Meal Plan Monday no more....

I did so well blogging last week, you might have wondered what happened to me this week.  Well, let's just say my neighbor made a little boo-boo while landscaping and cut our internet line.

We're back up and running now, but I won't be posting a meal plan. I probably won't be posting one for a good long while. My husband got word that he's being laid off from his second job. Our income is going down, so the variety of our food is going to go down, too.  We'll be tightening our belt where groceries are concerned, so while I am adjusting to our new, smaller food budget, I am just going to skip blogging the food.

I will, however, post tips and ideas I have had to make my family's menu even more frugal every once in awhile.  Today's post will be one of those.

This is Oster brand waffle maker DH picked up for me :)

My children LOVE to have waffles for breakfast. We were buying the organic flax waffles from Whole Foods, but you know what? They're kind of expensive per waffle.  So, because my kids love them so much, we got a waffle iron, and I will be making large batches of waffles from scratch on the weekends, and freezing them. My kids can have toasted waffles until they come out of their ears, and I will only have paid a fraction of the price.

I'll also be whipping up pancakes and french toast on the weekends. I don't have time to make fresh ones everyday. I have to be realistic about my time and where I spend it. I can make big batches on the weekend because my husband is home to spend quality time with my girls while I am in the kitchen. On weekday mornings, I have to feed my husband and children quickly because he needs to go to work, and we have school to get to. (Not to mention my kiddos resemble baby birds in the nest when they wake up. Mouths are open and chirping for food lol ).

By making my own batter for all of these items, I will be able to fit hot breakfast into my new, very small budget.  I like that. :)  So, more posts to come....just not a meal plan.  ;)

Scripture for Little Hearts

This post was originally going to be about how I discipline my girls. I was going to tell you about how we have one major rule in our house that is repeated when necessary, but in thinking about how to develop the post, I realized I really needed to go much further.

You see, our major rule is "Children obey your parents, for this is right," which is a shortened version of Ephesians 6:1.  When the girls are acting up, I ask them, "what's our verse?" and they recite it to me. Yes, even the little one.  They pretty much always stop their behavior right away, apologize, and continue playing in a better way. It amazes me how scripture can cut through a bad situation like that.  We didn't always do it that way, and we didn't always have those good results. It was when we began pointing the girls back to what the Bible says that we saw a change in their little hearts and in our home.

Don't get me wrong; the Bible has always been a big part of our home life. We read it, talk about it, sing about it...you know, all the regular stuff you might imagine a Pastor's family might do. ;)  But we hadn't really considered that the children could memorize and apply it to their lives at this age. I don't know why this didn't occur to us; they can certainly memorize every song they hear on VeggieTales, and the eldest could recite "Where the Wild Things Are" by the time she was two.  I blame my lack of insight on the sleep deprivation.

Anyway, once we started pointing them back to scripture the change was huge. Not just in exacting the behavior we wanted from them, but in the way they looked at a situation.  When scripture is applied there is a realization that their behavior was wrong, there is remorse for the action, and repentance. And that is ultimately what we hope for with our children; repentance. 

The Bible talks about this subject. (Again, why didn't we get this sooner? I Dunno.)  Proverbs 22:6 says.
"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."
Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."  The book of Deuteronomy is chock-full of instructions to parents to teach the word and the law to their children. Hmm...

The overarching theme here is that Scripture is integral in the raising up of our children. Not just in the times of discipline, but simply throughout our daily lives. Deuteronomy 11:19 says "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  To apply this to our lives, we might say we should teach it to our girls while we're eating our toast at the breakfast table, when we're driving in the car, when we've slammed our thumb in the dryer door and we're reciting the fruit of the spirit through clenched teeth (what, you don't do that? ;) ), when we're washing away the dirt from their day of play, or when we're snuggling them close before bed, or when they wake up in the morning ready to do it all over again. In all of it, we are not only living scripture, but we need to tell it to them, too, so that they know that the direction of our lives is not just because we're nice people, but it is because of the direction the scripture, the very Word of the Lord, gives us.

 Please, don't misunderstand me now. I am not saying you should go memorize a few good verses to hit your kids over the head with on a daily basis.  What I am actually saying is that you should immerse yourself in the Word, and let it speak to you, and change your life. It should become such an ingrained part of you and your relationship with God, that sharing it and teaching it to your children  is a natural extension of who you are.  So, it isn't just scripture for their little hearts; It's for your little heart, too.

Learning to Love Art with Little Ones

We love art in our home-school!  My husband has a pile of kid-paintings 4 ft thick in his office to prove it.  He can't bear to get rid of any of the kid's precious projects. It is for this reason (and this reason only!) that we don't do art projects every day.  

But how about you? Do you have a love for art in your home-school?  Not everyone does, but I am fully convinced that everyone could like art if we could address whatever is holding them back.  I'm going to address three of those hurdles today, and see if we can't make believers out of some of you.

Hurdle #1- It's so Messy!

Yes, it really is. It can be horrendously messy.  But what mess can't be cleaned up?  And, really, with a little forethought and preparation, you can cut the worst of it off at the pass. 

Make a plan. Decide ahead of time what kind of project you want to do or what kind of medium you want to explore.  If you are going to be using glitter, cut open a paper grocery bag and lay it under the project. It will catch the glitter, and is stronger than newspaper so you can easily pour the glitter back in the bottle.  Keep a lint roller handy to pick up stray pieces from floor and furniture.  If you are going to paint, put your easel or table on a washable sheet to catch drips, and keep a rag and spray bottle nearby. Dad's old shirts make perfect smocks to keep their clothes clean.

   If you think ahead, you can have everything you need at hand, and that takes care of most of the challenge. After the project is over, make sure the kids help clean it up.  This is a great teaching moment. :)

Hurdle #2- I don't know what to do; I'm not artistic


That's okay! There are a lot of resources out there that can give you ideas as your kids get older, but if your kids are the same age as mine, just letting them explore different mediums is the most important thing.  My girls love to paint. They'll paint with washable tempera, watercolors, fingerpaint, Colorix (which can be used wet) and even with water on their chalkboard.  They think markers of different widths are awesome! They will use them on all sorts of different kinds of papers.  Then there are crayons, pastels, colored pencils, regular pencils, pens, stamps and ink, do-a-dot markers, smelly markers, chalk...and that is just the stuff to draw with.  Then there is playdoh, clay, foam, feathers, glitter, googly eyes, popsicle sticks, paper plates, construction paper, scissors, hole punches, shape punches, confetti, tissue paper, contact papers, sand, beads, macaroni, plaster, papier mache, and wood.  Well, there is about a million other things as well, but I'm not trying to overwhelm you. Even if you just let the kids play with the stuff and take their own direction (supervised of course!) you are set for a while.  For the rest of the time, pop over to pinterest.com.  If you haven't discovered this little gem yet, I highly recommend you toddle over there and get pinning. You can do a search for kids art projects and get all sorts of results.  I like to search for art projects that go with our read-alouds. A lot of the time if you type in the book title and "craft" you can get great results.


Hurdle #3-But it's expensive! 

Yes, just like any part of home-schooling, it can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be.  Here are some of my favorite ways to save on art stuff:

First, reduce, reuse, recycle! (Am I the only one that remembers that being drilled into us in elementary school?) Reuse everyday items as art supplies. Have a sock whose mate disappeared long ago? Hey, sock puppet! Package arrive in the mail? That brown packing paper can be re-purposed for painting, and hang on to that box; dioramas are art, too.  Save the yogurt cups to make banks or instruments.  Only have 3 inches of tin foil left on the roll? Save both the foil and the roll as art supply.  Save buttons, and cut old shirts into squares to use in a collage.  See the value in old greeting cards and magazines for gluing practice.  It just takes a little imagination, but you can really glean a lot from what you already have.

Second, make what you can.  There are recipes all over the internet for DIY washable paint, play-doh, sidewalk chalk, moon dough, modeling clay, etc.  Just do a little research and make what you can. It can really cut down on the cost of things.

Third, know where to buy the rest.  Whatever you can't make with your own two hands, you can find for pretty cheap. Again, with a little planning, you can get some good deals.  Before you start the school year, think about what kind of projects you hope to do. Then make a master supply list. Put everything you could ever hope for on there. Before school starts there will be ridiculous amounts of sales, and a good bit of your list will be very cheap. Namely, glue, crayons, pens, markers, pencils, tape, construction paper, and folders (for lap books).  Pick a bunch of these up while they're so cheap.  For the rest, search for the best price online. I like to go to www.discountschoolsupply.com. They have pretty much everything you could ever hope for there, and the prices are very good. Oriental Trading Company sometimes has craft kits, too, so they can be worth checking out. If you can't make or buy everything on your list, highlight what you need/want most, and buy that first. Then go back to the list every once in awhile and see what you can find on sale when you can afford it.


Kids love arts and crafts by nature. They learn through the fun of it, and it really is worth it to give it a go. Have an art question or hurdle I didn't address here? Leave a comment, and I will do my best to give you a good answer.  ;)

Sending the Pacifier Packing

My kids had an all consuming love-affair with a little thing called a binky  boomboom bippy plug pacifier from the day it first went in their mouth.  It was a comfort to them and a panacea for every less than comfortable feeling. Tired? Pacifier. Sad? Pacifier. Angry? Pacifier. Hungry? Pacifier. Bored? Well you get the idea.  I had read a study that said that allowing a child to sleep with a pacifier reduced the risk of SIDS, so I was willing to risk the scorn and ridicule that often comes with extended pacifier use. I was not, however, willing to risk the girls' oral development.

My eldest is going to be four soon. Not only is she too old for a pacifier, but I was starting to notice an effect on her front teeth. NOT cool. So that was the first big factor in my decision to unplug. The second had everything to do with my second little one. At nearly three, she really is getting too old as well, but the real reason for her was for the sake of her speech.  When she would talk, there wasn't really anything wrong with it. She can form words beautifully, actually. But the problem was that she preferred to have the pacifier in her mouth all the time, so she just didn't talk much.

So on Sunday, I sat down with my girls and told them that they could have the pacifiers for the rest of the day, and that when they woke up they weren't going to have them anymore.  Then on Monday morning, I followed through on that.  I collected both pacifiers...

and.......

cut the tips off! When they asked for them later, I gave them to them just like that. When they discovered they were broken and that they couldn't keep them in their mouths that way, they didn't want them.  Awesome!

But then night fell, and all the success I thought I was having melted away. The little one sobbed like she had lost her best friend and I seriously had second thoughts. She's my baby after all! But I stayed strong. For the first time in her whole life, I had to get into bed with her and stroke her back and hold her hand until she fell asleep.  But then she stayed asleep all night.  It was an easier night than I had anticipated. The older one didn't have a problem at all. I would say the transition is made with her. 

So, now we're pacifier-free.  It was hard, but I think I kind of made it much harder in my head. If you are struggling with weaning from the pacifier, maybe give this method a shot.  And stay strong! :)

Cutting back on the Caffeine...

I briefly mentioned in the Monday post that I am trying to cut down on my coffee intake. I have mixed feelings about this. I love coffee. I love it so much that it could rival my affections for my husband. KIDDING; nothing does that. I sure do like coffee a whole lot, though. I realized last week that I probably like it a little too much.  I drank four strong cups of coffee in one day and still crashed by 10.  I get to a point with my coffee where it stops refreshing me, and I start feeling sad side-effects.  That four cup day I was having heart palpitations from the caffeine. Not okay!  So, I have begun to cut back. I gave myself a strict two cup limit for the rest of the week and set about making a plan.

I have a beautiful Keurig that my parents gave me for my birthday (they know me so well!) and I have been using the pre-filled k-cups. They make a pretty strong cup of coffee.  I really need to have a weaker cup, so my solution was to order a reusable k-cup. I got a 2-pack, so that I can prep one for both me and the DH before I go to bed at night. I cannot be fumbling around with coffee grounds and little cups in the morning.  It wouldn't be a pretty sight.  So, that is step number one in getting myself clean tapered off.

Step number two will be reducing the number of cups down to just one weak cup in the morning.  yay. (sense my sarcasm)

So, if I like coffee so much, why torture myself and get off it? Well, firstly, that whole heart paliptation and energy crash thing is kind of a kill-joy,  Secondly, I'd like to have another baby at some point, and trying to come off coffee when you have morning sickness stinks. Better to do it now, and be at that good level should God ever give us another miracle.

So, that's that. I'll be replacing my coffee with various caffeine-free herbal teas, and I promise to review those for you.  There will also be lots of water consumption going on.  We've been planning on using our tax return for a certain wonderful kind of water system (I love good water even more than I like coffee!) and we should be able to order that soon.  I can't wait for that. We've had to buy water because ours is nasty, and we often run out mid-week.  More on that later!

Meal Plan Monday...actually on Monday!

Hey look at me! I am posting on the correct day! :)  It's the little things in life....

Anyway, I have the meal plan for this week all worked out. I went shopping on Friday and got all my ingredients for the week and spent Saturday prep-cooking. I love having things prepped and ready to go. It helps immensely when I am trying to homeschool my very spirited ladies.

Breakfasts are either heritage flakes with milk and fruit, ezekiel toast and fruit, cinnamon raisin ezekiel toast or organic flax waffles with fruit. Simple! I usually have a couple of cups of coffee, but I am starting to wean myself down again. (I'll have a post on that soon)

Lunches (and these are in no particular order...)

Red beans and rice on salad

Lentil Soup

Beef Barley Soup  (this recipe made a huge amount. I made it Saturday, and it turned out 16 LARGE portions. So we'll eat this at least twice this week. I put the rest in the freezer)

White Bean Farro Soup

PB&J, apple and carrot sticks

Dinners

Pot roast with onions, fingerling potatoes , fresh green beans

Grilled Chicken, brown rice pasta salad and roasted asparagus

turkey veggie meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli

  

thai turkey meatballs with thai noodles and broccoli

Spaghetti with turkey sauce and side salad

hamburger (grilled) on an ezekiel bun with lettuce & tomato, with coleslaw, pickle and popchips

air-popped popcorn, yogurt and fruit. (we still like to do this on Sunday nights because our day is so crazy on Sunday)

Snacks and Desserts

My little ones get a snack every afternoon. I often do, too, but mine is almost always an organic apple or other piece of fruit and a small serving of almonds.  I like a cup of tea at this time, too. The kids snacks vary.

This week's snacks
 organic kids juice (very watered down) and some Annie's Organic Bunny Snack Mix
organic apple and organic cheese, water
chocolate chip cookie made with coconut flour (coconut flour has a lot of fiber) and organic milk
oatmeal buckwheat raisin cookie made with bananas (again with the fiber) and organic milk
air-popped popcorn and "chocolate" milk...(this is really organic milk mixed with about 2 tbsp dark chocolate almond milk. It is high in protein)
 small group dessert: this is the only night we have dessert. I always make it so I know what is in it. This week is raspberry buckwheat cobbler.  (The recipe calls for hemp, but since I have people that are on medications in my group, I skip that. I also skip grapefruit because it interferes in a lot of meds. Just some good info there.) 

And that is it for this week.  Let me know if you have any questions on this stuff.  Eventually, I will get a nice little template set up again for this, but the computer I have now is pretty bare bones. So until then, please be patient with my list.