Back To School 2011

1st day of school... home school style!

Poor Neglected Blog!

What a whirlwind we have been on! I just wanted to say that November was a wonderful month filled with so many blessings! My brother returned safe and in one piece from Afghanistan!!! I can't think of anything better than that! We were able to visit with him twice in one month - a miracle! Spending family time with him, my sister in law and my super adorable nephew was so amazing! We had a lovely Thanksgiving and we are ready to enjoy the season of advent! We have so much planned for the coming month - I will try to be a better blogger :)

Roots

We are learning all about roots this week!

To make this fun experiment we wet a paper towel and placed it in a plastic baggie. 

Then we put a lima bean seed in the bag too. 

We taped the baggies up in a sunny window and then we watched. 

Thankfully this is a quick sprouting seed. 

By day 2 the bean had swelled to double it's original size. 

The next day there was a big crack in the shell and a little sprout was peeking out. 

After a few days we had a ton of roots! I love semi instant gratification!

A few days after that we had a nice green shoot popping out the top and then we had leaves! The kids have been so excited about this experiment! 

We have also learned about plant cells (yawn) and xylem. 

Photosynthesis was fun to talk about and ecosystems kept their attention too. 

We watched a cool DVD from Eyewitness that reminded me of the science movies we used to watch on projectors at school (sadly dating myself) . Do you remember the movies where they filmed a flower bloom and then sped it up? This movie was similar to those. It was really cool!

We made a chart of growth and the kids labeled the different parts of the plant. 

We mounted them on construction paper, I think they look very nice! 

The ONLY issue is that we are done with the plant chapter 

and I still have little baggies of lima beans taped to my window...

no one wants me to take them down....

so.....

Meal Planning 101

Or something like that!

I am by no means an expert but this is what I do...

1st - I get my calendar out and I see what we have going on for the month.
Then I cry about how busy we are for a few minutes.
Then I pull myself together and get busy.

2nd - I get out a piece of binder paper, my pen, my cookbooks and food magazines and park myself on the couch by the laptop (in case I need a recipe or inspiration!) I number the paper from 1 to 30 or 31 depending on the month. Or 28 or 29 for those of you that are all technical like ;) And write the day of the week next to it ie M T W etc so it looks like this....
1 M -
2 T -
3 W -

3rd - Then I see how many quick meal nights we have on the books. These are sport nights, meeting nights, and whatever else we might have planned at night nights. On these nights I write in one of our quick and easy staples like baked potato, sandwiches, quesodilla etc

4th - This is the fun part! Once I am done filling in the boring "quick meal" nights, I start going over the meals I want to make. I buy mostly local foods so I cook whatever is in season. Right now the summer fruits and veggies are winding down but Fall is gearing up! I LOVE to cook so I try to add a few meals each month that challenge me with new techniques and some that will challenge my family with new flavors. This can take a while but it is fun for me so I don't mind. I have a bit of a cookbook problem, I can't stop buying them! I also love food magazines - right now I am loving recipes from Real Simple, Sunset and Yum ! I could spend hours pouring over the pages and rereading all of the recipes and articles - total joy!

5th - After I have it all figured out I make a grocery list. And voila! All done :)

I grocery shop in stages...
Once a month I go to Costco.
Once every 2 weeks I get a box from my CSA.
Once a week I go to the farmers market or other local fruit and veggie stand.
Once a week I go to the grocery store.

Sometimes I put the menu on a weekly meal planner that hangs on the fridge. Sometimes I just hang the binder paper on the fridge. It isn't a perfect system, sometimes I forget to thaw the meat or plans change. But, when that happens I just try to roll with it and swap meals if necessary or just flat out pull out something different. Anyway, this is what I do, I hope it helps!

October Dinner Menu

In an effort to be more organized and, therefore more relaxed, I am going to start making a monthly meal plan. October is a great month to start adding a few Fall recipes and comfort food so I am going to throw in a few of our family favorites. We have soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays so those days are going to be baked potato and panini days BUT I am going to mix up the topping and stuffings a bit. Wednesdays are noted with a "WNL" because we go to church on Wednesday nights and they bless us with a home style family dinner! So, this is what I have planned - if you want any of the recipes leave me a comment and I will be sure to post it for you!

October Dinner Menu

4 - CSA Chili

5 - Baked Potato - traditional

6 - WNL

7 - Panini - green apple and sharp cheddar

8 - Coq au Vin

9 - Crock pot French Dip with Tater tots and baked apples

10 - My Dad's 60th Birthday Dinner - fajitas!

11 - Baked chicken, summer squash and garlic bread

12 - Baked Potato - broccoli and cheese

13 - WNL

14 - panini - brie and peppers

15 - PW Sloppy Joes - these are divine!

16 - Cider braised pork loin

17 - Taco Soup

18 - Greek Pitas

19 - Baked potato - pizza style

20 - WNL

21 - Panini - bacon and avocado with Jack cheese

22 - Build Your Own Burrito or BYOB

23 - "Meat casserole" by Bobbly Flay (ok, it is meatloaf - don't tell my family)

24 - Apple Chicken Chili by Rachael Ray

25 - Stir Fry

26 - Baked potato - salsa and jack cheese

27 - WNL

28 - Panini - mozzerella and sundried tomatoes

29 - Stuffed pasta shells

30 - French dip, tater tots and baked apples

31 - Harvest Stew and CANDY!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Happy 9th Birthday Baby Boy!

                                                              

Happy Birthday!

3 years ago today my twins were born.