Back To (Home) School

It seems like July just started and now it's almost over. Thanks to my dear sister on Facebook, I am now informed that August 1st comes Monday. There's no denying it now, August is staring me right in the face, teasing that school will be starting in T minus 24 days. Slightly earlier then that comes- curriculum ordering.

I'll have $2400 worth of school funds to spend. Then when December comes, I'll have another $2400 more to spend. No, don't come to my house asking for it, it all stays with the school. We are lucky to have such a wonderful charter school, and I am thrilled to be able to pick exactly what the kids need for their learning styles.

There's just one problem. I have no idea of what to get. Well, I have reading planned out, both Princess and Daredevil will do Lexia Learning for reading/phonics. Genius will continue with Reading Plus and Voyages in English. So there, that's one subject down. I'm still on the fence about Saxon Math. I have no idea what they will be using for Science and History. Some curriculum is too simple, and some are too complicated. I like Science in a Nutshell, but Genius needs more detail.

The kids want to take PE again, which I was on the fence about, but I think I'll sign them up again. Gas didn't go above $4 a gallon and stay there, so it is doable again. Princess wants to take dance class, and I found a studio in our city. Daredevil mentioned Karate, and I think we can fit that in, since there is a place in our city for it. At least when things are within a few miles, it's not as big of a deal. It's when it's a 30 min trip both ways that we run into problems.

But before we plan all the fun stuff, I still have to figure out what will be done for Science and History. And Math. In 24 days. Genius will be a 5th grader, Daredevil in 2nd, and Princess in K. Plus, I am on the Parent Council for the next 2 years.

There are days when I feel like I just started down the homeschool road, and days when I think I am an old pro. This will be our 6th year of homeschooling. I still can't believe that we have all stuck through it. We haven't had anyone run off to the public school yet, so something must be going right.

I'll just have to have a parent-teacher conference with myself and plan out the next school year in the next week or two.

Birthday Countdown!

Zero!

One!

Two!

Three!

Four!!!!

And here comes....

FIVE!!

Happy Birthday!

Giggles

I was looking through pictures to pick some for Princess's birthday post. I came across these picture that sum up her birth perfectly. I didn't remember seeing these, but when I did, I laughed. I sure got a giggle out of them.

Me. Pregnant & laboring.

There's a baby, and off we go!

Princess was born in the same hospital that Octomom had her babies (a few years later). They aren't very modern there- you were screened in one room, labored in another, delivered in a third, recovered in a fourth, and then had a fifth room until you went home. I was convinced from the start that I was going to have her in the labor room. The labor room was a wall, a foot and a half, the bed, and another foot and a half, then the wall. There was a tiny bathroom about the size of a closet. I asked the nurse if anyone had delivered in the labor room and she told me it didn't happen very often. Needless to say, the Doctor didn't listen and I had that baby (just about grabbed by my hubby), in the labor room. They rushed us to delivery to weigh her (I thought they had the wrong weight- 6lbs, 6oz). Then off to recovery. Princess is also the only baby that my Mom missed her birth, by about an hour. She was also my smallest baby, and the only girl.

4 moms, 35 kids- Lunchtime!

Share your lunch ideas and get more from Smockity Frocks, The Common Room, Life in a Shoe, & Raising Olives!

For lunch around here we have a few things we like to rotate around:

1) French Fries- not the healthiest, but sooo yummy! We fry them up, and sometimes eat them with cheese. I like cajun seasoning on mine. Sometimes we put season salt on them too.

2) Rice & Chicken- I make rice in the rice cooker, and add some frozen chicken (I usually get the orange frozen chicken) into the top tray. It cooks the chicken and the rice through at the same time. I also do rice and frozen veggies too.

3) Sandwiches. PB & J, or on the special occasion, ham or turkey- I'm working on the kids to be specific on if they want ham or turkey- they call them both ham, but get mad when I make them a real ham sandwich, because they wanted  turkey.

4) Hot dogs- Again, not the healthiest, but it's quick and easy on the grill.

5) Hamburgers- I buy frozen patties and grill them. Usually with fries.

6) Fruit- They pig out on fruit and don't ask for lunch. Yum!

7) Pizza from Little Caesars- $5 for a medium, $10 to feed everyone, and I didn't have to cook for anyone. Frozen pizzas are around $4 for a decent one, for the extra $1 it gives me a break from cooking!

8) Soup- only when it's cold. It's too hot for soup right now.

9)Grilled cheese sandwiches- We have a grilled cheese maker so the older kids can do this on their own.

10) Leftovers from dinner- Usually I eat these.

11) Chicken or cheese Quesadillas- Yum! Especially with some leftover grilled chicken from the night before!

Hopefully some of these ideas are helpful! I use Money Saving Mom's menu planners to plan out 2 weeks of food at a time, since they give you space for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I plan out the month roughly with the name of what meat will be served, then figure out the specifics later. I'm looking forward to finding more lunch ideas!

Busy, Busy

Summer is quickly coming to an end for us. School starts relatively soon- August 18th! July has flown by so fast, I know August is going to go by even faster. This Saturday is Princess' birthday, then comes hubby's and Daredevil's. Then school.

So we are trying to fit in some fun (not like we don't do the same fun during the year, but at least there's no schoolwork to be done). We've been to the beach, we've been to the park, we've been to the waterpark.

Finding a park with enough swings is quite the challenge!

First beach trip of 2011

Princess is still confused over going to school. There are a lot of schools in our community that we drive by on a daily basis. She still thinks she is going to one of those places. No matter how many times we go over and over that she is doing the same school as her brothers, she still thinks she's going somewhere. I know if I did send her, she'd be disappointed that she can't talk all day there. Since seriously, she talks non stop all day. She can't wait to take dance class and do schoolwork.

I'm just trying to figure out how on earth I am going to get her to stop talking and follow directions enough that I can still teach the other two. Genius is pretty independent, but he still needs help and explanations. Daredevil needs his own post for his difficulties. Oh, and Doorbuster spends most of his time expressing his displeasure at weaning. Especially in this heat!

Now I must go and clean and feed the masses something. And forget about school for the next week or two.

Well, We Did It!

We finally had our yard sale. It only took a few months to do. Finally I had enough of my garage being a huge storage shed and decided that today was the day. We were going to sort stuff the day before, and then put it out the next day. Upon further discussion, that just seemed like a waste of time, so we woke up early and just organized it in the morning. I priced everything at $.25, and only marked the things that were more. It was really quick and easy. We made about $100. I was just happy that it wasn't 100 degrees outside, and I didn't have to make lunch.

While we were outside, we got the garage rearranged, swept, and reorganized so everything is on one side, and you can actually park a car on the other side. It hasn't been that way for a loooong time! Now maybe I can get hubby to fix my parent-proof van door. For some reason (well, we closed it partway on something) only the inside handle works. The outside handle to open the door doesn't work. You have to open the passenger door, reach around and open the van door. You try doing that and not hitting the car next to you, while holding a baby. It's really hard. We park far away so I have room when we get back to the car for my door gymnastics. On the bright side, it opens, so I can live with it.

I meant to take a picture of our yard sale, but I forgot. I also went to the midnight Harry Potter showing the night before. When you add that to waking up at 5:30am for a yard sale, your brain starts to get a little fuzzy. Yesterday I tried to take a nap, but all I did was sleep very lightly and dream some crazy dreams. It was not restful and really make me groggy. It just stunk! Then I had to return the Potter movie I rented, and the machine was broken. I had to drive to another machine, then went to Target, and they had their summer stuff on clearance (YAY!). I got a picnic market basket, and a picnic blanket. That made my day a little better, I guess.

I'm very much looking forward to a shower and some sleep tonight!

Simple Daybook

AKA- Simple Thoughts From My Simple Head

(hahaha)

Outside my window...
Is someone's car that I haven't seen before parked in front of my house like they are visiting. But I don't have anyone over, and now I'm rather ticked that they are parked in front of my house and blocking my mailbox. Usually if someone blocks the mailbox, I wont get my mail. Today is the day that I get all the ads to plan my grocery trips, and I don't know who's car it is to get them to move. 

I am thinking...
That I'm going to have to mail my netflix movie back at the post office instead of my mailbox, because I don't know if that car will be gone or not. I also think it's funny that I am aggravated over my mail. It's usually just ads, bills or Netflix.  

I am thankful... That my wonderful hubby braved the heat and mowed the lawn. It looks so neat and pretty. I'm thankful he finished making dinner last night, and let the kids eat outside. I'm thankful for nice, clean floors.



From the learning rooms...(if this applies)
School's out for the summer! But the corn & watermelon are growing, and we will hopefully get some fruit.

In the kitchen...
The kids have requested cinnamon rolls. I need to do the dreaded pull out the appliances and clean the sides and behind them, but I think it's too hot for that. It's been too hot to cook and too hot to eat. I'm very thankful for the crock pot and the BBQ.

I am wearing...
Right now, my pajamas. When I'm done with this, my bathing suit and a cover up, probably. We are heading to the splash park (was going to be for breakfast, but I think it's too gloomy). We will probably go for lunch.

I am creating...
I'm inspired by other people's blogs/facebooks where they have beautifully decorated homes. Most of them put a little time and a little money and have beautiful rooms. I think I'm going to pick a room and get around to finishing up the little pretty things. Other then that, it's new expansion time for WoW, so I'm working on dailies, dailies, gear, and points. It's something I really enjoy and is a nice break from wiping hand prints off everything.

I am going...
To the splash park, to the new Harry Potter Movie Midnight showing, maybe to another water park to visit friends. I'd also like to take the kids to LA to the Science Center again. I want to sit and watch the fish swim. Oh, we will probably also make another trip to the train museum too.

I am wondering...
What days I should plan all the trips on, and why people feel the urge to do back to school stuff already. It's too early!! Time for me to stock up on a year or two of crayons.

I am reading...
I just finished reading a Lee Child book, and the book Deja Dead. I need to go to the library and get a library card. Or go back to the $1 book store. Probably the library.

I am hoping...
To actually have a yard sale this weekend. I'm leaning towards putting the stuff on the lawn and marking everything a quarter.

I am looking forward to...
The park, Potter, Raid Tonight, Cinnamon Rolls, & planning a date with my hubby for our 11th anniversary.

I am hearing...
Toy Story 3, the clank of wooden blocks, the ding of silverware, and metal somethings. Hmm.

Around the house...
I stayed up until midnight mopping floors. It's the only way to get all the stuff swept up and then mopped really well, without everyone walking on it repeatedly. No one can stay out of the kitchen for more then 30 seconds, and no one can stay in one room for more then 60 seconds. Yesterday someone (Doorbuster) kept finding cups and dumping water on the floor, until someone would track the water (or slip on it), and the floor looked awful. Oh, and the chocolate donuts that looked like someone pooped by the front door. I guess that's the best spot to enjoy your breakfast.

I am pondering...
That I should really go sweep up the back patio, organize the toys and weed the watermelon while it's nice outside.

One of my favorite things...
Princess singing I'm a Barbie Girl, while playing with her Barbies. It's neat that she just started actually playing Barbies. Usually they just lay around. Yesterday they all got married and went on a trip.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, sorting, sorting, sorting, laundry, laundry, laundry, water-park, water-park, water park. Trains, maybe,

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

More Simple Daybooks can be found here- http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ 

Super Saving Saturday- Goodbye for now, Rite Aid!

After looking over the sales from last week and this week for Rite Aid, I decided to use up all my +Up rewards and take a break from Rite Aid. I still have CVS Extra Care bucks that I will be rolling, and I'll still be couponing, but Rite Aid is looking to be less and less worth my time lately. I had $14.99 in +UP rewards that Expired today, so I used them to purchase things I usually don't end up getting for free.

Paper Towels- 2/$10, must buy 2 for sale price ($10)
3 purex at $1.97 each (they had none of the Zout kind that I have Q's for).
Total $17.16 (if I remember right), paid $14.99 in +UPs, paid the remainder in cash.

I almost expected some sort of final music to play- a funeral tune, or maybe a Game over song from Mario Bros, but no. The cashier threw the receipt at me and hurried off to another register. Thanks for the send off!

I also bought 15 lbs of frozen french fries for $2.89 a bag. I walked to the store to buy these and walked back, and it's really hot, so I filled up the fridge with my fries. I like to have these on hand to go with hamburgers, sloppy joe's, etc.

This was all free thanks to the WIC program. Your tax dollars at work!

(Pretend there is a picture here)

I also went to Costco and bought Ground Beef Hamburger Patties (6lbs/18 patties for $14), 24 Hamburger Rolls for $2.50, Tyson Breaded Chicken Patties (29 in a pack) for $12.97, and Strawberry Lemonaide Drink Mix (It's the best, and makes a lot of gallons!) or $6.67. It was $38.something when I checked out. Not bad for 2 weeks worth of lunch and quick dinner ideas. 

I can't wait to actually do some couponing at Target later this week! I may also be doing a giveaway in the next week, I just have to decide what I am going to give away. Maybe a gift card? Coupons? Who knows!

Cow Appreciation Day!

Oh the things we do for some free food! Thanks to Chick-Fil-A, we got to eat our favorite lunch for free. We joke that this will be our Christmas card each year.

Not to sure about the cow- Doorbuster kept a close eye on him.

Boy's side

Girl's side

I guess I'll wear spots if I get my own cup!

Not too happy about the cow thing.

The Tatums! 

Dress Like a Cow Day is Tomorrow!

Free food is great, free Chick-fil-A is awesome!

We will be using the same idea that we did last year- shelf paper! It's easy, and sticky, and about $3 for a roll that did all 6 of us.

Big thanks to Manager Ryan for taking our picture!

We don't own a lot of white clothing, but we do have lots of black, so we went with black with white spots. A big sticker worked for covering up the picture on the front of Daredevil's shirt, but that was just me being picky. The youngest two wore brown with white spots, since that's what they had.

Have fun dressing like a cow!

The Free Gum That Wasn't Really Free

I hate Gum. Chewing gum is evil. I hate the smacking, I hate it when I have to clean gum out of the washing machine, I hate it when it's on my shoe, I hate it when it gets on the kid's shoes and they track it everywhere, I hate it when there are gum wrappers everywhere but the trash can, and I hate it when I find gum on the floor inside my house. It's my nemesis. I do not buy gum. Since my stepdaughter hasn't lived with us, and hubby knows my hate of gum, we've been a gum free household for many many years.

Until I started couponing and I got some gum for free. I couldn't pass it up, and since it was free I figured there was no harm in buying some. I hate chewing gum when it runs out of flavor, so I chew it for a bit, and then wrap it in tissue and toss it. Most of the gum I sent with hubby to work. It was just a few packs. Except for one pack that I left ontop of my dresser.

Princess has a kiddie partial- a row of fake teeth that are cemented to her back teeth. On Friday night she came to me crying with her teeth in her hand. "My teeth fell ooooouttt." On a holiday weekend too- great! I felt sorry for her that they fell out. Until later that night I went to her room. What did I spy?

Gum wrappers all. over. her. floor. And the plastic outer wrapper stuck behind the bed.

She's been told repeatedly she can't have gum or anything sticky because it will make her teeth fall out. The older boys have spacers and they understand this very clearly. But Princess apparently figured Mom was just being MEAN and didn't want to share. So she stole the gum off the dresser, chewed it, had her teeth come out, and then blamed it on Doorbuster to boot. Ohhh was she in trouble. Big trouble. Not to mention she had no teeth for the weekend, and a stomach ache from all the gum she ate. I didn't find any gum spit out, so she must of ate half the package.

I am going back to my not buying gum, not even if it's free rule. If there is no sticky stuff in the house, then it's much easier to keep it from a certain child. Same certain child isn't allowed in Mom and Dad's room at all, because I know what's coming next- stealing makeup, or getting into my sewing stuff.

So the free gum is costing us a trip to the dentist. X-rays too, before they re-cement it in at the tune of $65.00. Not my idea of a fun afternoon, and unfortunately, I have little sympathy for Princess. She's had them fall out before, and she knows the fun that goes with putting them back in. Oh well. At least now if you offer her a piece of gum, she will tell you NO very firmly. Hopefully the point has gotten across.

And I will not be buying any gum, no matter how free it is.