Wordless Wednesday: Sneak Attack

Oldest daughter vs youngest daughter

and

meanwhile

up on the deck

I love snow

Makes perfect bombs

Here they come!

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Wordless Wednesday @ Beautiful Mess

Top 10 Things Homeschooled Children will Tell their Kids(mine anyway)

10.  My classroom was on the couch, at the table, outside, on my bed, on the deck under a sheet. . .

9.  PE = bowling, riding bikes, soccer, swim team

8.  My teacher had parent teacher conferences in the bathroom.

7.  I walked to school barefoot.  And if I was lucky I got to stay in my pjs all day.

6.  I played a games, dressed up and did my phonics worksheets at the same time.

5.  I cried in class & sometimes my teacher cried too.

4.  Field trips were really cool.

3.  Every summer at the library we would have scavenger hunts.

2.  I cut up a frog on the kitchen table.

1.  I had snow days in September & April.  YEAH!!

Hope you enjoyed this fun list!  What will your kids say about school many years from now?

Related posts

Batch Cooking for College: Sloppy Joes

Life is resuming its normal pace around here.  We aren’t baking dozens and dozens of cookies for friends.  The frig is empty because of the snow over the weekend and I MUST go to the grocery store soon. 

Michael heads back to classes in a couple of weeks & he’s requested some frozen meals to take along.  I have been trying to involve Elizabeth in the planning stages of meal preparation more so she can work towards doing this on her own down the road.

We brainstormed this morning & here is what we came up with for this weeks menu & the batch cooking we will do.

This week

Sausage Egg Quiche & Spice Muffins x 2

  —1 family meal & 12 individual size portions

Sloppy Joes(recipe below) x 5

  —2 family meals & 18 individual size portions

Taco meat x 3—18 individual size portions

Taco Soup x 3—1 family meal & 10 individual size portions

Next time Chicken is on sale

Broccoli Chicken Pie

Turkey Noodle Soup

Chicken Quesadillas

This will allow Michael to take a stash back to school.  I also plan to share some meals with another college student who attends our small group at church.  It will also give me a few meals in the freezer for the days ahead.  It is nice to have a quick meal available for those CRAZY days when I don’t have time to stick something in the crockpot.

My Sloppy Joe recipe is not one I have in a recipe book—this has frustrated Elizabeth & dear hubby so I wrote it down for them(and you).  Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes  serves 6

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1-8 oz tomato sauce

2 T quick cooking oats

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt

6 wheat buns

Brown meat & onions.  Add remaining ingredients except buns.  Simmer until the mixture isn’t runny.  Toast buns &  top with meat.  Yummy with fresh vegies & fruit.

Kid Power or Teaching Life Lessons

Lately life has had me on the couch or sitting in a cushy chair more often.  I DON’T like it.  I am an active person. So I am making the best of it.  However life rolls on and with an active family of 6 and that means

. . . food must be fixed.

. . . laundry must  be done.

. . . and dishes must be washed.

I have been asking myself where the lesson is in this situation.  I have learned a lot of things but there is a lesson in this for my children as well.  There is no dishwasher in our house.  So someone has to wash them by hand.

My mom told me on Christmas that it took 3 dishwasher loads to get the dishes done at her house.  I looked around on the internet & found conflicting reports on whether hand washing or electric dishwashers were more efficient.  But my point is not about saving water or electricity.

What I like about not having an electric washer is that my kids KNOW how to take care of a big job.  From 5-6 years old they are taught to clear the table & get the dishes done.  Boys and girls. 

Everyone helps. . . well sort of. 

There are so many life lessons in this.

-You dirty something. . .you clean it.

-The job isn’t done until it is all put away.

-We can have fun while the work goes on.

-Many hands make light work.

So my Money Saving Monday post is probably not really saving money but it is teaching a lesson that is worth it’s weight in GOLD for my kids.  What life lesson are you teaching your kids?  What is IMPORTANT to know before you are out of the house?

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Money Saving Monday @ Family Friendly Frugality

SNOW!!!! Merry Christmas to all

This is what I woke up to and I thought

“Wow the kids are going to have a great time today!”

I’ve never had a 9 foot snowman in my yard!

Such purity.  So beautiful.  Merry Christmas to everyone from the Brush family.  May your Christmas be Holy and your thoughts be of a babe in the manger & not the gifts under the tree.  Enjoy your family & kiss your little ones because this life is short.