My School Plan 2009-2010

This will be my 9th year of homeschooling. Seems like I just started yesterday!!! And I have finally been bitten by the Back to School bug....I was getting a little worried as it is almost starting time again and I hadn't really felt like getting organized. Even though I already had all my curriculum, I hadn't written out my plan.

So here it is...



Chloe---8th Grade

Teaching Textbooks Pre Algebra
Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science
Writing Strands Level 3 and 4
Living Books from Queens Homeschool ( Streams to the River to the Sea and Mr Revere and I)
Wordly Wise
Spelling Power
MFW History, Geography, Science
From co-op:
Literature (reads 6 classics), Art Appreciation, Us Government, Medieval Times, Gym, Science

Blake--- 5th Grade

Math U See Delta
Apologia Botany (1st Semester) and Apologia Astronomy (2nd semester)
Writing Stands Level 2
Spelling Power
Explode the Code Level 4
Easy Grammar
Language Lessons for the Elementary Child 2 by Queens
Universal Cursive Writing
MFW History, Geography, Science
From co-op:
Medieval Times, PA history, Gym, Space Program, People and Places, Intro to Physics


Camye ----3rd grade
Math U See Gamma
Apologia Botany and Apologia Astronomy
Explode the Code
Spelling Power
Language Lessons for the Elementary Child 1 by Queens
Universal Cursive
MFW Science, History and Geography
From co-op:
Gym, MFW Geography, Intro to Writing, History (Christian Heros), Art, Magic School Bus

Paul---Preschool

I dont usually push my kids do to do "school" until Kindergarten. BUT Paul says he must get ready for kindergarten....so here is what he will be doing.

Kumon Cutting and Pasting

Kumon Alphabet Games

Kumon Mazes (crazy for mazes)

Kumon Uppercase Letters

Rod and Staff's preschool curriculum
That all may seem like alot!! But it really will all fit just perfectly... so now to get all my school supplies and prepared for my Medieval Times class I am to teach at our I will be ready to go. Oh and the dreaded scheduling of classes..ballet, soccer and music...

Newest Additions to our family...

.well...our puppet family!! I would like thank everyone that helped with our Pampered Chef fundraiser. A great family friend volunteered to purchase a denom puppet and Jesus puppet for us. And we earned enough to purchase 6 more puppets. We already have 2 boys and 2 girls. So we are purchasing 3 more girls and 3 more boys

Both boys...










The blonde girl...








The short haired brunette...







The blonde angel girl ..











The lady who made these for us donated the wings...and we are purchasing the boy...









Cute a great family friend donated these...
Thank you to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My garden and other things..:)

Here is my garden!!! My garden is literally out of control...we have planted 4 zucchini , 5 squash, 39 tomatoe plants, 15 bell pepper plants, 30 potatoe plants, a few rows of lettuce here and there, abou 25 watermelon, 6 spaghetti squash which are now taking over the garden, 2 rows of green beans, 1 row of lima beans, 2 rows of cucmbers and 6 Sunflower plants. Unfortunatly we think we have late blite on our tomatoes...which mean they will die.:( All 39 of those..I had such great plans. And a friend just brought me 30 cantalope plants with the blooms on..which I should get in the ground today!



We also have a pumpkin patch. They may not appear very large but they are doubling every day. We are in a pumpkin growing contest. We have until OCotber 20 to turn these pumpkins into the GREATEST pumpkins of all. It is with our 4H group and there is a $500 reward for the biggest pumpkin.

And finally..my flowers have bloomed. I have a flower bed in my front yard that every plant in it came from my mom's yard. She has a over 100 year old house and we figure as massive as her flower beds (if you could call them that are). And she doesnt usually plant anything....so she divided them and gave me some. We figured they were extremely hardy since they have came back every year since we moved there 23 years ago. Mostly different varieties of Hostas, that bloom and I dont really even know what flower this is.:)

Camp: Sewing Class

Yes I have blogged about 5 times today..just trying to get it all in.

This was the first year I was the head sewing teacher. I was a bit nervous, but things came together perfectly. This year we made pajama bottoms and Kool-Aid Jammer purses. I had 3 classes but only got pictures of 2 of them. The girls were sweet and we are already planning our next year projects and the advanced sewing class that is definetly in order and maybe even a quilt class for free time.

Many people have no idea what I am talking about when I kool-aid jammer purses..so I took several pics.

front..

Inside...

Bottom...:)

Camp: Shaving Creme Fight

Every year since I was 9 years old. This camp seems to think they have to have a shaving creme fight..it is fun to WATCH....USUALLY!!




Chloe waiting for the hose to get the shaving creme off her face...

Camye is pretty fast was managing to escape everyone ...for awhile.

Blake kept asking if he could wipe his face on my shirt...being the nice mom I am..I did..

And then..my friend Debra (left) attacked my friend Tina (middle) and that is me ...on the right...it was on....and it was actually alot of fun!!

And the kids played havoc on there sewing teacher....LOL!!!

Camp~~~I cant believe its over!!!

For the last 4 years I have been a counsler at the same camp I attended when I was camper for 10 years!! It is soo much fun!




This is Camye and one of my best friends from high school's daughter!! They really hit it off and were inseperable all week!!

Blake was in an oreo eating concert...who could eat 3 oreos, swallow them and smile for the camera would win!!! And guess what he did!!!

Chloe (in the camper favorite class..CLAY)...she made some great little figures..check out our clay blog coming soon...

Chloe in the mud slide....

Blake in the mud slide...

and of course Camye and I did not do that!!!LOL!!

Our baby girl is 13!!!

On Saturday, July 11th...Chloe turned 13!!! I can hardly believe it has been 13 years. I am so proud of her. I told her she could have a slumber party with all her friends or a fun family day. She chose the fun family day, we started it with pedicures for her, Camye, Gran and myself. Then we all went to dinner at the Olive Garden, followed by presents and her "requested" cookie cake and then to see the movie "Up"!! Which is really cute:)


Chloe has been wanting a sewing machine for sometime. I found this awesome computerized sewing machine and couldnt pass it up. She was surprised!! She left for camp on Sunday and I wanted to piece together a quilt for her this week. Well...my machine went into the shop so I had to try her machine. It is awesome!!! I like it almost as much as I like mine!!! Well maybe not that much...:):) But it works great!!!

I think Chloe is simply beautiful. I am so happy that God blessed us with her. She has given us such joy in her little 13 years of life. I couldnt be prouder of her.

A better explanation of my freezer cooking/OAMC...:)

Okay I have had 4 people call or email me for a better explanation on my Freezer cooking/OAMC. First of all I did buy the book Freezer Cooking by 30 Day Gourmet. But you dont really need to have one. There are hundreds of different ones out there. My friend that I cooked with used Everything You Need to KNow about Freezer cooking.

So here was the deal....we did 1 1/2 days of cooking..

On the 1/2 day I prepared:
4 Meatloaves (my recipe)
4 Lasagna (my recipe)
4 batches of Cheesy Chicken Quesdillas ( 30 Day Gourmet and my own)
4 batches of Cheesy Shells ( 30 Day Gourmet)

On my friends 1/2 day she prepared:
4 white and green lasagnas (Everything....cookbook)
4 Chicken Fried Rice (Everything.....cookbook)
4 Chicken Rosettos (Everything ...cookbook)
4 Hash Brown Potato Bake (....Everything cookbook)

When we go together to do our big cooking we brought 2 of each of the meals we prepared and traded..so I got 8 different ones and so did she.
On the big day...
Taco Meat
Spaghetti Sauce
Chicken Phyllo Roll (my fave so far)
Cheesy Broccolli Soup
Homemade Noodles
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Blueberry Muffins
Chocolate Chip Cookies

We froze everything with that ClingWrap and then with Foil. We did flash freeze for about an hour or 2. Popped it out of the pans and then froze them without our pans so we could have them to use. I did use some foil pans...but I like to serve in prettier dishes. So I lined my foil pans so I can pop them right out and into my fancy serving dishes.

We also had 7 kids running around..!!! There were plenty of interruptions!!.
Anyway...I did purchase a book to read through first just because I need something on paper sometimes. You dont really need a book..there are yahoogroups, blogs, sites just for freezer cooking, including 30 Day Gourmet. The website itself has 100's of recipes. If you google freezer or cooking OAMC....the recipes are endless. If you want a better explantion, check out this page on 30 day Gourmet. http://www.30daygourmet.com/freezer_Info/Freezer_Five.asp This is kind of a quick over view of the book. I just bought the book..because I LOVE books!!

Here is a great example of why this going to work great for me...yesterday Chloe and Camye had ballet at 5pm. We were running around...it was 6:30 by the time we left. I had a terrible headache..the boys were fighting, Paul spilled a drink all over himself, Blake and the van (yes I am blogging something bad...LOL....you usually only see the good). ANYWAY...it would have been much easier to stop at Sonic and get supper but I knew there was a meal at home ready to pop in the oven which my hubby did and it was ready when we walked through the door.

Another thing I am noticing that there isnt clean up other than the dishes I serve in....that is another plus I hadnt thought of.

Thats all I can think of for now. I plan on doing another around the 14th of August..right before we leave for Texas because when we return it will be September and that month is sooo busy with school and all the activites starting back up. So this so far has been such a stress reliever.:)

Hope this answered all the questions.....let me know if I missed anything.::)

My Wedding Quilt

Kenny's mother made us this beautiful...gorgeous quilt!!! I love it!!! I have known it has been in the works for awhile but it is absolutely stunning!!!



I tried to do some close ups to let you see the beautiful colors...but you all know I lack in camera skills..LOL!! The color schemes are range from deep purple (my fave) to dark green (Kennys fave).

Thanks Diana!!! It is just perfect!!!

My new plan...

Okay so I am always looking for new ways to organize and manage my time. With 4 kids that we ACTIVELY homeschool...LOL!!! I have a new plan and right now I love it. We will see if it works for us. At this point in our life, we are very very busy people. I have agreed to cut out 2 things out of our schedules for the fall, so far MOPS and one soccer team (since we have played on two in the past). I am also trying to get my cooking under control. Although it seems other things are quickly trying to sneak their way in...but I am trying ..

I bought this new book called 30 day gourmet. So one of my new plans is Freezer Cooking/Once a Month Cooking. When I heard this from my friend, (who is homeschooling) and she loves doing it. So I did it!! I have 24 meals...awesome cooked from scratch meals in my freezer. This is my first day of no cooking..and I cant believe how relieved I feel that I do not have to FIX supper...just stick it in the oven.

SO here is what is in my freezer right now....

2 meatloafs, 2 potatoe hash brown bakes, 2 spaghetti with meat sauce, 10 chicken phyllo rolls, 2 batches of homemade chicken noodles soup with homemade noodles, 2 cheddar broccolli soups, 2 lasagna, 2 cheesey shells, 2 white and green lasagna, 45 blueberry muffins, 175 peanut butter cookie dough balls, 2 taco meats, 2 chicken rosettos, and 2 chicken fried rice.

Berry Pickin' with Grandma

Kenny's parents came for a visit last week!! We had such a fun and relaxing time!:) One day they were here we decided to take a short little hike and pick black raspberries!! We showed up back at the house 2 1/2 hours later...and a little turned around. We were down 2 - 12 acre plots than where we thought we were!! Much easier going down hill than back up!!



This pic is taken at the very back and bottom of our 12 acres on the old B&O railroad. This is underneath to let the water through the hill. My kids love it and call it a cave! It is pretty cool!!!

We had enough berries for a cobbler and it was delicious. It is that time again to head back out ...the berries are ready to be picked again!!!

Sport's Camp

Well i havent been blogging for a few weeks, we have just been really REALLY busy. We have a few days of calmness until the kids camps start. I am going to play a little catch up the next few days, so here goes.

Blake and Camye went a sports daycamp here in Washington a few weeks ago. They had lots of fun!!!



Camye and her counsler for the week!! She was a very nice and sweet girl that Camye was obviously crazy about.

Blake and his friend Anthony, Blake had such a fun time..he is very competitive and enjoyed the competition all week.

Paul and his buddies playing around on the last day while we watched the kids play their last games.:) He enjoyed looking for roley poleys in the astro grass..LOL!!!

Blake didnt really want to be distracted by the camera during his serious soccer games!!