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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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. 

Homemade Lasagna

I love lasagna....really any pasta dish, paired with a salad and bread is A-OK in my book.  Up until this week I've always made it in the crock pot.  This recipe was so easy and delicious I had to share.

Ingredients

8 ounces, weight Cottage Cheese (or substitute whole milk ricotta)

16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella, Slice 6 Thin Slices And Then Cut The Rest Into 1/2" Chunks, Divided Use

½ cups Finely Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 whole Egg

3 Tablespoons Fresh Basil, Minced (I substituted dry basil...didn't measure, just tossed it in)

2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano

2 whole Large Handfuls Fresh Spinach (I used a whole bag of frozen, spinach that I thawed and drained)

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 jar (32 Oz. Jar) Sauce (I used Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara)

1 package (9 To 10 Oz. Package) No-cook Lasagna Noodles

8 ounces, weight Crimini Mushrooms (I used sliced, baby bellas that were on sale at Aldi)

2 cups Italian turkey sausage, casing removed; meat cooked and drained

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the ricotta, mozzarella chunks, parmesan, egg, basil, oregano, spinach, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Pour a couple of tablespoons of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×13″ pan. Then place 3 to 4 noodles in a single layer over the sauce. Then spread half the cheese mixture over the noodles as evenly as you can get it. Sprinkle half the mushrooms and half the chicken over the cheese mixture then cover with some more spaghetti sauce. Layer 3 to 4 more noodles over the top and repeat layers, ending with a layer of noodles. Top the final layer of noodles with a little more of the spaghetti sauce and then the fresh mozzarella slices.

Cover and bake about 40 minutes. Then uncover and bake another 10 minutes just to brown things up a bit, but if you are pressed for time, you could skip this part.

Remove and let set for about 10 minutes before serving.  Top with fresh parsley.  

Too Small to Ignore

I recently finished the book "Too Small to Ignore" by Compassion International president Dr. Wess Stafford.  You've got to read it!

Towards the end of the book he quotes Francis Xavier: "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man."  He continues with an incredible example that makes so much sense...

"When you poke your finger into wet cement, you get instant results.  You don't have to push very hard.  The indentation is there for all to see.  That's what it is like to bring the imprint of Jesus to a child's soul.  

Later on, as the cement begins to set up, you have to push harder to make an impression.  So it is with ministry to teenagers and college students.  The fact of their unique culture creates greater resistance.

When it comes to full-scale adults, the concrete has become like rock.  If you want to reshape the spirit at this point, you need a hammer and a chisel.

This is why is makes good strategic sense to concentrate our efforts on the most receptive stages of life - the early ones.  Otherwise, we'll miss the golden opportunities."

The most important focus of my efforts as a mama (along with the help of their daddy) is to imprint Jesus in their lives.  I desperately want them to see Jesus, to love Jesus, to know that He loves them.  At 6 and 3 they're still in the "easy to leave a mark" stage but time is all to quickly moving along.

A few weeks ago my husband preached about Ascending the Hill - The Battle for Family at Kinetic Church.  He used Deuteronomy 6:4-9.  We're commanded here to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and strength...to keep that always on our hearts, to impress it on our children, to talk about it at home, when walking, when lying down and when getting up.  That's a huge responsibility but oh so important.

I will invest in my kids.

I will pray for them.  

I will teach them.

I will be patient with them.

I will dance silly dances and sing silly songs with them.

I will listen to them.

I will snuggle with them.

I will encourage them.

I will let them know that they are important and that God has created them for a unique purpose.

Join me?

New Friends

The kids and I spent this rainy afternoon at our local library (super close to our home).  Squirt is our social child these days and is very interested in other people...especially those her age.  Thanks to her I met a new friend who works part time and stays home with her 2 girls (one who shares the same name as Squirt!) the other part.  She's involved in the local MOPS group and has lived in the area a couple of years.

In other news....the three of us have survived a week without daddy home!  We're excited that we have one more day before our home is complete again.

Little Explorers

The kids and I went exploring this afternoon and ended up at Carolina Beach State Park.  We stopped by the visitors center first where we met one of the park rangers and he gave us the 411 on the park.  Sea turtle shows, snake exhibits, nature trails, fishing, boating, camping - Little Man could hardly contain his excitement!

Showing off their ranger stickers.

Both kids were really interested in the hands-on exhibit/education area.  They matched animals to their habitats, pretended to be an insect avoiding prey while flying around the water, captured a stuffed fly with a venus flytrap puppet and read/looked at information on several native carnivorous plants.  

Thankfully we had Little Man's binoculars and compass/whistle tool in the car.  He was disappointed he didn't have his belt to hook it all to.  

We decided to walk the Flytrap-Trail in search of venus flytraps.  On the way we saw a deer grazing in the woods.  We were unsuccessful in the flytrap hunt Little Man did point out 2 other carnivorous plants - the pitcher plant and the butterwort.  

We hope to catch one of the ranger lead hikes around the Flytrap-Trail.  The ranger we met today mentioned that they were tough fellas to scout if your eye wasn't trained.  We're also excited about taking our camping gear out one night once the weather cools a bit.  And...Little Man made note for grandaddy that the boat ramp area was really nice - they even have gas!  

On the way home I overheard Little Man saying he was carnivorous and his sister was an omnivore because she likes vegetables and meat.  

New

Chris and I grew up in the same small town.  We know lots of the same people from back home.  We first met as kids in a high school geometry class.  Almost 10 years, 7 moves, 2 kids and 4 church families later we find ourselves in yet another new spot.  I'm so glad we're doing this together.

This week Chris is in Equador with Stadia and Compassion International.  We were able to talk tonight thanks to facetime and mentioned how cool it was that we could talk and see each other while being on 2 different continents.  I was immediately reminded of how difficult it was back in 2001 for us to talk while he was away at college.  My how times have changed!  

The kids started school today.  

Little Man is in first grade. We're using Confessions of a Homeschooler's Expedition Earth this year and are very excited about it! She's actually doing a giveaway this week and you could win your own!  We'll also be working through the Red Learning Language Arts Through Literature book.  For Math we'll continue with the McGraw-Hill first grade books we got from a friend whose school was throwing them out.  We'll practice handwriting using a mixture of weekly word lists, a handwriting workbook from BJU given to us by a veteran homeschooler and occasional creative writing prompts.  We'll be incorporating science throughout but aren't using any particular curriculum.  So far I have plans to study space, the human body, and simple tools.  We may also do some of the experiments in this free e-book.  We'll also have calendar time each day as well as Bible reading.  I'm sure there will be lots of library trips for this book loving family too.  Other trips will probably be the planetarium, the aquarium, the museum of life and science and the children's museum.  

Squirt will be doing preschool.  We will be working on letter recognition because she seems very interested in it.  We'll also be using different resources from our Smart Start Resource Center to play and learn.  Today we checked out one about the beach!  She'll also do a lot of coloring, cutting, gluing and playing.

Tonight I made lasagna and had a few girlfriends come over to share.  I learned that a childhood friend lives just around the corner and she has kids close to Little Mans age.    We've finally begun to settle into somewhat of a normal life routine and that makes me happy.  We are home.  We are together.  Life is good.