School Wall

Welcome to our school wall!!!  So when I decided to homeschool I was looking on pinterest (bad idea) for homeschooling in a small space.  Instead of finding good ideas for that I found pin after pin of homeschool ROOMS!!  Since we don't have any extra rooms I decided to make a school wall.

So my next trip to the Dollar store I picked up these clip boards.  Then during a nap/quiet time I painted them. 

While they were drying I really wanted to have a banner to go along the wall cause like I read tonight a banner is happiness on string! hehe  I had a bunch of flash cards that I picked up at a local second hand shop but they needed something to go behind them.

What was I going to use???  Of course coffee fliters were the prefect size...but I didn't want white ones so I dipped them each into a bowl of water that I had put a bit of blue food coloring in.

To dry them I put them into a muffin tin and set them in the sun.

That night the kids and their amazing daddy helped me out by hanging up the clip boards.

I love how Micah hung them on a little bit of a slant.  Also before we put them on the wall we used scrapbooking stickers and put A B C on the metal part. 

When the coffee fliters were dry I folded down the top of each one and glued the flash card onto it.  I used the fold over to place on the string.  And hung it over the clip boards.

 Now that school is in full swing the clip boards hold lots of different things.  One holds his first spelling test.  Another holds character cards that we do and the last one has a worksheet that he did from each day that he is super proud of to show daddy when he gets home.

Bible memory verses

 

I love love love these bible verse cards.  Since we just started Kindergarden they are working great since we are doing a new letter each week.  

I originally found these on pinterest and you can hop over here to download your own copy.  Once I had them all printed off in color I really want to laminate them to keep them protected but I don't have a laminator. Maybe that will be something I need to invest in but I was so happy to find these on one of my shopping trips to the local Dollarama. 

They are self laminating sheets!!!  I was super excited cause they were just the size I needed.    They were super easy to use you insert the paper, close it shut and squeeze all the air pockets out. 

So now we have all the cards laminated and each week we read over the verse and make up some actions to go with them. 

 The kids are very good at remembering the verses.  On Friday I ask them to recite the ones that we have done and for each one they get right they are rewarded a chocolate chip.  

Thank you Homeschool Creations for an awesome tool to help us hide God's word into our heart!!! 

school games

Don't you just LOVE thrift shopping and finding deals that you don't even think about!!  That is what happened my last trip to Value Village before school started.  I had taken my niece there to get some new (to her) school clothes and happen to find some great steals for homeschooling.  I picked up (along with many other things) these 3 fun games that Eben LOVES playing. 

The Leap Frog go fish game was $2.99 and had all the pieces for it in the box.  I love how it comes with the round circles that you use to hold your cards with.  These 4 things were worth the $2.99 so he can hold cards better in his hand. 

Pony Phonics can be played two different ways.  The way that we have been playing is learning the short sounds of the vowels   First you start by spinning the spinner and then you move through the game by moving your pony onto words that have the same sound. 

 Alphabet Bingo also has two ways to play.  The way we have been playing is spinning the spinner and whatever letter you land on you have to cover up that letter on your Bingo card if you have it.  The first one to get 3 in a row wins.

The other way to play this game is using the other side of the card there are pictures and you have to fill in the words by using the letters that come up on the spinner.  Its fun to play to but I have to have the words spelt out for Eben so he remembers how to spell them.  I know a couple more times of playing and he will be able to do it himself. 

I love using games to teach him since he really loves to play games.  Sometimes we play for fun but other times I use them as rewards if he finishes up his writing work. 

These games were worth the $5 I paid for them.  

October Meal Plan

So this month I am trying to meal plan for the whole month!  I know it sounds so crazy but I want to make a list of meals to enjoy and then watch for sales so I can get the best deals and see how much it actually cost us to eat for this month.

So here is my list of meals for the month.  Of course not all meals will be made cause something always comes up or there is leftovers but at least I can have the supplies on hand just incase.

1. Spaghetti, Meat balls and Cheese buns
2. BBQ chicken pizza and salad
3. Slow cooker beef stew and cheese biscuits

4. Wok in the pork and egg rolls

5. Macaroni, hamburger and tomato
6. Baby Shower
7. Thanksgiving meal.  Turkey with all the fixings
8. Thanksgiving meal #2.
9. Hot Turkey and Fries
10. Baked potato soup with crusty bread

11. Turkey Enchiladas over rice
12. Pierogi casserole

13. Turkey soup and homemade buns

14. Pizza muffins

15. Pork chops with mashed potatoes
16. Crock pot lasagna and garlic bread
17.  Stromboli

18. Chicken lo-mein and egg rolls

19.  Taco Cups

20.  Spring Rolls

21. Corn dog Muffins

22.  Pork meatballs and mashed

23. Sweet and Sour chicken with fried rice

24. Spicy Peanut noodles

25. Breakfast supper

26. Chowder, sausage and biscuits

27. Party

28. Pretzels 

29 Chicken coconut curry

30. Tostada:  Here is a chicken recipe.  I will do bean. 

31. Take out; Pizza

There you have it my meal plan for the whole month.  I am hoping to stick to it as best as possible. You will probably notice that on Sunday we don't usually have a big meal and enjoy appetizer type foods to enjoy while watching a family movie together.  I also try to have a soup once a week in the fall/winter time.   I hope you enjoy and get a few new ideas for your own meal plan this month.

Chocolate chip cookies

 

These are for sure my new favorite cookie recipe.   You know I have been looking for a delicious Chocolate chip cookie recipe for a long time.  One that is crispy on the outside but soft and chewy in the middle.  So the other day when I was hanging out with some friends drinking a lovely coffee I was offered one of these cookies warm right out of the oven.

I am sure bells and whistles went off when I first bit into it.  It was the most scrumptious cookie I have had.  I immediately asked for the recipe and 2 days later my hubby came home to a batch of fresh baked cookies which we enjoyed as a family for dessert with a cold glass of milk.   Luckily for you readers I asked my friend if I could share her recipe and she said Yes!  So here is your treat for the day. Let me know if you run right to the kitchen to whip up a batch of these babies.

Chocolate chip cookie recipe

1 cup margarine

2 tsp vanilla 

1 cup of white sugar

1/2  cup brown sugar 

add 2 eggs and mix 

In seperate bowl sift together

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp baking soda

add dry ingredients to wet and mix

add lots and lots of chocolate chips 

Drop by tablespoon and cook in preheated oven at 350 for about 12 minutes. When bottom is golden brown they are done. Enjoy!!!

School time

I can't believe we have been homeschooling for almost 1 month.  Things are going really great.  Eben (for the most part) is enjoying school time.  This month we are focusing on learning to write.  I love all these mazes, number and letter templates I printed off line.  We are also able to keep them because I have put them all into page protectors.  You can check out my homeschool work books here

Letter recognition mazes from Tons of Fun

Numbers and letter practice

And the number one question....how do you entertain the toddler??  Well if she isn't doing blanket time she is strapped in the high chair sitting at the table with us either coloring or playing with these beads.  

Apple Jelly

 

What a great fall we have been having!  We are having cool nights and very warm days.
Last fall while living with my in laws I learned how to make apple jelly so this year I was excited to give it a try myself.  So I took the kids last week out to their nannie and papa's house to pick these "beauties".   

After getting two bushels of apples we brought them home to start the process.  First I cut the apples in half or quarters depending on their size.   Because you boil the apples down and then strain the liquid you don't have to peel them or core them.  Just through everything into a pot and add some water.  I filled the pot up with apples and the water was about 1/2 way.   Let the apples boil down for about 2 hours.  

The longer you boil it down the more you will get a good apple pectin; which helps with the jelling process if you are not using Certo.   To strain your apples you can use a cheese cloth but what I do is use an old pillow case that I lay over a roster and hold it in place with clothes pins.  Then I spoon the apple goo onto the pillow case and let it sit so the liquid drains through the cloth.   The longer you let it sit the more juice you are going to get. 

Once the roaster is filled with juice I poured that juice into 4 L water jugs and put it into the fridge.  I wanted to do all the boiling of the apples first before I started the jelly.   When I was finished with all the apples I had almost 2 full water jugs which was 8L of apple juice!

When I was ready to start the jelly process I decided to do 5 cups of juice at a time that way it was easy to mange (since I have 3 small children) and if it didn't jelly then I could easily reboil it.

So here is the jelly method I used.  For every 1 cup of juice use a full 1/2 cup of sugar.  Bring that mixture to a boil and let it cook at a good rolling boiling for 15 minutes.  While it is boiling place a small plate in the freezer.  When the 15 minutes is up take out the plate and drop a spoon full of the jelly mixture onto the plate.  Place the plate back into the freezer for 1 minute.  When the timer beeps take the plate out and push the jelly with you figure from the edge to the center.  If the jelly wrinkles in the center then you can pour the hot boiling liquid into hot jars and seal with clean lids.  Let the jelly sit for at least 24 hours.  If it doesn't wrinkle let it boil 5 more minutes and try again.

To get hot clean jars I like to give them a wash in the dishwasher first.   When they are clean from there I place them on a cookie sheet and put them into a warm oven (~200).  When I am ready for them I simply take the cookie sheet out and use a funnel to pour the hot liquid into them. 

For clean lids and rings I place them into a mixing bowl.  Boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over all the rings and lids and leave in bowl until ready to use. 

Store your jelly in a nice cool place!  I ended up making over 14 jars of jelly and one jar is 1 L.  Eben loves apple jelly so much I think I might give him that jar as a Christmas present! 

If you are giving away jelly as a gift simply unscrew the ring carefully and place a decorative cupcake liner over top of the lid. 

 Then screw the lid back on and ta-da you have a nice decorated bottle of jelly to give away. 

What an inexpensive way to make jelly.  Its just takes some time but you can do it in steps so its more manageable.  I think from start to finish it took me 1 week. The bonus of the process; your house smells amazing!!!