Changes are in the works!

Check out the new pages I just installed! I'm very excited. Also, new Menu Monday tomorrow, I'm a week off.

Enjoy! Later, gators.

Menu Plan Monday

Not sure if I've mentioned any of this before, but here are some odd requirements I have for my dinner plans:

1 - We cannot have the same type of meat two days in a row.

2 - We must have a meat/protein, starch and vegetable per meal.

3 - Only one "sandwich" meal per week.

4 - Only one pasta meal per week.

5 - Only one cheesy or red sauce item per week. For example, we cannot have spaghetti AND chicken parmigiana in the same week.

6 - Only one casserole per week.

I know they're weird, but it helps me from cooking the same fourteen meals twice a month. When my kids get bored with a meal, they pick at it and don't eat, but then complain about 'starving' half an hour after dinner. At any rate, here's our plan this week.

Sunday: we had marinated chicken, rice and seasoned mixed veggies.

Monday: Salisbury steak, mashed garlic potatoes, green beans.

Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas, corn and spanish rice.

Wednesday: Spaghetti and Turkey meat sauce, green salad and garlic bread.

Thursday: Sweet & Sour Chicken, rice and carrots.

Friday: Ham Steaks, mac & cheese, and broccoli.

Saturday: Burgers and fries, with sliced cucumbers and peppers on the side.

As per usual, when life gets in the way of meals, I will pull something quick and easy out of the pantry or freezer, and take that evening's meal and apply it towards next week's menu plan.

Questions? Comments? Recipe requests? I'm all ears.

Later, gators.

Here I go again!

People who know me personally will not be shocked at all that there's approximately nine months between my last post and this. I dive into a project head first, then dedicate myself to it so vehemently that I almost burn out, then don't ever pick it back up again. However, a friend of mine (mommisaurusrex.blogspot.com) started her own blog, and it inspired me to pick mine back up again.

People who don't know me will totally understand why I haven't blogged when I explain that over the last seven months of my life we have moved across the country, fought (and won!) a nasty custody case, and received heart breaking news about my brother (in-law) having Stage 4 Lung Cancer. Add that to the normal day-to-day operations of having four kids with the age span we have, blogging was last on my list.

But now I'm back, in full effect, to share the oddities that pop up in my days, to lessen the feeling of isolation living in a new place, to maybe impart some ideas, tips and tricks to those of you who are in the same boat.

Among the major changes listed above, some other things have changed. Booger has started public school again. Where we lived in Idaho had some pretty lousy schools, and so there he was way to cool for school. Here in Delaware, the schools are fantastic. Fan. Tast. Ic. Really. Boog is totally kicking arse and taking names at school and is being put in the ACE program next year. I forgot what that stands for, but he'll be in an inclusion classroom with kids aged 4th grade through 8th grade, where everyone can work at his/her own pace. I'm stoked. Hojo, the oldest, has recently returned to school (whoo hoo!! Mommy's so proud of you!!) and also has two jobs. With the older three at school/work all day, it's just Weenie and I kickin' around the house. I'm going stark raving mad. I'm trying really hard to get involved in a playgroup for the both of us, but with a possible upcoming move (yeah, again, stinkin' military) I'm a little apprehensive. And lazy.

Well, there you have it folks. I'm back again. I'll be posting Monday Meal Plan again, later this afternoon. I'm also planning on posting about our chore charts, my cleaning schedule (which is similar to a FlyLady routine, but I refuse to wear shoes in my house), and possibly about MommyRobics, which takes normal household chores and turns them into fat burners. Aren't you excited? I kinda am.

Later, gators!

Monday again?! Meal Plan

So I'm learning that sometimes you can't follow a meal plan. In the past I've done menus and after two weeks I stopped making them because there were days where I didn't follow it exactly and felt like I failed. But, hey guess what? I have kids.



There are days where plans change, and therefore menus change. So do bedtimes and school schedules and all sorts of other stuff. But that doesn't mean I give up on all of our routines and such, which is a good thing because anarchy at our house is unpleasant to say the least. I've seen it before, and I'll not go back on my own accord.



We didn't camp last weekend (thanks to Idaho weather where it's been snowing and raining and too windy to take an asthmatic toddler out). That means we didn't have camping food, which means my menu got all messed up, but that's okay. It's still saving us money on shopping day (which is tomorrow for me), and helps keep me a little bit more sane. Okay, scratch that, because sanity runs thin around here, but the meal plan does help me feel like there's one less thing 'up in the air' from day to day.



Anyway, here's the plan for this week...



Monday - Cheese Quesidillas, green beans, Spanish rice.



Tuesday - Chicken and Rice, peas and carrots.



Wednesday - Pizza Pasta, green salad.



Thursday - No idea yet. Something with beef to even out my chickeny week. Will be inspired by coupons and sale ads this afternoon.



Friday - Chicken Jenn (an easy yummy meal, chunks of chicken, diced green and red peppers, diced onions, a can of alfredo sauce, white wine, and whatever seasonings Hubbs adds: throw it all together and serve over rice or noodles).



Saturday - Meatball Subs.



Sunday - Pork Ribs I think. Not sure of sides. I don't grill stuff, so I'll have to talk with Hubbs to see if he's interested in firing up the grill.



I'm off to clip and gather coupons, write my list, and peruse the fridge for whatever leftovers may play a part in lunches this week.



Later, gators!

Wow, it's Wednesday?

So here's my Meal Plan, even though it's not Monday.

Sunday - We had chicken with diced onions and some sort of home made marinade, thanks to Hubbs. Green beans and rice rounded off the meat-veggie-starch requirements.

Monday - I've been ill, and Hubbs graciously allowed pizza. Epic failure, however, was finding a coupon that would have saved us $7 three hours after the pizza was devoured.

Tuesday - Hamburger Helper, cheeseburger macaroni. It's my kids' favorite, and it's cheap. And I'm sick, remember??

Wednesday - Spaghetti w/red sauce, salad and rescent rolls. I'll make Hubbs white sauce for his since he doesn't like red sauce (I know, he's weird.)

Thursday - Pork Chops, butter noodles and carrots. I really hope I'll be feeling better by then.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday - CAMPING!! Woo Hoo!!! Camping meals are obviously a little different than table dinners, but the main difference with us is that we're not so stuck to the meat-veggie-starch routine. Side dishes include potato, macaroni and pasta salads, and veggies are usually non-existent unless we get inspired to do veggie kabobs, or find good corn on the cob.
Friday - Burgers and dogs.
Saturday - Pork Spare Ribs, in Hubbs' delicious 'ancient Chinese secret' rub.
Sunday - Chicken quarters.

Hope this gives someone an idea, though this week is probably not so inspiring. However, I'll say again, it helps me having it committed to paper. Or screen. Whatever. =)

Later, gators.

Tot School

My son Booger is advanced. I hate sounding all braggy, but it's true. By birth, he should be finishing second grade, but according to the assessments we completed today, his vocabulary and reading comprehension are at a solid eighth grade level, his math is somewhere between third and fourth grade. There aren't any history or science assessments that I could find, but since our local school system doesn't start history until fourth grade and science until fifth or sixth, I imagine he's ahead in those as well.

I didn't do this on purpose. When he was born I didn't actively set out for him to be Malcolm in the Middle (maybe that's stretching it, he's not *quite* that smart). I didn't start with flash cards and math drills while he was still in a high chair. I didn't intentionally teach him at all. I read to him a lot, and as soon as he went into a big boy bed (16 months) he would sneak out at night and bring half the bookshelf over to the nightlight. Other than reading, I didn't do anything special.

I did, however, have a home day care. I originally started "just watching other peoples' kids" to earn some money. I soon learned that bored kids are bad kids, and also discovered that God blessed me with the ability to teach. So I designed my own preschool curriculum and started advertising home base preschool program. From the time Boog was 8 months old, he sat at Circle Time with the preschoolers, or went to story time at the local library. He participated in all of the arts and crafts, obviously in an age appropriate manner, and all of the field trips. Booger got smart by osmosis.

I don't do home day care anymore, nor do I teach preschool. While homeschooling Booger (as lax as it was this past year) I realized that Weenie is getting old enough that she doesn't take a morning nap and will need something to keep her occupied. While going through the curriculum choices for Booger (and FINALLY have made some choices, more to come on that), I wondered what on Earth am I going to do with Weenie to keep her busy? I've become very familiar with other homeschooling moms who blog about having various ages of children to teach (please check out the buttons listed to the left, they are some fantastic ladies and they offer a plethora of knowledge on all sorts of stuff). So between perusing other homeschooling moms' blogs, I've decided that Weenie isn't too young for an actual curriculum. I've designed curriculum for the preschool age, and thought it would be easy to come up with a toddler curriculum. However, with all of the different roles I play (wife, mom, home school teacher, Sunday school teacher, youth group teacher, college student, housewife, etc.) the thought of doing one more thing nearly made me sick to my stomach. So I did some more research. There are free, online, pre-made toddler curricula out there on the world wide web! Who knew?!

My goal with Weenie is to provide three intentional activities a day (I cannot for the life of me remember who else said the same thing, but I thought it was a great idea and if you're reading this and have said the same thing in your own blog, please comment so I can give credit where credit is due!). I will be combining two different pre-made curriculum programs, (Slow and Steady Get Me Ready, by June R. Oberlander; and an online program I found at http://www.pammshouse.com/toddlers) and working in activities I get emailed to me by a fabulous fellow Tweeter who has an awesome webpage (http://www.play-activities.com/)

How about you guys? Do you have a toddler that you're using a curriculum with? What has worked with you for scheduling time with little guys versus the big guys? What does this look like at your house? I'd love to hear from y'all!!

And I promise, next post (okay, maybe post after next) will be about Booger's curriculum, and how our family does scheduling and such. Until then, later gators!

Meal Plan Monday

If you have read any of my Tweets, you'll know that I detest cooking. Hubbs is a killer chef, but he works 3p-11p and therefore he isn't here to prepare our meals. That leaves me struggling in the kitchen. I used to peruse the grocery store freezer section for casseroles and easy stuff, box dinners and the like. Since our new budget plan is in effect, those things really add up and we're trying to cut our grocery bill. So while I'm not baking from complete scratch, I am having to actually cook. Breakfasts and lunches are a free for all around here, three out of four kids and a husband can prepare their own daytime meals, and it saves me time and frustration. So all I do is dinner. My mother-in-law has taught me that each meal must have a meat, vegetable, and a starch.

Monday - Philly Cheese Steaks (is that all one word?), the peppers and onions count for the vegetable and the buns count for the starch. I'll add a salad for myself to fill up so I only have half a sandwich, as I am trying to eat a little healthier.

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken, corn, and an envelope rice (we get the store brand because they're cheaper and taste just the same).

Wednesday - Tortellini w/ white sauce, crescent rolls and salad. I have Youth Group on Wednesdays, so it's always a quicker meal as we have to be out of the house by 5:45 and don't get home until after 9.

Thursday - Pork chops, carrots, and an envelope noodle.

Friday - Chicken Patty Parmigiana, broccoli and rolls. My kids love this, and it's not too expensive and it's easy, so it's a meal I'm keeping from my lazy days. Coat a baking dish with a layer of red sauce, plop as many frozen chicken patties in there that will fit, cover with a layer of red sauce, top with shredded cheese, cover and bake at 350* for 20 minutes or so.

Saturday - Leftovers, we call this Fend For Yourself day.

Sunday - No idea yet. Sundays are our big family dinners, since Hubbs is home with us, and he usually prepares this meal. He says he cannot be held down to a menu plan, as he is inspired on a whim and goes to the store to get what he needs. This goes against all I know about budgeting and cutting a grocery bill, but I let him have this freedom because whatever he comes up with is always mouth-watering delicious.

Hope this helps someone out there. Just posting it and making it concrete has helped me! Thanks!

Later, gators!