Anyone out there?

Just wondering if anyone is out there? It's been a long time since I've posted. At times I would love to try blogging again but in reality I just don't have the time.

Menu Plan Monday

I have missed having my menus planned for the week. It makes a huge difference in how our week flows. I get very frustrated though when I cook something and have one or two or now three kids turn their noses up at it. So, I make what I want, try to put some things in there I know the kids will like, and brace for the complaints that are bound to happen. I did make Pizza Burgers this week, all the kids liked them, DH too, only one problem, I didn't. Oh, well, I guess I can make things they all like and I don't too!

Here's this week's menu

Sunday - Leftovers!!

Monday - Chimis (some for the freezer too!)

Tuesday - Quiche in a bag

Wedesday - Steak, corn and potatoes (one of DH's favorite meals) also one of the perks of being married to a beef farmer, a freezer full of beef!!

Thursday - Busy day so it will be a crockpot day. Chili and cornbread

Friday - Homemade pizza

Saturday - Crockpot Beef Sandwiches

Most of this weeks recipes come from the The Freezer Cooking Manual From 30 Day Gourmet. I really like to have prepared meals in the freezer so I'll make enough each night to eat and them some to freeze. This comes in handy when we've had a busy day, been gone or I just don't feel up to cooking and cleaning!!

I'd like to make some snacks this week too. I found a great recipes for granola bars that everyone loves so I'll try to make those and maybe some muffins for breakfast and to snack on! I put half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips instead of the mini m&m's in my granola bars and they were a big hit!

Here is my question for you now. I've had over 12,000 hits now on my little ole' blog and I have no idea where they are coming from. So, would you please leave a comment and tell me how you found me? Only nice comments please or I will delete!

For more menu plan ideas check out this great blog at orgjunkie.com.

An Apple a Day!

My kids all love to eat applesauce. In fact they have it every morning as part of breakfast and sometimes later in the day as a snack. I came accross some free apples last week so this is what I did on Wednesday last week as I waited for my Mom and Dick to arrive.
I started with two laundry baskets full. Doesn't look like much but it took most of the day.





Wash...The boys wanted to help so their job was to take the apples out of the laundry baskets and put them into the water for me. Boo thought it was more fun to splash. Little C thought the apples were balls so she threw them all over the house making more bruises on them!!



Cut...by the end of the day my right hand hurt so much. I could barely get them all done and was very close to quiting!




Cook... Just put a little water in the bottom of the pot and let them cook until they get soft.

Strain...I love the food strainer! It makes the process so much easier! I'll like it even more when my kids can really help with this part!


Satisfaction...The process is not all fun but the end result is very satisfying!!


When all was said and done I got 24 quarts! This is the sweetest applesauce I have ever had and there is no sugar added. I have no idea what kind of apples they were!

Summer Fun!

Wow, I'm on a roll, two posts in one day! Here are some random pictures from our summer!

School Days

Well, we have officially done four weeks of school so far. We are using My Father's World Kindergarten and Big C loves it! He asks to do school everyday and wonders why we don't do it on the weekends! We started school in August so we could get ahead a bit because we took last week off to go on a vacation to the Dells. Now that we are back I am faced with tomatoes to can and will have my mom and her husband visiting later this week so it's nice to be ahead of the game with school instead of feeling like we need to catch up! I love the flexility of homeschooling!! Here are a few photos of our homeschooling fun so far!


The first thing we do for our weekly activity is look up our topic in the encyclopedia. Sounds a little dated in this computer era but still an important skill to know! Big C loves to look at the encyclopedias now that we got them out of the attic!!




In these two pictures the boys are painting their sun for "Ss." We made the rays for the sun by tracing and cutting out their hands. The first two weeks of the MFW curriculm was a unit on Creation. Then it goes on to the 26 lessons of learning the letters of the alphabet. Big C knows all of his letters and sounds so we can cut a lot of that practice out for him but it's great for Boo who doesn't know his letters or sounds yet. The curriculm is a great fit for both boys to work through at the same time.

Time is flying by!

How is it that two months have gone by since I have even looked at my blog. I've still been reading a few others here and there but for the most part I just haven't had time. I guess that's what having kids will do!! Maybe I'll try to find some time to get back to the blog one of these days!

A great book

It is so hard to believe that at the end of this summer (I know it's still Spring) we will be starting Kindergarten with Big C! I think I am more excited than he is. He has an amazing memory and asks about a million questions a day. He is ready for some formal learning although he is learning so much already without formal education. The curriculum we have decided on for Kindergarten is My Father's World. We've already ordered it and received it. Now I just need to find some time to do a bit or organizing and we'll be ready to go in August!

We've been reading a great book for family worship that I wanted to mention on here too. It's called Egermeier's Bible Story book. We started reading it about a year and a half ago and are on Esther. We do really well with family worship during the winter but once Randy is in the fields it gets harder. This book covers most of the stories in the Bible but they are written in a way that kids can understand. This is not a watered down kids devotional by any means. Our 5yo asks a lot of questions as we read and he remembers the stories very well.

I'm looking for recommendations for a good USA map and world map that we could hang on the wall. Please leave a comment if you have any good suggestions. Should I look online or just go to Wal Mart???