Hey, it's that time of year again - time to get the school plans down for the fall. I thought I'd give you a run down of what we're planning, and I would love to see the links to your plans, as well.

The curricula listed are for both Luke and Peyton unless otherwise noted. Luke will be 11 and Peyton will be 9. WHAT!? That's crazy to write.

Bible - We're going to use the Veritas Press Bible cards, the Gospel series. These cards give a good, clear understanding of the content and chronology of Biblical events. We have Victor Journey Through the Bible that we will use alongside the cards and Bible reading.

Math - Luke will move on to Math U See Zeta with Life of Fred Decimals and Percents as a supplement. I'll be giving him some real life math problems to work on as well.

Peyton is about halfway through MUS Delta, and when she finishes that she'll move into MUS Epsilon with Life of Fred Fractions as a supplement.

Grammar - We're going to be using Analytical Grammar, with the recommended three year course. I love the thinking behind this program, which is thorough and rigorous, but doesn't review part of speech definitions until your brain pours out of your ears.

Peyton will not be doing a formal grammar program this year, but will have plenty built into her writing program.

Writing - Luke will be using Classical Writing, Homer A this year. We will wait to start it until the ten week course of Analytical Grammar is complete. The grammar in Homer along with the biweekly AG review should keep his grammar skills sharp while he focuses on writing.

Peyton will be using Classical Writing Aesop B this year.

Spelling - We've been using Spelling Power. Luke took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills this year and while he did pretty well overall, he pretty much stunk up the spelling section. This surprised me, because when he writes he is not prone to many spelling errors. I'm rethinking how we use SP vs. changing to a different program. Peyton hates Spelling Power (thought she spelled very well on the test) and I need to change her program for sure. Thoughts?

History - Luke will be going from the end of the Revolutionary War as far as we can - maybe stopping before WWI? - as recommended in The Well Trained Mind. Each week this will include reading a section in the 1994 version of Kingfisher's History Encyclopedia, making a list of pertinent facts learned and adding important dates to the timeline on Day One, doing mapwork and delving deeper into areas of interest from Kingfisher at the library and outlining a particular topic of interest on Day Two, and writing a summary of this topic of interest on Day Three.

Peyton will be covering the same time period, though her core text will be Story of the World last half of 3 and first half of 4, with written narrations each week. She'll also use the Story of the World Activity Guide for coloring pages, maps and other activities, and additional library books along with Usborne's Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History for digging deeper.

Literature - Luke will be reading through many of the logic-stage recommendations for this time period from The Well Trained Mind. Peyton's list will come from the grammar stage recs.

Latin - We'll be using First Form Latin. This was a tough piece. Luke and Peyton have now worked through Latina Christiana II, and Luke could move on, but Peyton is not ready for a higher level Latin. Fortunately for us, Memoria Press is publishing First Form just in the nick of time. Much of First Form will review LC I&II, but they dig deeper into the grammar with more exercises. So this year will be a reinforcement year for the two of them. I just don't want to commit the time to teaching two different levels of Latin. Unlike math, it's not as if they have to be able to do a certain level of Latin in 8th or 9th grade, so I'd rather keep them together in this subject.

Science - We'll be using Exploration Education for physical science this year. It looks like a lot of fun. I imagine we'll throw in some other experiments as we go along.

Art - Our Handle on the Arts program sat on the shelf all year and, by golly, we're going to use it this year!

Other - Luke will be playing select soccer this year pending tryouts the first week of July and continuing guitar lessons with Bud. Peyton will continue with drama and learning keyboard if Bud can force her to do it. He he.

Our plan is to devote Mon-Thurs to the core subjects, leaving Friday for art, science experiments and community service/mission projects. I think it's shaping up to be a good year.

Planning next year's curricula (more to come).

Laundry.

Feeding people. Wouldn't it be great if kids were more like camels? We could cram them full of food once every couple of days and then shut the kitchen down!

Trying not to spend money. Hate that.

Exercising. (Go Amy!)

Started going through the house, one room at a time, making it the best it can be without spending a penny. The bedroom is done. After we finish the whole house, we'll go back and make spending decisions.

Getting the garden in. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, cantaloupe, a variety of herbs.

Enjoying the fits and bursts of springtime.

Reading John Adams, A Reason for God, and Life Skills for Kids.

Watching The Brady Bunch, the entire series, with the kids and Slumdog Millionaire with Bud and some friends. If you haven't seen Slumdog, don't waste another second, see it now.

Facebook. Crazy addicting.

How about you? What have you been up to?

It's time once again for




This week I have a lot of little projects all over the house that would bore you out of your mind. It's also Mardi Gras weekend here, which means gumbo, red beans and rice, an adult beverage or two, and good friends. It also means nothing productive will happen on Saturday. Except for a good time with good friends and it doesn't get more productive than that in my book.

I have one project that might interest you, though. We are starting our tomato seeds so they will be ready to put out in the garden at the end of March.



The pellets expand when wet, and then you just drop your seed into them and it grows. Like magic. When you are ready to transplant you just put the whole deal into the garden. They are made of coconut husk. Pretty groovy.

We have several heirloom varieties that we are trying this year, mainly because I can't stomach the idea of giving Monsanto my business, but also because we are making self-sufficiency a goal. It will take a while to achieve it, but if these guys can do it in Pasadena, then we can do it in the Dallas suburbs. One of us is eventually going to have to be the president of the HOA to remove some of the ridiculous restrictions, but for now we're changing what we can, and when nothing is left to change legally, we'll start working on that end of things.

Wow, that's probably more than you wanted to know. How about I start over.

We're planting tomatoes this weekend. The end.

What's your project this weekend? Post the link to your Weekend Warrior post so we can come encourage you. Please link directly to your post and not your blog, and then edit that post with your follow up pictures. That will make it easy for everyone to find your entire project.




Get to work, Warriors!

Labels: Gardening, Weekend Warriors

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

Thomas Jefferson

I thought I'd throw a twist into the Meal Plan Monday thing by telling you what we ate last week, along with some tips/critiques about the meals. Maybe it will be a little more useful to you that way. Or you can laugh at my folly. Which is likely. Just don't do it to my face.

So here we go ... last week's menu.

Saturday
breakfast - oatmeal
lunch - lunch at Dickey's BBQ; this is a recurring theme because KIDS EAT FREE!
potluck dinner with friends - I made tortilla casserole and this was a delicious and easy dish. I had never made it before, and the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gave it a yummy flavor. The link is Cook's Illustrated, so if you want the recipe and you don't subscribe, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Plus, I'm getting all crazy and experimental with it and making soup this week instead of cooking it in a casserole.

I'm nutty like that.

Sunday
breakfast - toast and jelly
lunch - at Petra after church, our favorite interior Mexican food restaurant
dinner - Superbowl snacks at a friend's party

Monday
breakfast - french toast and sausage
lunch - leftover tortilla casserole
dinner - grilled sausage with caramelized onions and marinara sauce on big bread (that's what we call french bread around here)

Tuesday
breakfast - biscuits with honey
lunch - leftover sausage
dinner - takeout pizza (Bud was out of town and I don't cook so much when he's gone)

Wednesday
breakfast - cinnamon toast and bacon
lunch - buttered noodles with veggies
dinner - at Bud's mom's house

Hmmm. It doesn't seem like I actually cooked that much this week. How come I was ALWAYS in the kitchen?

Thursday
breakfast - cold cereal
lunch - ham sandwiches
dinner - baked ziti - this is a GREAT recipe, however, as I assembled it I began to realize just how large a portion of my grocery bill went to the ingredients for it. And doesn't it seem that one should be able to make a meatless dish of pasta, sauce and cheese with some seasonings without sacrificing a child's college education? I am going to try this again soon, substituting some of the more expensive ingredients and see what I can get.

Crappy pasta probably.

Friday
breakfast - cold cereal; there was quite an uproar that not only did my children have to eat cold cereal, they had to do it two days in a row. Poor things.
lunch - leftover ziti
dinner - chili and cornbread. Now this recipe turned out really well. And it prompts me to share an embarrassing story with you. I am occasionally a sucker for marketing. Actually, it's pretty rare, but sometimes I fall for a good marketing plan.

In the fall of 2007, when the air was just getting crisp...scratch that. We don't get crisp air in Texas. When Texans were imagining crisp air, I went to the grocery store. And there on display was a beverage that I was sure would transport me into a world of brightly colored trees, cozy sweaters, and crunching leaves under my feet.

Pumpkin Ale.

I excitedly brought it home and didn't even unload the groceries before I opened a bottle from my six pack.

In my life I'm not sure I've ever been so disappointed in a purchase. It was disgusting.

Which is why, up until last week, I still had 5 of the nasty brews in my refrigerator.

Then I made chili. And the chili turned out good!



I certainly wouldn't purchase this for making chili, but if you have it on hand, it turns out pretty good.

In my chili recipe I also used a 27 oz. can of pinto beans and 1 lb. of ground buffalo instead of 2 lbs of ground beef. Plus, I cut the chili powder by about half. One third cup of chili powder would scar my children for life. But I bet it would be good with it in there.

Enjoy the recipes. And, I'm always looking for good suggestions and recipes, so leave 'em if you got 'em.

Labels: Cooking

Okay everybody, it's Friday. Time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

For us it's a busy weekend. Peyton has play practice in the morning, then she and Bud have the Daddy/Daughter Dance tomorrow evening. That means much of the afternoon will be taken up with primping, etc. It takes a lot of work to get Bud ready for a date.

On Sunday after church, a local organization is holding a Cut-a-thon to benefit a children's clinic here in town. If you are in the North Dallas area, you should participate. It's quite a deal and for a good cause, too. And, let me tell you that it could not be more timely for this shaggy family. Those hairstylists may rethink being so charitable after they are done with us.

And finally, on Sunday evening we host our Bible study. The best night of my week.

So it's a busy weekend, but not completely jam-packed. During the inbetween times I plan to install toe kicks.



Also, at some point in the weekend, I intend to get that game of Sleeping Queens put away. That might be shooting too high, though.

So what about you? Add your link here on Mr. Linky so we can see what you are going to be up to. I know I'll come by and give you a hiney kickencourage you to get to work. I bet there are others like me who would love to be inspired by your projects.

Please be sure to link to the specific post instead of to the main page of your blog. That will not only make it easier today, but in a few months when someone wants to see how you faux-painted your dining room, it will be alot easier to find.

Update: Finally I got on Blogger. It was being mean to me. We had a full weekend and completed our list. The toekicks are in:



You'll notice the Sleeping Queens have been put to bed.

Rimshotthankyouverymuch.

The plan is to install toekick drawers and a pullout stepstool by the baking area (for Peyton) and use the toekicks as drawerfronts. But that's probably a summer project. I just need to get the place looking put together right now. Translation, I'm tired pressing my face against the floor and the base of the cabinets to reach all the stuff that rolls under there. It's getting old.

Bud was also a Warrior this weekend:



Please ignore the green sponge. It's not even there. It's your imagination.

He installed the casing around both pantry doors, and the hallway to the laundry area. AFter a few pieces of baseboard are in place it'll be time for filling/sanding/painting and it's really going to start to look finished.

Be sure to check out Dy's link below and see her fabulous futon!

I hope you join us next weekend and be a Weekend Warrior!



And don't forget to comment after you leave your link! Happy Warrioring!

Labels: Kitchen remodel, Weekend Warriors

This post is part of Randi's Recipe Box Swap!

After you're done here, go check out some of the other great recipes!

Over on the GSCI post, Dy suggested that perhaps I left out a unit on lard. I totally get that Dy is embracing the whole Alabama thing, and that shortening or lard is often used to make a nice flaky pie crust.

But we don't do lard around here. We just don't do lard.

I'm sorry, Dy.

Like Dy, though, I did have my concerns about the whole pie crust thing. You want it flaky, not crumbly, and lard or vegetable shortening are a surefire way of making it flake.

The thing is they don't taste like butter. And if you want to know my philosophy of cooking it goes something like this:

Make it taste like butter.

So, if you are like me, and not prepared to forgo the butter for the flake, I present to you the Best Pie Crust Evah, in which you shall have both.


When you make pastry with butter, the key is keeping it cold. When rolled out, the cold butter makes layers of sheets between the dry ingredients. Like little sheets of happiness. If you let the butter get warm, it will just melt into the dry ingredients and you'll have a tough crumbly crust. Keep your butter cold!

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes and chilled
6 tablespoons sour cream

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, and combine till mixed. Add the butter, and mix until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Now you want to chill your mixture for about 15 minutes to keep that butter cold.

Add the sour cream to the mixture and mix until the dough comes together in the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it several times on a lightly floured surface. Divide into two pieces and form each into a disk about an inch or so thick.

Now wrap it up and chill it for 30 minutes up to a few days.

You can make this in a food processor, being careful not to over process the mixture - stop at that coarse meal stage. You can also do it by hand with a pastry cutter thing or two knives. I can't do that. I stink at that.

This makes two pie crusts. So you should make two pies and send one to me.