Old Standbys, and eating out...

OK, I've been rather absent posting these lately, but thought maybe I'd take a shot at it this week...
Now things are a little "in flux" because we have company (My dad and his bride) coming this week, but I'm going to do my best~

Monday~ Pizza with Pesto and Sausage, and Pizza with Pesto and carmelized Onion
Tuesday~ Tuna Salad Sandwiches and Salad!
Wednesday~ Airport pick-up.... probably dinner out
Thursday~ Maybe... possibly....hopefully.... Seafood! (Possbily Lobster, steamers, Corn on the Cob, and Potato Salad... maybe even Watermelon! ;) DH cooks the seagood, I'll make the Potato Salad )
Friday~ French Fry Soup and Salad before our first AWANA club meeting of the year~ it's a family affair at our house! :)
Saturday~ Dinner with both FIL's... likely out (Or carry out), and based on what I know of both fathers.... Seafood again! :)
Sunday we have a double digit birthday boy, and he'd like to go to Texas Roadhouse. I'm going to try to dissuade him, and suggest a nice picnic instead, but we shall see.... birthdays only come once a year.

YIPES!  Dinner out possibly 3 times??? EGADS! However, this is what often happens when famly visits infrequently... should be fun! :)

Be sure to check out lots of other menu plans by clicking the picture/link at the top of my post~ Blessings~

Homeschool 2010~ (or Ode to the Mighty Glue Stick)

Just thought I'd try to keep a little record here of what we're doing this year. My fingers aren't so grand at typing right now (Have a "Ganglion cyst" at the base of my right wrist that is causing me some trouble~ going to see a hand/wrist ortho guy on Friday...), and adding pictures is a little difficult, but I will make an effort. ;)

Today we started by reading an overview of Gladys Aylward in Dave and Neta Jackson's Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes** . I am looking forward to this series, which will I will use to incorporate Bible, history, and Character education. Very Cool!

Both kids whipped through their spelling, and math. While Middlest was still at his math, Eldest read Littlest his Before Five In a Row (BFIAR) book with him, and started on his first lapbook (from the Homeschool Share site). Excellent! He is soooo loving this! Then Eldest went right to work on her science, and Middlest was working on his writing.

After 1.5 hours of paining my right wrist(grrr.... printer cover is too heavy!), and trying to get my printer software and my computer to cooperate, I finally was able to reproduce some timeline pics (legally allowed) from Ultimate Geography And Timeline Guide** (my understanding is that the newest printing of this book includes the images on CD-Rom... YAY!) , and finally get to History. We just decided on what course to do today, so how is that for last minute? The kids wanted to actually go through a complete era in History for a change (instead of our patchwork history via reviews for the TOS Crew the past 2 years), so we are just "Reading" in Story of the World Vol 1 to catch us up to where we left off in Mystery of History Vol 1. We then plan to combine the two together using this schedule (BTW, that site, Paula's Archives" has a wealth of information~ I often forget to check there, and then slap myself upside the head when I finally remember! ;) )

So that was it for the day, time to eat a quick bite and get Eldest off to Irish Step-dance, for her first class of the week. Then to the voting booth, and a quick run to CVS and Market Basket.

One most excellent benefit to the start of the "official school year"  that I am noticing right away, is that Littlest isn't clamoring for PBS television right off the bat, and Eldest isn't trying to use it to "Babysit"... everyone is too busy! :) 

On the other hand, I may have to buy stock in one adhesive company or another.... I put a glue stick in each child's new school supplies~ we've frequently had glues sticks dry up at our house from lack of use, so I only bought one package when they were on sale at Staples. Major miscalculation! Littlest does NOT follow his siblings inclination to keep their fingers clean! It's only "Day 2", and he's gone through a half a stick of glue! Yikes! (At least "some" of it was used very purposefully on the lapbook, but this kid just loves to cut scraps of paper, and then glue them in stacks... piece on top of piece....)

So... on with the adventure~ we shall see what tomorrow brings, as my plans are laid as we walk through this week. (Next week should go MUCH more smoothly from MY perspective at least.)

Blessings~

The First Day of Homeschool Year 2010-2011

Well... FINALLY~ Monday we started off RJP's 8th grade, JDP 1's 5th Grade, and JDP 2's Pre-K3 grade of school!

The kids took their traditional photos on the front steps,