Mornings

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 I love mornings...to an extent. I never used to be a morning person. Waking up for school/college was a drag and I hated being up that early. In my "older" years, I have come to realize the beauty and stillness of the morning. I love that morning light streaming through the windows. Listening to the sound of brewing coffee. Eating breakfast by the window and watching runners and walkers on the trail behind our house. Eating breakfast as a family. These are some of the things I love, but it doesn't always look like that in the mornings.
A lot of mornings are just running around trying to get everyone fed, things picked up, making the bed, getting dressed (if I'm lucky), cleaning up breakfast, and starting school. But I treasure those little moments even in the craziness. I still get to make the coffee. We always see people out on the trail no matter what the weather. I still get to sit somewhere and eat my breakfast. And I also love to light a candle in the morning. Kind of a little slice of peace in my hectic morning!
And I do cherish those precious Saturday mornings. The only morning in the week that doesn't involve school or church and we can just lounge around in our pajamas and do as we please. We don't make our beds that day, or get dressed right away in the morning. We sometime have a special breakfast, and the new Pioneer Woman cooking show is on. I love those mornings. Especially when Tad is off from work.
Ahhh, mornings. Someday I will get up earlier than my kids like I used to and really savor the quietness, the time with God before they wake, and my coffee before the craziness starts! But for now, I'll just take them when I can get them!

Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Week 16

Tomorrow is week 17 already and I'm just now getting this blog post out about week 16! Sorry about that! I really like to have them out sooner in the week so parents can help their kids with the material and tutors have a chance to look at it before they teach it (if they are a week or more behind us in their CC schedule.) So again, sorry for that. Some weeks are just crazier than others, or I just don't get around to getting the blog post out soon enough!
This past week I ended up with a lot of extra time in our class, and honestly, my 6 year olds seem to get bored playing the same review game for 20/30 minutes at the end. So for this week, I think I'm gonna plan 2 review games, so we can switch it up at the end and not end up with a lot of extra time. I think our science experiments and presentations have been less that 30 minutes and that is what has been giving us extra time at the end. We even stop 10 minutes before 12 so we can do stickers, treasure box, and clean-up chores and we still ended up with a good amount of time at the end! But I had a tutor visiting my class, and she helped me fill the time with some review games!
So anyways, here's what we did for week 16:

Timeline: learned new hand motions and sang Timeline song, #4 on cd

History Sentence: learned the hand motions (including over the head YMCA-type motions for the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs) and sang with the cd. 

Geography: used the big laminated maps. Used plastic fish/dinosaurs to find geography, traced/colored new areas and repeated the names. Glued passport stamps in passports.

Latin: played Ring Around the Rosie and sang Latin with the cd, when I stopped the music, they would fall down and finish where the song left off, usually answering which declension and whether it was singular or plural.

Math: area of a rectangle, printed off a ws from CC connected, they filled in another worksheet with A=LxW and filled in the blanks.

Science: Said the different types of volcanoes in a sing/song way to remember them.

English: helping verbs: am, are, is. Said them several times and then had them say them one at a time. If they missed, they were out, and went on until we had a winner.

Grammar Review: Had 2 teams. Had 1 chair across the room from each team. One person from each team had to run across the room, pick a subject card off the chair, have their parent/helper read their question and ring the bell first. Then they had to answer their question for a point. We ended up eliminating the "points" because it got kind of confusing with the bell. But it was fun!

I feel like each week, I learn something new about how to improve the class, interact better with the kids, or make it more fun. This weeks learning tip (for my class, anyways) is to have 2 review games planned, to keep them moving and doing something different. Have a great week!

Gluten-Free Roller Coaster

It's been an interesting ride trying to figure out if Maddy is indeed allergic to gluten. At first, Tad thought he had the allergy so he cut gluten out of his diet for a couple of months. When he finally "cheated" and had some donut holes (you would think would be a horrible gluten choice), he was fine. So he eventually added gluten back into his diet and seems to be fine.
Maddy on the other hand, poor baby, has been very sick on and off. When we thought Tad had the gluten allergy, we then thought that Maddy might have it too since she has always had a sensitive stomach. So, on and off we have taken gluten out of her diet and then added it back in. But over the last 2 months or so, she has been very sick on and off, and it doesn't seem like they were cases of the flu. Each time, she will throw up and have diarrhea at the same time, and once she seems to have everything out of her system, she is fine and doesn't have other symptoms of being sick. She would do that, be fine for a few days, do it again, be fine, etc. Over the past few months we go back and forth between thinking she has the allergy or is just sick, or can handle a little bit of wheat. We are not sure. Again, her blood test for the allergy came back negative.
About 2 weeks ago, we were out most of the weekend and just let Maddy eat what she wanted. Bad choice. She was so sick after that gluten-filled weekend. It took about 3-4 days of being sick, and she looked pale, layed around, and didn't want to eat. Now that could have been more "symptoms" and maybe she really was sick, but I don't think so. Her stomach was hurting so bad for days. And she had a lot of wheat in that weekend.
Another thing I have noticed lately is that she has a lot of congestion. Every time she sneezes, she is cupping her nose and running to the bathroom because strings of snot come out her nose. That seems odd to me. But even though it's been a week and a half since she has had wheat, that is still happening. But her stomach seems better.
So, that's where we are at. Not exactly sure what is going on with her. But she seems better/totally fine when she isn't eating any wheat. So should we continue with more blood tests? Just completely keep her off of wheat? (which isn't the easiest thing to do, so I kind of want to be sure she has the allergy. That is why I have gone back and forth between giving it to her and not...) The doctor also suggested doing a food diary, a poop diary (exciting, huh?), or that they could test her poop. For now, we are just keeping her on a gluten-free diet because she seems fine when we do that!

Classical Conversations Cycle 1 Week 15

I am so sad I had to miss this week! I had pretty much everything ready and prepped and I was planning on going to CC. My oldest, Maddy, who is 6, hadn't been feeling good all day, but when you are a tutor, it's kind of hard to miss since you have so much material that is prepped, and you've learned it all week. My younger two were battling colds, but I was really thinking we could make it. Well, Monday night, Maddy started her usual diarrhea and vomiting which has become somewhat routine for the past 2 or 3 months. I knew then that I couldn't even go and teach and have her lay down in the back. We think she has a gluten allergy even though her blood test came up negative for it. We have gone back and forth on the issue, sometimes thinking she is okay with it, and then changing our minds when she is so sick, but it doesn't seem to be the flu.
So anyways, I called one of my faithful parents who is there every week, usually with her husband, since she was the most familiar with how I teach. She willingly accepted, and I'm just glad I had everything laid out for her so hopefully it wasn't too difficult! So, here's what she did this week!

Week 15

Timeline: learned new hand motions and practiced with the Timeline song

History Sentence: did hand motions and sang the song with the motions (on the subject cd)

Latin: played duck, duck goose. The "ducker," as they patted each child on the head, would say each Latin sound for each child, and when the got to the end, the child they patted last had to say "singular, first declension" and then would get to run and become the new ducker. I wish I could have been there for this one! I will have to use it again!

Geography: used plastic fish/dinosaur to find new geography, traced/colored with dry erase marker, reviewed old geography, glued stamp in passport for the week (I just print off passport stamps from google images and try to get them to coincide with the location for the week we are learning)

Math: (metric measurements), printed off worksheets from CC connected, reviewed by having them put a finger on each thing as we said it.

Science: went over the worksheet for mountains on each continent, put the kids in pairs with a ball and for the first pair, the first child would say "everest" and throw the ball to the second child who would say "in Asia" several times so the two go together in your head, and so forth.

English: has, have had: (we did this last week and the kids loved it), we just said them over and over as a class faster and faster until I put my one finger over my mouth and the kids would too and would have to stop saying them, I was trying to "catch" any of them still saying them.

Grammar Review: They sat in a circle and threw the ball to each other to music, when the music stopped the person with the ball had to choose a CC question out of the bag and answer the question.

At the end we do stickers on their reward charts (and whoever I just couldn't get to pay attention or obey doesn't get a sticker. I have had to take stickers away on occasion, but it's good incentive because if they miss a sticker, they don't get to pick out of the treasure box, which we do every other week.) Then we do cleanup chores and sitting with backpacks in their chairs. If we have extra time, sometimes we will read a book at the end or play a game. Or review presidents.

The Art of Losing Things

Just so you know, this is not a picture from my house!!

If Tad and I got paid for losing things, we would be rich by now. We specialize in losing things in deep, dark places, or even random places, or even obvious places and we should remember where they are! It is just amazing to me how fast things disappear into the oblivion around here.
Just yesterday we lost something important and spent a good deal of time looking for it. We looked through boxes, through piles of papers, in the garage, in purses, etc. and I happened upon it this morning with my sleepy eyes that weren't fully awake yet. It was on top of the microwave. Duh!
We usually have certain "spots" for important things, to make it less easy to lose them. But man oh man, if we don't put them in those spots, it seems impossible to find them. We just forget. I just forget, where I put them when I'm cleaning. I'm the master cleaner/hider of all things important. When I get going, especially if someone is coming over, I just grab piles of things and either put them away, or if there's no time, I just shove them places. Sometimes it seems like they do disappear; like pacifiers for instance. We had bought Judah so many pacifiers and lost them and bought them. I feel like I should be finding them in random places, but alas. Who knows what happened to them. (And by the way, we just finally weened him off of them! Well, I will give all the credit to Tad, because I was still hanging onto his obsession with them!)
So, judge all you want. Call us messy, unorganized, cluttered, forgetful, or irresponsible. But I just had to brag. Because I am a pro at losing stuff!

What bad habit are you a pro at?? Go ahead, brag in the comments section!!

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Greek Chicken Pasta

Man, it's been awhile since I posted a recipe on this here blog! I have been out of the blogging world for awhile just being busy with family, holidays, school, and life with 3 kiddos! But, you all know my big passion for food. Cooking food, eating food, making recipe lists, coming up with new menu plans and menus for entertaining. Watching cooking shows and The Food Network and of course, The Pioneer Woman. And if you didn't know this already, she has her own show on the Food Network now. And her second season just started. Yay for her!
So, I will give you this recipe for some yummy Greek Chicken Pasta. Tad and I love anything Greek. Or feta cheese. Or artichokes. Yum! I will say, I added the marinade for the artichoke harts into the pasta as recommended by many other reviews, but I don't know if I would do that again. I don't know if it needed that much acidity. And it was a good recipe, though it seems like it needed something else to give it a kick, and I haven't figured out what that is yet. But for a quick, easy, weeknight meal, try this recipe!!


Greek Chicken Pasta
Allrecipes

1 pound uncooked pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 (14 oz) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 lemon wedges, for garnish

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in the chicken. Cook, stirring until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Bring the heat down to medium-low, and add the artichoke hearts, tomato, feta cheese, parsley, lemon juice, oregano, and cooked pasta. Stir until heated through, season with salt and pepper, serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

Again, some reviews said they added the marinade from the artichoke hearts; that is totally up to you! If you do that, you might want to eliminate the lemon juice, but maybe just taste it and see how you like it! Enjoy!!

Sleepy, Grumpy Mommy

 
I think when you become a parent you truly begin to realize the value of sleep. Oh, in college you get a taste of the sleepless nights. But you can always make up for it the next night, or that weekend, and it doesn't go on for weeks and months at a time. When I had Maddy (my first), I lost sleep for sure. But it wasn't too bad. The rule is "when they are sleeping, you should be sleeping." But that rule really only applies when you have one child, right? You can't just take a nap on the couch when you have other ones awake and playing. And the more kids you have, the more chances you have of being woken up at night.
Maddy is a pretty good sleeper now. She used to have night terrors until she was about 3 or 4, but now she is old enough that she doesn't get them and she doesn't really wake up at night. She just wakes up super early in the morning. And she has always been an early riser. But ever since she was about 3 or 4, she could come out of her room at 6 or 7 and turn on the tv and color. So that helped me get a little more sleep once I knew I could trust her to come out at a certain time.
Judah has always been a really good sleeper. He takes long naps and for the most part, has slept in. But lately he has been getting up early in the morning, and sometimes getting up at night since he is in a toddler bed and he can. We recently took away his pacifier, so that helps that he isn't waking me up to find it in his bed, which he did frequently.
Ruth is a pretty good sleeper. She has her different streaks, and they depend on teething, sickness, or if she is well and happy, she sleeps pretty good and wakes up one to two times at night to nurse, and takes one to two naps during the day, depending on when she wakes up. She actually sleeps until around 9 most days, so that is a nice time for me to have in the morning before she gets up.

I was having a hard time when Ruth was teething and sick and waking up in the middle of the night and staying up for awhile, sometimes 2 plus hours at a time. During that time, Judah would wake up and need put back to sleep. And then Judah or Ruth would wake up around 6 in the morning. I was so tired, that when Maddy and Judah were up that early, and Ruth was still sleeping, I would get them breakfast and put them in front of the TV with their little table and try to sleep on the couch. I was desperate for sleep. And grumpy. And didn't feel like starting my day that early. I didn't have enough energy to get everything done that I needed to. I felt like a failure as a mom because I have so much on my plate but I did not have the energy to accomplish stuff, especially stuff in the morning before school. I would just lay on the couch until 8 or 830 since Ruth was still sleeping, and it felt disgusting! Depression was starting to set in, and I couldn't handle my emotions or anything around me.
I do feel like I'm starting to come out of it. The kids have been sleeping better at night; I just have to plan on them getting up at or around 6. Which means I need to go to bed earlier. I am not good at this, but I have been so exhausted that it has been more motivating to go to bed earlier. I feel a little bit fresher, a little bit more alive, and a little bit more like I can handle my emotions. This is the start of a new week, and a new plan. I am cutting out sugar, wheat (as much as I can), sugary drinks, eating after 7, and will begin working out 6 days this week. I plan on being up in the morning with the kids and not sleeping on the couch. I don't want to go to bed late, and I need to get more done this week, including drinking more water, taking vitamins, eating healthier and getting out of my pajamas every morning and into normal clothes! I just had a big "binge" weekend of eating at different events, and I'm ready to shed those pounds, and choose things to help me feel better all around. I'm hoping that the extra water, healthy food, exercise, sleep, and good choices will help me feel better.
So, here's to a new week. Being a stay at home mom and a homeschooling mom at that, isn't always easy. There are good days and bad days. Days where you get a lot done and feel like you accomplished much. And then there are days when it seems like you are just trying to survive and make it to the end of the day with kids who are fed, dressed, and happy. It's all part of the process, and God is there with us through both kinds of days. Here's to a better week!