Our One Month Menu Plan

This weekend, I made our menu plan for a month and went to the grocery store. Also, this past week, I visited Dream Dinners and made a few things for the freezer as well.

Here is our menu plan (mostly dinners, but some will be used for lunches) for a month (or maybe a little bit more):

• Cod
• Tilapia
• Pesto Cheese Ravioli with Chicken and Walnuts
• Cheese Lovers Manicotti (twice)
• Calzone
• Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
• Spaghetti (twice)
• Cheese Tortellini
• Beans and Cornbread
• White Chicken Lasagna
• Baked Chicken Tetrazini
• Steak and Veggie Stir Fry with Brown Rice
• Chicken Yakatori
• Southwest Chicken
• Pancakes (twice)
• Sloppy Joes
• Monte Cristo Chicken
• Chicken Parmesan
• BBQ Sandwiches
• Popcorn Shrimp
• Pizza Biscuits
• Make Your Own Tacos (twice)
• Glazed Meatballs with Brown Rice
• Gulash
• Meatball Sandwiches
• Chicken a la King (in the crockpot)
• Sweet Pea and Potato Pasta with Chicken
• Baby Back Ribs
• Chicken on the Grill
• Frozen Pizza and Breadsticks
  

Is "Where Do You Go to School" a Trick Question?

As we wrap up our first year of homeschooling this week, I can't help but reflect on one thing that happened over and over this year. It was one thing that I had to go so far as to coach my kids on. Not only that, but I found out that other homeschooling families I know had the exact same problem.

"Where do you go to school?" people would often inquire. I never noticed this before, but apparently it is the equivalent of asking an adult what they do for a living. People asked it all the time.

And, then what would my kids do? They would look confused. They would start babbling incoherently and looking around the room. I would then have to chime in, "We homeschool." And, I'm sure the asker would then think, "They are homeschooled? What kind of education are the getting -- they don't even know where they go to school!"

I had to give them a little slack, because they had always been in public school. So, they were used to have a quick answer because they knew where they went everyday. But, now, it was more confusing to them because they didn't go to a different building for school. It didn't matter, because frankly, I got tired of the confused babbling that made us all look like idiots, so we sat down for some coaching.

I assured the kids that people knew what homeschooling was, so if they said they were homeschooled, people would understand what that meant. (Apparently this was one of their issues -- they thought they needed to explain homeschooling to other people.) Then, we rehearsed it. I would just randomly ask them, "Where do you go to school?" and I would expect that, without hesitation, they could say, "I'm homeschooled."

It's funny how one little talk and a little practice made a difference.

7 Quick Takes - May 15th Edition (Vol. 3)

1. You can now find my blog easily by going to http://www.manylittleblessings.net. And, you know what, if you forget and put in the .com, it will also redirect. I just could never configure Blogger with the host that I bought the .com with. And, trust me, I tried it about a million times. So, I finally sucked it up and went with a .net. Yeah for an easy web address!

2. It is time for planting our garden. Not only have I not started planting, I haven't even bought any starter plants. (And this certainly means that I didn't start seeds, other than the ones that I started earlier.) I'm hoping to have time to go out plant shopping this weekend.

3. We took a road trip this week to the Children's Museum. It was especially great, as we are counting down these last precious days of the school year.

We went with another homeschooling family, and we were glad that their 12 passenger van allowed for us all to make the trip together. It was a long day, but everyone seemed to have a really great time.

I know that there are a lot of people who homeschool that don't have much contact with other homeschooling families, but I don't think I could have made it through this year without all of the support and love that I have received from other people in our homeschooling group!

4. Speaking of homeschooling, I keep having Math U See pop up in conversations or online. I have wondered if that means that I should be using it. But, I watched one of their videos, and was kind of confused. Finally, Eric said that maybe I just needed to buy the manipulatives and add them to the Horizons Math that we are using now. So, I think it's a plan! Hopefully it will work!

5. Even though we're planning to continue working on math throughout the summer (as well as grammar and reading as well), we officially have just seven days of school left! I can't decide who is more excited -- me or the kids.

6. We watched the season finale of Grey's Anatomy. I just don't know what to say about it. All I can say for sure (especially without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't watched it) is that I was shocked when I figured out who "John Doe" was just moments before Meredith uttered his name. I promptly gasped and burst into tears. It's going to be a long wait for the new season.

Sure, I have a lot more I could say about the episode, but I won't. Because, well, this is quick takes, and I'm still feeling emotional about the whole thing anyway.

7. My teeth hurt part of last week and all weekend. First I thought it was something seriously wrong with one of my teeth. Then, that whole side hurt and I was in pain every time I ate.

Finally, I used our Neti Pot, and a week's worth of horrible pain was gone. I was about one step away from the doctor's office and a prescription for antibiotics. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Neti Pot maker.

Apparently He Didn't Really Want The Truth

In what has become a virtual domino effect, we have had visit after visit from the Tooth Fairy over the last few months. It was so long in between visits, and then all of the sudden, we seemed to have teeth coming out at least once every couple of weeks. (In one week, I think that Noah and Jack each lost one tooth.)

So, in an unsurprising turn, there has been a lot of Tooth Fairy talk. And, with that, a lot of finger pointing.

"Is there really a Tooth Fairy?" seemed to be a question out of Jack's mouth frequently. Each time, I would say, "What do you think?"

After a visit this week for Noah, Jack just wouldn't let up. And, in true Jack form, he kept making expressions that said, "I know it's you."

I finally gave up. "Jack, do you really want to know the truth? Really?"

"Yes," he said with a smile at me that said, "Finally -- just admit that it's you." Instead, he continued, "Just whisper it in my ear."

I got close to him, and I whispered in his almost eight year old ear the words that I thought he was expecting. I thought he would feel all superior that he had already suspected the truth.

Instead, he took in a deep breath and turned his head. And then he began to cry. To tell the truth, I started to cry then too. I just didn't expect that reaction, and I felt like a bad Mom for breaking his heart like that, especially when I didn't even think it would upset him at all.

All of this was followed by a long talk that ended with a promise. He promised that he would still believe in the Tooth Fairy. It's just that now, he knew that the Tooth Fairy doesn't come with pixie dust and sometimes stumbles in his room on the way to get the tooth. But, he also knows that the Tooth Fairy loves to leave him a surprise, because the real Tooth Fairy loves him very much.

But, just so this doesn't sound too much like rainbows and unicorns, I will admit that he was happy to agree to that because I let him know that the real Tooth Fairy would never come and switch out another tooth for money again if she had even an inkling that he was telling anyone else that he figured out her true identity.

He said it was a deal, because, as he said when we finished our heart to heart, "I really, really love the Tooth Fairy," and then he gave me a hug.

image by betsystreeter