Early August Daybook

Outside my window…

It's a mild summer night ... a couple of the girls are playing with a neighbor and I've got two hanging in the school room with me. I love summer nights where the kids can play for a while before bed, but it has done havoc with our bedtimes this summer and we are transitioning.

Giving thanks…



For twelve years of marriage! While our actual anniversary was Sunday, we celebrated on Saturday night. Our niece (the flower girl at our wedding, fyi) babysat for us and the kids had a ball with her. We just enjoyed getting out and hanging out together, just us. It seems like it had been a while since a nice long date night! Dinner at Culver's (with a buy-one-get-one-free deal on a burger!), a little shopping for bedsheets and towels for our bathroom (by year twelve has everyone else's stuff worn out like ours?), and a movie before heading home.

I am thinking about…

Or trying not to ... our homestudy and waiting to hear that it's made it through the review process. We had the chance to proofread it last week and it's a little freaky to read so much about your life written out by a 3rd party that you have only known for about six weeks!

In the Schoolroom…



Mama's fuel for school.

We are back at it! The first official day was on Friday and we kicked it off with lots of donuts and reading aloud. We had a solid Monday (the good and the bad), but we're slowly getting back into a routine of a little reading, writing and 'rithmatic each day. Our CC program doesn't start until the end of the month so we'll have almost four weeks under our belt by the time we add that in.

From the kitchen…





I'm working, working, working on sticking to our meal plan as our fall activities will be starting very soon! I've been checking out a few new cookbooks (thank you library!) and perusing old ones for new crockpot recipes and freezer meals. Tonight we had Pioneer Woman's orange chicken and it was YUM. Monday's are a good day (typically) for me to try a more complicated recipe and this was well worth the extra steps. FYI - some kids here thought the chicken was too spicy, however the adults were passing the bowl back and forth for the last bites.

I am creating…

Much catching up in my Project Life album - yay! Last week (or maybe the week before that?) knowing that we were very close to school starting, I took a couple afternoons and cranked through the first half of 2014. Thankfully, I had been pretty diligent about getting pictures printed almost every week - while the girls have music lessons I usually sort / upload / edit a weeks worth of photos. I'm caught up through our summer trip to Ohio and that feels VERY GOOD. Maybe a PL post one of these days?

I don’t ever want to forget…





The really, really cute stuff that this boy says now a-days. We are all about superheroes right now - "fiderman" is a current favorite. We also like "capan 'merica" a bunch too.

I am working on…

The #shereadstruth plan in Hebrews. This summer has been such a sweet time in the Bible for me and I'm a little sad that I won't have the leisure of so much study time in the morning before the kids get up as we return to a more normal schedule. God has answered a prayer of mine to hunger for His Word and I am eager to get out of bed in the morning to get at it. I also wish I could say I hungered to get out of bed to run several mornings a week, but I'm not quite there yet. : ) I am trying to get up and exercise three mornings a week early - like dark early. I've accepted the reality of life right now that if I don't get up and go before the kids are up, it's just not going to happen later in the day. So early it is.

I am reading…



Well, I'm staring at this. I know I'm not going to want to put it down once I pick it up so I've read only a few pages. Maybe this weekend I can make some headway on it? Since my last post, I've also finished:

• One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith (for the Reading to Know bookclub)
• Women of the Word by Jen Wilkins (EXCELLENT book walking you through how to study the Scriptures on your own. I was much encouraged by reading it).
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. Carrie recommended this one and it was delightful. One I'll remember for the girls when they ask for something.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban / Goblet of Fire (mindless re-reading) : )

We also finished The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander - one of our summer read-alouds that took for.ev.er. to finish. This wasn't a great book to stop and start so much because there was a lot of action and unusual names, but we finally got several days under our belt in a row with it and made it to the end. Still recommend it, but not reading it in bits and spurts like we did! We're currently reading Henry Reed's Babysitting Service and laughing our way through it. Henry does not disappoint.

I am hearing…

Right now (because I'm finishing this post two days after I started it) one of the girls and T watching a movie together. N2 asked her dad for a special daddy/daughter after bedtime movie night and the rest of the kids are in bed.

Clicking around…

• Schole Sisters :: a new classical education blog whose focus is "a community of homeschooling moms who believe that teaching is the art of being imitated, who long to teach from rest, and who draw on wisdom from the classical tradition." Am loving what I'm reading there.
• Humming Home Habits from Simply Convivial

Around the house…

Trying to remember to stay on top of daily chores now that we are back in school. The girls have spiffy new chore sheets and they have been working pretty well for the most part. We T did a MAJOR purge in the girls' rooms - decluttering is one of his gifts - and that has been a HUGE help in them being able to keep their rooms picked up during the day. It's a beautiful thing!

One of my favorite things…



And end of summer cousin day. They have been few and far between this summer - the oldest cousin spent several weeks working at camp, we had travels / swim lessons / camp for our crew and schedules just didn't match up often. We had one last fun day seeing the cheap summer movie at the local theater and then swimming the afternoon away. This gang is full of personality as you can tell and we had a blast all being together for the day. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact the my oldest niece is a junior in high school this year. She has her learner's permit and chauffeured us around as we went to the movies and picked up lunch and I have to say I could get used to being driven around. : )

A few plans for the next week…

Activites and dates are starting to fill up the calendar! Tutor meetings for CC are coming up and soccer practice will start for the little girls in another week or two. We've aged B up an age level in soccer so that she and N2 can play on the same team - yay! - only one practice and game to juggle per week instead of two!

A photo worth sharing...



Quite possibly my favorite summer photo. : )

Kitchen Day

Gifted with a boatload of tomatoes from a friend's CSA and another friend's garden, today was a big kitchen day to deal with them. Three batches of Pioneer Woman's salsa, one batch (which made three dinners worth) of this amazing spaghetti sauce used up most of the tomatoes, but I managed to save a few to make panzanella for lunch (also a PW recipe). It was so fresh and good! I am sad for my kids who don't like fresh tomatoes. As a consolation lunch for them - mac and cheese out of a box and chocolate chip cookies. They were thrilled. : )

What's On My Plate, Listed

The other day a friend asked me what I have been eating over the last year with all the weight losing and running - what were top five things that I was eating now-a-days and to be honest I didn't have to think terribly hard. A quick scroll through the food pictures that I have taken have shown that I have some go-to meals, especially for breakfasts and lunches. I typically eat what the family does for dinner though I might substitute the starch, if there is one, for an extra vegetable.

In general, I'm eating lots and lots of veggies. Lean meats. Very little dairy. Very, very little carbs. (I miss carbs). Very, very, very little sugar. I can live without sugar. I'm definitely a salty over sweet person.

Anyway, here are five seven things that you will routinely find on my plate.

:: Brussels sprouts. Pan roasted in a bit of bacon grease or Pam spray. (Depends on how wild I'm feeling). Tossed with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.

This photo I threw in a chicken sausage with the Brussels.



This one has an egg beater or two added. (Note: I'm not opposed to eggs at all and eat my share of those. However, someone in this house has had the occasional high cholesterol test and we keep egg beaters in the fridge. And, they cook super quick).



:: Fish tacos. I buy fillets of tilapia at Aldi's and can pan fry them super quickly while I'm making lunch for the kids. I season them with whatever I find in the front of the spice cabinet - garlic salt, onion powder, Lawry's seasoning, taco seasoning, etc. Throw them in a corn tortilla with some peppers and onions and lunch is done.



Sometimes a little lettuce or shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix is added if I have any around. Maybe a drizzle of ranch dressing.



:: Sweet potato fries. Weekly. I dice my potatoes and flip them with a little Pam and season them heavily with salt, pepper and Lawry's. Roast them in the over on 425-ish for 20 minutes-ish. Watch them near the end - the ones above are a little more done than usual. : ) Cook time depends on how think you cut the potatoes and sometimes I'm lazy (or really hungry) and don't take the time to cut them small. I've also just diced them in cubes, cut up some peppers and onions and roasted all that together. Makes a great lunch for me to take on our tutoring days. (A chicken sausage is a nice addition to this as well).

:: Spaghetti squash. I lived on this stuff this winter. While I made breakfast in the morning, I would steam them in the microwave and then by lunch they would be cool enough to shred and eat. I season them the same way I season Brussels: salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of shredded parm. (Shredded Parmesan + anything = yum).



:: Last summer I survived on pan roasted asparagus. I would be super sad when my fridge would be empty of it! Same seasonings as everything else.



:: Chicken sausage should probably get it's own listing. I buy the big pack from Sam's and cook up a link with whatever veggie I have in the fridge. There are tons of different flavors and seasonings and it's just the right amount protein. (The one below was thrown in with a scrambled egg). I also make turkey kielbasa with a bit of regularity.



:: The banana pancake. Now that I think of it, I haven't had one of these in a while, but I ate these like crazy the first few months. With a smear of almond butter down the middle - so so good.



:: Bonus: favorite bread. Joseph's brand in flat bread and pitas. Just the right sizes if I want to make a sandwich (because sometimes the sandwich is just easier to tote places!)



And there you have it. And now I'm hungry. : )



This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types. I love lists and am excited to be taking part of this fun project. : )

Goodbye June

There was swimming.

 

Ballet camp.

Three days of learning and getting inspired.

 

First Star Wars t-shirt. Heeee. : )

Swinging.

 

Tooth losing.

Not near enough of this.

 

A lot of birthday celebrating!

Hers (above) and his. : )

Pioneer Woman spicy Dr. Pepper shredded pork and pineapple salsa. Highly recommend. But not necessarily together.

Vacation and family, but that will be it’s own post one of these days. : )

A Satisfied Saturday

It was full, but it didn’t feel too full.

Yard work – taming the back yard.

Someone left their drink unattended.

Baseball. It was HOT. (Like 97*. Crazy.)

 

Watching very intently.

Too cool.

There was dinner. BBQ chicken (from the crockpot) sandwiches + homemade coleslaw. First ever attempt and it was yum.

Back to enjoy the backyard now that it’s been tamed. Took a picture of him. Because he’s cute.

Happy Memorial Day. We spent the morning at a memorial service in the downtown area of our little town and it was the first time we had done anything like that with the munchkins. So thankful for our country and the freedoms that many men and women sacrificed to provide for us.

Food Friday ::: Mom's Strawberry Pie

This is our go-to recipe for my Mom's birthday - a strawberry pie she discovered in a church cookbook many years ago. This is a recipe that is practically impossible for me to mess up (unlike my Grandma's coconut creme pie recipe that I butchered last weekend. The meringue did me in).

The secret (my mom swears) is the 7-up/cornstarch that makes the gel that firms up the pie. I have to confess that I used sprite to make my pie, but it doesn't really matter as long as it's a lemon-lime soda and NOT diet.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Foodie Friday ::: Hawaiian BBQ Pulled Chicken

I tried a new crockpot recipe this week and it is one worth sharing! I found this recipe via the Tasty Kitchen blog and when I realized that I had all the ingredients on hand, the regular menu plan was bumped for the night to serve this. A decision I don't regret. : ) We were sharing dinner with my BFF and her family, and this was super easy to put together and drop off at her house.



My photo this week wasn't the greatest, but don't let that deter you from making this recipe. You can read the original version here on the Tasty Kitchen website. This is definitely going to be a great summertime addition to the crockpot section of my recipe notebook.

Foodie Friday ::: Broccoli Salad

I know I have blogged this recipe before. (Twice, in fact, both here and here.) It is a huge summer favorite of mine and will start showing up in our menu rotation very, very soon. Definitely warranted its own fancy recipe card. : )