Project Days

Around here some days just end up being project days. Days where all those things I've been meaning to do with the campers gets bundled up and done in short bursts all day long. So for this month's "Day in the life" post I'm going with Sunday, March 16th, 2014 as our day. 

We went to Saturday mass at our parish simply because we prefer it to the super early morning one on Sunday. Waking up the Peanut before she's ready to wake up is not the best of ideas, especially if it's not for something she's going to get super excited about right away. She loves church but not when she's sleepy. Right now Saturday evenings work better for us.

So, Sunday morning we all kind of woke up around 9 AM. Normal wake up routines were followed and chores were done, all of which took about half an hour. Then YCJ got ready to make instant oatmeal for breakfast for the family. She started with the kiddos and then did the adults. We all like different kinds of oatmeal and if we make plain there has to be a small "bar" worth of toppings and additions, so when we find instant on sale we tend to grab it up. (We got three big things of different flavored instants for $6 PLUS got a free milk about a week ago.)

Around 10 AM we all finished eating and it was time to start our leprechaun trap project. So, I got out all of the materials for the campers and poured another cup of coffee for myself. I took just a few moments explaining to them what I had thought we'd do and then let them go at it. I spent a few minutes, after I saw that they were working well, getting our next item on the agenda ready. 

The next "item" on our list, which we got to around 10:30 AM, was our "work" on Saint Patrick. These were really shamrocks that I attempted to draw drew out and then gave the children blessings to write above the smaller shamrocks and we discussed the trinity while working with the larger shamrock. 

We stayed in the school area for awhile while we worked on some of our little decorations for Saint Patrick's day, and the transition from winter to spring. Mostly coloring pages and chit chatting with each other while I took down our winter garden above the dining table. They really like coloring sheets, even ECJ whom you would think would get tired of coloring pages at age 12. As soon as they finished with that part they took off for a break into one of the rooms. I spent the time they were taking a break to catch up on some e-mail and blog reading.

Around 1:30 PM we had lunch, ECJ made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids and buttered rice for Mom and Dad. Afternoon chores were quickly done and then we finished off the leprechaun traps while I began getting our next project ready.

We weren't ready to do the next project until after 2:30 PM but that was just fine as the campers were ready to watch a quick DVD in Peanut's room while I busied myself in the kitchen and ECJ came out before the girls to help me set up. And before we actually began the project I showed them a bit of why we were doing what we were going to do and the differences between the before and after of it. 

The next project was our "fire starters" (step-by-step instructions coming up next week) and actually was pretty scientifically oriented. Peanut thought it was super messy but sort of enjoyed doing it. After we got the stuff dipped in the melted wax and placed on our wax paper to dry the kids again went off to play for awhile, this time it was very imagination oriented.

The last project before supper was done around 4:30 PM, which was to make individual chalk pastel winter scene pictures for our wall. Honestly, this was one of their favorite projects of the day. I know now for sure that I need to purchase "real" chalk pastels before September as our sidewalk chalk is not the best for our purposes, though it does sort of work.

Supper was around 6:30 on Sunday and Peanut had opted to cook for the evening. We were having soup and crackers. On went the apron and Mommy supervised for a yummy yummy dinner. We talked about math during her cooking process, three cans of soup plus three cans of water equal how many cans total type of thing. Everyone agreed while we ate (after prayers) that Peanut made the best soup ever! 

7 PM is Peanut's migraine medication time.

8 PM is the campers official "start getting ready for bed" time.

8: 30 PM Mommy reads the girls two Bible stories which we quietly discuss before they go to sleep. During this time ECJ says his rosary and then begins his own project of working on inventing a board game for the family.

9 PM Mommy works on some blogging for Monday morning, ECJ keeps working on the board game, and Daddy gets ready to watch the news.

10 PM ECJ goes to bed

10:30 PM I go join Daddy to watch some television in the bedroom.

11 PM Parents prayers and rosary then more news

1 AM I finally fell to sleep.

As you can see we had a lot of religion, art, holiday, science, home economics, math, and more during our day on Sunday. Usually we'll throw one or two of these days together a month and it's almost always a weekend day. The campers don't really see these days as school days, but Mommy knows better. They love all the projects and I love all the learning PLUS I get to catch up on most of those things I'd like to get accomplished but haven't found time for recently during lesson time.

Linking up today with Our Busy Homeschool

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Winter is Over! (Bucket List Update)

OK, so this is going to be the last Winter Bucket List update because today is the last day of winter!! We didn't get everything finished, as a matter of fact 5 things on the list didn't get completed. Which took our list from 25 to 20 items, which is OK with me since that's what I usually confine our lists to is 20 items. 

We did check off a few things this past weekend to get to that magical number 20.

We had the children cook day (#13) on Sunday. We allowed each camper to decide which meal they'd like to cook and what they'd like to make. YCJ made oatmeal for everyone for breakfast. She started with the kids oatmeal and then made Mom and Dad's. ECJ made lunch but I seem to have missed taking a picture of it, he made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids and buttered rice for the parents. Peanut chose to make dinner (I know, right?!?!) and wanted to make soup and crackers. So, she put her apron on (with a little help) and made chicken noodle soup for the kiddos and cream of mushroom soup for the adults. We're all very proud of her!

ECJ chose to make our board game (#24) after getting some ideas from the rest of us. There are over 30 trivia cards, over sixty individual spaces on the game board, four "movers", and it's set up a lot to look like the shape of the Candy Land board game but works to where all three children have questions they can answer in equal amounts. He even made some of the questions educational ones!

 We made leprechaun traps (#17). We made these pretty simply but with rainbow colored Popsicle sticks to "attract" the leprechauns to our traps. We're still not sure if we caught any real ones though because those are tricky critters! They vanish if you don't keep an eye on them once their caught and since the traps all closed during the night if there were any leprechauns inside of them (besides the pictures we placed there as bait) they vanished by the time we woke up in the morning... Oh well, we'll try again next year!

We finally got around to making our chalk pastel winter scenes (#12), just a few days before the first day of spring! These turned out pretty well for just using sidewalk chalk we still had hanging around. I really do need to invest in some "real" chalk pastels before next school year.

And we even made our fire starters (#18). We've made some like this before but I'd never thought of the teachable moments before and there will be a full step by step on how to make these next week. The kids had a ton of fun making them and now we have three small jars of six fire starters each, so enough to start 18 fires with!

We managed to all say our rosaries every day, read a book a month as a family, and to do our Mailbox Monday's faithfully.

We did not manage to make our simple sock snowmen (due to running out of time), complete one craft/project each (Daddy did his but the rest of us didn't finish ours yet), begin seeds indoors (though we'll do that in a month or two), partially or finish remodeling either child's room that's left (those were listed separately). We have begun on one of the room remodels but aren't counting that towards the list though we've gone quite a way with it already in the past couple of days, and I will be posting about the room remodels at a later date.

We had fun with our Winter bucket list but won't be doing one for the spring. We have so much on our plates already for this spring time that although I could use them as items for the list it just doesn't seem like the thing to do. We have our Lenten commitments to take care of, the front portion of the house to complete, the Cracker Jack's first communions, the projects that we haven't finished, and much more already on a "to do" list. We'll probably be participating in a summer fun list this year, but we won't be hosting one by any means. 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing our little progress reports on the little things we've been doing this winter! We had fun sharing them with you! Perhaps, next winter we'll do a winter link up again... But, I'm NOT ready to think about next winter just yet!

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10 Reasons I'm Ready for Spring

OK, so winter hasn't officially ended. And even when it does (Come on Thursday, first day of spring!) many of us can't expect warm spring type weather. Everyone I know has talked/blogged about weather at least once this winter because it was simply horrible everywhere and I'm sure I'm not the only one ready for spring. Here are some of the reasons that I personally (not my kids) am ready for spring:

1. I need more outside time for myself. Every person who reads my blog knows that we took on the 1000 Hours Outside challenge this year as a family. And most of you know that we're pretty far behind our goal for this time of year. BUT, I'm talking about my evening walks. The ones that happen after, or as, the children are going to bed that I take by myself. The ones where I'm out walking for the sheer pleasure of walking and not herding together campers as I go. The peaceful quiet of solitude in the quiet night while I burn off my excess energy (yes, I do have some which is why I'm up most nights until 2 AM even now that the kids are all mostly asleep by 9 PM). I begin these as soon as the nights are at least 40* F.

2. Classes outside. OK, so my kids enjoy these too. But, my favorite thing about warmer weather is the fact that we can take our lessons outside. I enjoy the wonder of learning while the sun is shining down on my head, while we're not confined within four walls due to weather, and where if we get loud I don't care and I don't get annoyed.

3. Daddy will BBQ more! Most years Daddy BBQ's all year round but with the Polar Vortexes (yes, we had two occurrences of that horror) Daddy was unable to BBQ at all this winter. I don't BBQ so those nights that he does I don't have to cook at all. And there's something to be said about a night of BBQ and relaxation that just goes together.

4. Flowers. I miss flowers. I have never been able to keep something that flowers growing all winter long. I am ready for the bright bursts, and muted tones, of flowers growing outside. Even though they bring bees, of which I am allergic to, they're a wonderful part of this world.

5. Green! Lord, I never thought I could miss green so much. Not the green of evergreen and pine trees. But green green grass. That wonderful springy substance that I still love to go barefoot through even at my age.

6. Flip flops outside of the house. I wear my flip flops and sandals out wearing them all year round but in winter I can only wear them in the house. I am so ready to paint my toenails (probably orange) and let them be seen with my flip flops and sandals. I am simply not a tennis shoe or boot person.

7. Skirts and dresses! OK, so I wear these most of the year anyways. But, with the warm weather I can actually wear them every day if I choose! Temperatures that reach the negatives are NOT conductive to skirt and dress wearing! I have a whole lot of my skirts that I'm dreaming of wearing. Yes, I know my dreams are simple.

8. Kids who actually want to play outside for more than five minutes at a time! With warm weather comes children who skedaddle out the door and want to be out there almost all day long. Giving me breaks here and there while I'm inside and they're outside. I spend a good deal of time outside with them but on those times that I am inside I enjoy the peace and quiet of only adults.

9. Easter! I enjoy Easter for so many reasons. There are the Biblical reasons of course. But coloring eggs (please don't buy the precolored ones in the stores it so much fun to color your own), Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, even the Easter bunny are all parts of Easter that I simply cannot do without. We've signed up for an egg hunt at our local library and it kind of made me sad this year since ECJ is a year too old to participate, they grow up so quickly. We always have our own egg hunt Easter morning after mass (sometimes this means Easter afternoon the egg hunt happens). Often we go to Grandma's house for mass, the egg hunt, and supper which is often a wonderful time. Little children all dressed in their Easter best and trying to use their manners. Puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.

10. Sunshine and spring rains. I know it's sort of goofy to put these together but I love a wonderfully sunshiny day that ends with a soft sprinkle of spring rain, perhaps even a rainbow. I love dancing in spring rain even at my age and make a point to do it with my kids at least once a year. Getting soaked is all part of the fun of letting loose and enjoying nature.

Well, I could probably go on like this for several more items. But, you get the idea. I am ready for the snow and cold weather to be gone. Ready for all the wonders that come as the world renews itself. Ready to get out and get more active.

What about you? Do you have a springtime list you want to share? Have you linked up with List It {Tuesdays}? Not a blogger? Share what you're looking forward to with spring in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!

Linking up today with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for List It {Tuesdays}!!

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day!! {LC}

Yup, I've gone green again for the day! It's Saint Patrick's Day!!! I love this day and look forward to it all year long. Other than Independence Day and Christmas it is perhaps my favorite holiday! And even though it is I have found that I own absolutely NO decorations for this holiday!! I'm not sure how that happened but I'll begin to rectify it next year.

We're Irish on both sides of the family, one side has a bit more than the other but that's OK. Plus, we're catholic so Saint Patrick is a wonderful topic to discuss.

Did you know that Saint Patrick used to explain the Trinity to people using the shamrock? We're talking the regular three leafed shamrocks you'll find growing at your feet, just as he found them. The top leaf is God, the leaves under it on each side are Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It made the concept of the Trinity more concrete for many people.

For Saint Patrick's day in our home we always eat corned beef and cabbage, which is a pretty traditional meal for the Irish especially on "Saint Paddy's Day". We usually leave out the seasonings that come with the brisket when you buy it as there's a few in there that we personally don't like and it takes to long to pick them out, besides we like the taste plain. I always add potatoes and carrots to our pot as it cooks, sometimes onions as well, and it makes for a wonderful one pot meal!

We usually talk about Leprechaun's and color a picture or two (which of course we did this year as usual). This year the campers each made rainbow leprechaun traps as well in the hopes of catching their very own leprechaun. There's a couple of four leaf clovers floating around for luck as well.

But as the children are a bit older this year and all of them are more interested in what each saint is about we've added a lot more to our homeschool schedule about Saint Patrick himself. We started on Sunday by making two pages of three leaf clovers. The one with several on the page also has an Irish blessing written above each one and the children all drew a picture that represented being held in God's hand at the bottom of the sheet.


The second page shows the Trinity using the three leaf clover and below that we wrote: Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me. Which is an Irish prayer that I thought was perfect during Lent.

Monday (today) we plan on talking a lot about Saint Patrick himself, perhaps watching a few videos on YouTube, and the Cracker Jack's will have some Saint Patrick's Day copy work to do. I've a good unit study we could have done had my printer not run out of ink! You can find it, and others, here . I'll be doing a lot of reading and discussion about Saint Patrick from the unit and we'll be sure to print it off next year!

I'll leave you with this wee prayer/blessing as I go:

May Christ give to you at this time

and for always,

His peace in your soul,

His presence in your heart, 

His power in your life.

Have a wonderful Saint Patrick's Day! Don't forget that on Wednesday (the 19th) it's Saint Joseph's Day.

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Kids and St. Pat's Menu

Well, it was decided that last week all week was going to be surprise pretty much because Daddy cooked all week. And he did a great job! We had spaghetti, shrimp pasta, and chili dogs just to name a couple of things. 

This week our menu plan is a bit different than normal again! Not only did we have the kids cook all day on Sunday (Mommy helped Peanut with supper) but it was also Saint Patrick's day on Monday. So, here's the menu that we're sharing over at Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday:

Sunday - YCJ made oatmeal for breakfast, ECJ made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and Peanut made Chicken Noodle soup for supper.
Monday - Our traditional Saint Patrick's day supper of corned beef and cabbage!!! (We look forward to this every year!)
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday
Wednesday - Chicken and dumplings
Thursday - Chili dogs and baked beans
Friday - Tuna noodle casserole 
Saturday - Leftover Buffet

It was a really busy day but she looks so excited to wear
her new apron and cook dinner!!
(Completely supervised of course)

As you can see there's nothing really complicated about this menu. Monday will take a lot of prep but once it's cooking there's nothing to do until it's time to eat but enjoy the wonderful smell! Fridays we usually eat a meatless meal or a fish meal all year long, but right now it's Lent so we're a bit more intentional about it. We haven't had chicken and dumplings in several months and it's high on Daddy's favorites so we'll be enjoying that this week as well. Tuesday's menu is subject to change due to catechism class not getting out until nearly 7 PM and we've learned before that it's far too rushed to try to eat supper before hand and we'd still have to feed the children something afterwards as they'd be hungry again due to supper having been early. 

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