Some Fun Pictures--thanks Amy!

I think he was bored...

I didn't get through any of the reading about South America that I wanted to do today so I chose some of the more interesting books for our bedtime reading. Clearly Joe was not at all interested in life in Brazil. That is laundry that he is laying on (or is it lying on?). I'm in the middle of folding and he seemed to find it a comfy place to lay his pretty little head. Thankfully the girls were into the books so I can now check off everything I had wanted to get done today. Except clipping fingernails--yes, that was on my list but I forgot. Tomorrow's a new day...

School, prayer, and rain

I've got a few spare minutes this morning (I hope) before the kids wake up and we start our day.  I've changed how I'm doing our mornings and it's really going well.  I've instituted a new rule--no media before 2 pm for the kids and very limited computer for me until everything is done.  I am not letting them watch PBS kids while I read blogs and waste our morning away.  Instead, I am fixing breakfast and hanging out with them in the morning before starting school early enough to not feel so rushed and get everything done.  It's working well.  This morning I actually got up earlier than everyone and had a quiet time (finally!)  and hopefully I'll have enough time to finish this post before anyone wakes up.  Remember a few posts back I said that I wasn't going to do things, specifically lapbooks, just for the sake of doing them and checking them off my list?  I was going to wait for inspiration.  Well, the inspiration came yesterday and we will be doing lapbooks on South America.  I found some great printables on homeschool share and we will hopefully be starting on that tomorrow.  I'm excited and when I'm excited it is fun and not drudgery.  I'm actually excited about school in general right now.  I really love when we get into the groove and my kids are really learning and I'm seeing progress.  This is how I wish it always was with school but I often let other things in life crowd out our school time and I just rush through doing the bare minimum and not feeling good about it.  I am working to guard my time better.  On that note--in two weeks we will be taking a vacation from school and going on a big road trip to Chicago with some friends.  Ten kids, three mommies, two vans, and a whole lot of chaos.  Shelly and I will be going to Virginia where we'll pick up Marissa and family and head to Chicago.  Their other sister lives in the town right next to Ollie's family.  So, we will get a visit in with the family and cousins and they will be there to welcome their new neice into the family.  We will probably be gone for about 2-2 1/2 weeks.  Don't say it, I know we're crazy but this trip will be memorable if nothing else.  I can't wait to see where Marissa is living and to see her and her kids.  We're hoping for snow after we've reached our destination.  We'll see...

I went to a prayer meeting last night at a friend's house.  It was wonderful to come together and share needs with God--the only One who can truly do anything about it. 

It looks like it might rain today--I hope so!  I absolutely love rain, it just puts me in a giddy mood.  I haven't seen the weather forecast in a week so I really have no idea but it's overcast and cloudy so maybe we'll get some good rain.  

I'm off to start my morning--before the kids get up!  This is a first.  Maybe I'll have breakfast on the table before they even ask for it.  

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...January 5, 2008

Outside my window...it's dark and night time. I'm getting a head start on my morning by posting tonight.

I am thinking...that I am going to get up in the morning early enough for at least a short quiet time, make breakfast for my kids, and then start our school day with prayer and Bible time. Notice the computer is not mentioned in that morning. I'm really going to try to not let checking e-mail and blogs interfere with my morning. I've already told the kids no media until 2 pm. No PBS kids, no computer--I'm tired of never feeling like I have time to do school the way I want to. Time for some discipline for mom!

I am thankful for...a great two weeks with my family--productive, playful, and restful (finally).

From the learning rooms...we are starting on South America this week. It's going to be tough to get back into a routine with Joe, with the busyness of the Christmas season I did almost nothing with him. I'm also eager to get back to reading lessons with Grace, she is making steady progress and I feel like we are on the brink of it really "clicking." If you've ever taught a child to read you know what I mean.

From the kitchen...not sure what yet. I don't think I can get to the store until Wednesday so I will have to get creative. We certainly have plenty of food, we just may have some weird combinations.

I am wearing...jeans and my church t-shirt. I haven't changed all day.

I am creating...the geography game that I was supposed to start weeks ago in our curriculum. We will have to play catch up now learning North and South America.

I am going...to have a mostly at home week. I'll go to the park on Tuesday and all our usual running around--theatre, library, bank, grocery store but that's about it.

I am reading...Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. It's a great book. Different from what I've been reading lately. I love to change it up in my reading. Too much of one author or one style gets boring. I have a whole stack of books and I can't wait to get through them. Next up a book from Amy by Maeve Binchy.

I am hoping...for a smooth start to our day tomorrow.

I am hearing...Ollie playing "The Curse of Blackmoor Manor," a Nancy Drew mystery game on the computer that we have been playing together all weekend. It's addictive. Lots of puzzles and things to figure out.

Around the house...Christmas is finally all put away and the garage is mostly cleaned out. How do we manage to accumulate so much stuff???

One of my favorite things...a cleaned and cleared kitchen table. Does anyone else's kitchen table seem to just collect stuff?

A few plans for the rest of the week...school, school, more school, Keepers at Home dinner Friday night, back to tutoring, finish this Nancy Drew game?, park, and so on.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing...

This is from last year after strawberry picking. It's that time of year again--I wonder if the strawberry fields are open yet?

Ifyou want to participate in the daybook, see Peggy here.

Souper Saturday--Asparagus Chicken Chowder

Another family favorite!  I haven't made it this year though, maybe I will when we get another cold snap.  Asparagus is only one of the vegetables in this so don't let that weird vegetable stop you from trying this great soup!

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 to 3 1/2 pounds)

3 1/2 quarts water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

5 bacon strips, diced

2 med. carrots, chopped

1 med. onion, chopped

1/2 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1/2 in. pieces

2 cups cubed, peeled potatoes

1 1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Place chicken, water, and bouillon in a large soup pot.  Cover and bring to a boil;  reduce heat and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the chicken is tender.  Remove the chicken and let it cool.  Remove 1 cup of borth and set aside.  In a skillet over med. heat, cook bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon; drain and discard all but 2 Tbsp. of the drippings.  Saute carrots, onion, and asparagus in drippings over medium heat until crisp-tender.  Add to kettle along with potatoes, thyme, pepper, and salt to taste and return to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.  Combine flour and reserved broth; stir into soup.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Debone chicken and cut into thin strips; add to soup along with cream.  Heat through but do not boil.  Sprinkle with bacon just before serving.

***I actually don't boil the chicken.  I usually bake boneless, skinless chicken and cut it up.  If you do it that way you will need more bouillon cubes or just replace the water with chicken broth.  

Random Thoughts

Happy New Year!  I spent my day taking down Christmas decorations, well not the whole day, but it seemed like the whole day.  I may have to rebel and not decorate much next year.   I don't feel like I even really enjoyed it much.  This is sad to say but from the minute I put it all up all I could think about was that at some point I was going to have to take it all down again.  Bad attitude, huh?  I think it comes from just feeling completely taxed.  There is way more to do in a day than there are hours in the day.  My house has never been dirtier and our yard more unkempt.  Ugh!  Most of you who know me know that I have a tendency to be overambitious in everything.  I want to do it all and be at everything and so on.  Over the last couple of years I have been paring away.  Trying to relax and let some things go.  My latest is the scrapbooking and for now--lapbooking.  I love it and would like to try to get one done but we'll just have to see.  I try to do at least two a year with each child but I am not even going to try to hold myself to that this year.  I nearly made us all nuts with that last year.  If something comes up that would make a fun lapbook and we have time, we'll do it but I won't do lapbooks just so that I can check them off of my list.  My New Year's resolutions this year consist more of what I'm NOT going to do in the coming year than of what I am going to do.  Maybe by this time next year I can be a more relaxed, content person.  We'll see.  Old habits die hard.  One of my resolutions is to spend more time at home.  So, you guys--please don't invite me to do anything ok?  You know I can't say no.

I decided to buy a new pair of Birkenstocks with some Christmas money.  I was happy to find some cheaper Birkenstocks that are not made of leather but of something called "Birko-flor."  It takes about $40 off the normal price.  So, I ordered some sandals from Zappos.com at about 11 pm on Tuesday night.  They were delivered to my door at about 11 am on Wednesday!  And, shipping was free.  Now that's service!

Isn't funny how kids continue to believe in Santa Claus when so many clues just don't add up?  Stockings for example--every kid gets different things in their stockings.  Some kids only get fruit and nuts.  Other kids get presents.  Some kids get silly string others get band aids and a new toothbrush.  Some kids get lots of big presents and others get three gifts like Jesus.  It seems like kids would wonder what's up with Santa Claus?  

I made the best dinner tonight--a traditional southern New Year's day dinner.  Pork chops, turnip greens, and hoppin' john (black-eyed peas and rice with sweet pickles and onions).  We have been eating clean-out-the-fridge-food for about a week so we especially enjoyed this home cookin'.  Grace and Joe didn't go for the hoppin' john.  They had plain old peas and rice.  Ollie and Hannah and I had more than our share though.  Hannah's favorite part?  The onions.  She put extra onions on hers.  I skipped the onions.  I do not do raw onions--yuck!

Picture Catch up

Here are some random pictures from our week. It's been another busy one. I need a day of rest!

We went to the lake to watch the sunset. One last picture with Aunt Clara before saying goodbye.

Hannah is attacking Joe with silly string. It's a tradition for the kids to get silly string in their stockings. It's a lot of fun--short lived but fun.

We found a great new bike trail. We went on a 5 mile bike ride. The scenery was beautiful, we stopped at a small pond with a nice dock/overlook spot and we had a picnic in a wooded area. The weather was just perfect.

Hannah doing what she does best--posing.

We fed the seagulls when we went to see the sunset, they would hover all around and catch the bread while in the air. Fun but a little bit freaky, I don't like birds hovering all around me like that.

Grace and Joe feeding the seagulls.

We went out to lunch with Aunt Clara, Aunt Harriet, and Clara's caregivers. At this restaurant, you can pick a hat to wear while you have your lunch. Very frou-frou.

Joe is slowly learning to ride a two wheeler. Ollie is so patient and doesn't pressure him too much. Just a little bit of practice here and there. For those of you who don't know--Joe is a major worrier. He is learning to ride on his old bike. It's a little tiny thing and he feels safe on it. The funny thing is he will go maybe five feet and either slam on the brakes or just jump off the back of the bike. He gets panicky and just can't stand it anymore. On the bike ride he was a nervous wreck--everytime one of the girls would be in the back he would be telling me, "wait, slow down, Grace is back there." Or, "where's Hannah?" And so on and so on. Finally I said, "Joe, you just worry about everybody don't you?" He said, "Yes, and the one I worry most about is me. What if I make a wrong turn and get lost?" I reassured him that I would not let anyone get lost and he seemed to settle down a little bit.