockets, then I attached them to the laminated piece of white paper. If I did it over, I would add the days of the week between the pockets to keep track of which days all the chores were completed.

Here is a picture of some of the cards that go into the pockets:

I used Micrsoft Excel, made two columns of equal width and Googled pictures/images of the tasks my girls should....errr...normally complete. Then, I copied them to the first column and typed the name of each task in the second column, printed two copies, folded the columns and cut accordingly around the edges, laminated, and then cut out the actual laminated cards. Voila! Sturdy cards to handle the worst finger smudges!

Each day, the girls go through the cards and place them in the right pocket once the task is completed. I love this because you don't need to use every card every day, and you can add cards for special chores, or once kids are able to handle more responsibility. My eventual goal: Have Lovely complete all of my...er....her chores every day for an entire month!

Hooray for Me...er...the Garden!

As I begin to focus and organize my life as the homemaker I should have been for the past (almost) seven years, I made a "goal list" for each of the weeks of May. This week's major goal is to garden, so I cleaned/weeded the flower bed in front of the house, and since my allergies weren't acting crazy as usual, I went out back to the actual garden. To my surprise, I have lots of garlic and onion chives, an oregano bush (it's much larger than last year already!), sage, parsley, and the dill that originally wouldn't grow has spread like wildfire--we now have seven dill plants throughout the garden! Yikes! To top that, the strawberries that wouldn't grow last year have really taken off....all through the garden. Is any damage done when strawberries grow in the middle of an oregano plant? lol Any tips on whether or not I should be restricting my strawberries to a certain area of the garden and how if so?

I plan on getting some more herbs tomorrow, such as basil and my favorite--yet my husband's most dreaded--rosemary. I will see what else sparks my interest as well. Hubby still needs to till, so I can only plan in the remainder of the rows that are already growing herbs. I will also get some pretty flowers for out front to snazz it up.

Oh, and we had our first freezer cooking flop last night. I made Slow Cooker Chicken in Mushroom Sherry Sauce, but hubby thought it was too sweet. I thought it was all right. Lovely said, "It's not really good." Cuddlebug said, "It's yummy, but not really much."--she's only four, but already a pro at flipping a compliment! I'm not freezer cooking tonight, so you will have to wait on the next review...

Books and Such

Wow! It seems while my internet was down, everyone caught up on their blogs! I hope I have as much to read tomorrow! While browsing the blogs, I found a link to a new website I just might love... Homeschool Library Builder. I haven't bought anything from the site yet, but that doesn't mean I won't! It offers a variety of books meant for the classical curriculum. You can do a search by age, by curriculum, by country/region, by subject matter...and they are running a sale with $1, $2, $3, and $5 bargain bins through June 1!

Now, more on my cooking escapade...We had chicken cordon blue (sp?) with twice-baked potatoes, and I baked some asparagus to go with it. YUM! The potatoes are super fantabulous! The chicken was pretty good, too, but we had to make both portions because the girls and I ate one portion and hubby dearest ate the other portion himself! Aww...if only I had his metabolism! So, so far, so good with OAMC!

On another note...I hate Belkin routers. And AT&T. I'm just sayin'... Long story short, my internet connection failed. Thought it was the ethernet cord, so I thought I'd just go ahead and get a router so I would have wireless. Installed great, but never worked, even though it said it was working. Got a new modem. Modem stopped working the day after installation. Called AT&T, they said to call computer manufacturer. Didn't want to call manufacturer and get charged. Called AT&T back, was put on hold. While on hold, fixed the problem by enabling the local area connection (it was a little more detailed than that). AT&T guy came back to tell me it was the computer and not AT&T's fault and I'd have to get help elsewhere. I told him it was fixed. He asked, "Which green lights are off on your modem?" I said, "None." He asked, "What message do you get when you try to pull up the internet?" I said, "The internet." He started to reiterate it was the computer and not AT&T when I said once again, "IT WORKS--I FIXED IT." He finally said, "Oh..thanks for calling AT&T."

Lesson learned for today: While spending two hours cleaning my daughters' rooms, I finally found the back to Mr. Potato Head. I attempted to attach it, but it would not attach. Finally found another back a few minutes later. This one attached properly. Knowledge gleaned: not all potato rumps are created equal. Hmm..this might have been funnier had I pictures...

How Once a Month Cooking Works

I've heard that once a month cooking and freezer cooking saves time and money, but I had no idea until I tried it out myself. I was very hesitant, as I enjoy fresh foods and I've become very picky about how I eat my meat, etc. However, I followed the April 2010 menu from onceamonthmom.com and I can't help but be impressed! Here is how it works:

1. Print out the menu, grocery list, individual recipes, and directions from onceamonthmom.com


2. Go over the grocery list. Check off all ingredients you already have. For the ingredients you will need to buy, place the store name of where you will buy them and how much they will cost. I found it easier to make separate lists for each store after I looked through the Sunday ads. I shopped at Kroger, Meijer, Sam's Club, and Whole Foods, so I made a simple spread sheet, divided by department, for each store. Then, I wrote down what I paid and checked off the item once I got home.


3. Read through the recipes! Make sure you have the equipment/pots/pans necessary to cook/assemble each meal.


4. Plan which day to perform the cook. The menu is meant to be used with two families, but you could double the recipe if more famililes want to join.


5. The night before, chop/slice/mince all veggies. Follow the directions for anything else that might need performed the night before OAMC Day.


6. Start cooking early on OAMC Day! I actually used two days because we started so late in the afternoon the first day, and I was cooking until late the following night (because my mom didn't have mini muffin pans, I didn't bring any, and so I had to bring that recipe home to finish...in other words, read the recipes thoroughly before you start!)


7. Be prepared to do a lot of cleaning, but I feel this is totally worth it to have a freezer stocked full of food!

**Note**

Most meals are not "cooked" ahead--they are simply assembed and placed in the freezer, and therefore only need thawed and cooked the day you plan on eating them. Breads/muffins/egg rolls are baked ahead of time, however.

OAMC (Freezer Cooking) Review

I did it! It's over! I followed the menu plan from onceamonthmom.com, which was my first time trying to meal plan that many days in advance, let alone cook/assemble that many meals in advance. Now, here's my review:

Pros:

• Tasty dishes that offer a lot of variety


• Although portions seem small for what my family (i.e. my husband) would consume, you can make two portions at once, or for lighter meals, just make one at a time.


• The main part of grocery shopping is done for the month, the meals are made/assembled, and I know my freezer is stocked for when my family is hungry, if we have guests, or if I'm invited somewhere and need to bring a dish.


• It's more fun cooking with someone else!


• The mess is gone! Come dinnertime, I'll only have minimal clean-up!

Cons:

• Uses a lot of time and energy


• High up-front cost


• A LOT of clean-up the day of cooking

Cost: Ingredients for April 2010's menus cost: $272.72, divided by two because I did it with my mother and the menu is meant to divide between two families of four or less. That means each of us spent $136.36, or $34.09 per week on meals! No, there aren't meals for each and every day, but we made 15 recipes, which gave us two portions of each dish. I'll explain how it works in the next post.

Overall Opinion: I am really impressed! I've already eaten/tasted three of the dishes, plus taste-testing while cooking, and while it stretched what I would normally buy for my family, everything tasted great!