Stationery card

Wishing You Merry Christmas Card

Personalize your Christmas card at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Stationery card

Wishing You Merry Christmas Card

Personalize your holiday card this Christmas with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

This Weeks Eats

One of the things that makes my heart happy is being organized.  This weekend I finally cleaned up our 2 hall closets that had been neglected and stuffed with random things.  We are now officially moved in - all of our boxes have been unpacked.  It only took 2 months!

One big thing that makes my week easier is when I can get meals planned and groceries bought on Sunday.  I'm really looking forward to feeding my family some good food this week.

Monday:
B: Turkey bacon, egg and cheese english muffins
L: Chicken salad with crackers and raspberries
S: Roasted vegetable soup and grilled cheese

Tuesday:
B: yogurt and cherry/almond granola
L: PBJ sandwiches, chips and grapes
S: Crock pot beef stew with root veggies and egg noodles

Wednesday:
B: Cereal
L: Chopped salad or rolled up turkey/cheese with fruit and veggies
S: Rice bowls with beans and veggie toppings

Thursday:
B: Oatmeal
L: Mini homemade pizzas
S: (at the park) - Make your own sub sandwiches, chips, fruit

Friday:
Leftovers or turkey burgers

Snacks - popcorn, brownies, smoothies, dried fruit
Drink - We drink a lot of water during the day.  I'm doing some research now on a good filter for us to invest in that will get rid of the chlorine.
__________________

I did my shopping this week at Harris Teeter and Whole Foods.  Thanks to coupons and sales I was able to splurge on a couple of special things for our gluten free Squirt...cereal bars and Lara Bars.  She picked lemon pie and blueberry muffin this time.  While at Whole Foods I picked up one of their plain, prepared, organic rotisserie chickens.  I just had to heat up some peas and throw a few raspberries on our plates and supper was done when we got home!  The rest of the chicken will be used for chicken salad and the bones are in the crock pot now with salt, pepper, a couple bay leaves, water, carrots, celery and onion.  I'll have tasty stock in the morning to use for a couple of meals this week.  That was a good $7 spent!

Trip to the West Coast

Last month Chris and I had the opportunity to fly out to the west coast.  Technically, we went for "work" (Church planter's boot camp) but we fit in lots of fun too!  I met a couple new great girlfriends and we now have a list of friends to visit in California.

A few things that stuck out in my mind.....

• Seagulls in San Francisco are way bigger than the ones close to home.
• I love the sound of the wind blowing through palm trees.
• The Golden Gate Bridge is pretty impressive but you really have to see it in person to appreciate it.
• Mediterranean flavored cheese tastes really good.
• I have no desire to live in a big hustling/bustling city.
• People in small town visitors centers know their stuff.
• If In-N-Out Burgers made it's way to the east coast they'd have our business.
• I don't like flying.  I get dizzy and light-headed at every take off and land.  
• Vineyards and wineries are beautiful.
• White wine is still my favorite....I just can't make red work for me.
• Grapes right off of a vine are so much better than from the store shelves.
• Give me the East Coast beaches any day.  

Homeschool Week 2

Practicing writing Chinese numbers

Last week we "visited" our first country of the school year.  We're using Confessions of a Homeschooler's Expedition Earth curriculum and love it so far!

Little man can now find China on a map and locate it's capital.  He knows the population, how to say hello and thank you in mandarin and that they have a really strict government.  We studied a few of the animals found in China and his favorite were the pandas and the snow leopard.  He really enjoyed watching a documentary on the Great Wall with his daddy.

We read "The Story About Ping" and "Tikki Tikki Tembo".

We went out for Chinese food and Little Man tasted sweet and sour chicken and sesame chicken.  He preferred the sweet and sour without the sauce....basically just chicken nuggets!

He hasn't received his China postcard yet, but it's on the way.  He still has no idea that he'll be getting these.  I'm pretty excited about it.
___________________________

In math we focused on different kinds of graphs and charts: venn diagrams, tally charts, picture graphs. I let him poll my Facebook friends to make a tally chart of his own.  He scored a 100% on his test at the end of the week!
___________________________

Spelling words this week were a, of, the, and, -at family words.  He practiced writing them, spelling them and using them in sentences.  He scored a 100% on this test too!
___________________________

Each day he did independent reading and I have seen such an improvement in his skill!  I didn't even sit with him for this.  He made his way through the 1st complete set of BOB books (which we were able to check out from the library!)  He can read aloud or to himself during this time.  If he gets stumped I will go over to help him.  He spells the word for me and usually he can figure it out without any help from me!  A big goal we reached was him being able to read most of his math work on his own.
___________________________

We also took a family trip to the aquarium before our yearly passes expired.  We spent lots of time with Luna, the albino alligator.  There was a volunteer standing at her exhibit that Little Man had lots of good questions for.

Things Others Have Taught Us

"The Clearwater family is heading west.  But when Granny and LIttle Critter get thrown from the wagon, they are quickly on their own.  Full of determination and armed with a taste for adventure, the plucky pair set out to find the rest of the Clearwater clan.  On the way they catch an infamous thief, deliver mail on a Pony Express, and pan for gold.  This Wild West tall take is packed with larger-than-life characters and good old swagger!"
-From the inside of the book

Granny Clearwater was very clever and used tips and tricks she'd learned from her family to get them where they needed to be.  I wondered what our kids had learned from their family.

Little Man 

• Grandaddy taught me how to make train set-ups
• Grandma taught me how to chew gum
• Daddy taught me how to use a hammer
• Mommy taught me how to be the best back rubber
• Aunt Katie taught me how to write
• Nanama taught me how to cook
• Papa taught me how to use a gun
• Uncle Jason taught me everything about Batman
• Uncle Matt taught me how to play video games

Squirt

• Grandaddy and Grandma taught me how to do flips
• Nanama taught me how to sing Frere Jacques
• Papa taught me how to ride in the back of a truck
• Aunt Teri taught me how to drink water while chewing gum
• Mommy taught me how to make coffee
• Daddy taught me how to sip coffee
• Silas and Ariel taught me how to clean my room

Welcome Back Daddy!

EDIT:  Turns out we didn't leave early.  His flight was delayed and the kids and I slept in.  We drove to visit my parents since they live a little closer to the airport and we weren't sure exactly what time Chris' flight would arrive.  He didn't get in until about 7pm and the kids didn't want to ride to the airport. He got his signs when he got back to my parents!
______________________________________

The kids and I left early this morning to meet Chris at the airport.  He's had a great time this past week in Manta, Equador and has lots of stories/pictures to share.

It shouldn't be hard for him to find us...we'll be the cute ones with the homemade signs that can hardly contain our excitement that he's back.

His goal was to cover it completely with stickers.  I love the little beach scene he made in the bottom , right corner. 

According to Squirt, that's a picture of my face.  She did everything on her own, except for the purple words.