A Day At The Lake

The weather here has been PERFECT.  As in it just could not be any prettier and there's no way we could be cooped up inside doing school.

So we did our morning meeting, chores, and packed a lunch for the lake.

We had the whole place to ourselves. 

Look at that sky! 

 The trails are always fun. 

And Jes caught 2 fish. 

Love me some pretty Arkansas weather! And the awesome Creator Who makes all things beautiful. 

Menuing For The Month

Here we are 1/2 way into October but I thought I'd show you how I do my simple monthly menu plan.  Better late than never I guess.

Setting up the grid in my bullet journal is the step that takes the longest.  Here's where the lined journals might come in handy but I still love the dotted ones best. 


Now the fun part.  And the easy tricks....

Because Wednesday is church night, we make sub sandwiches on french bread.  Easy prep.  Easy clean up.  And it's my kids' favorite dinner night of the week. I write that in every Wednesday.

Saturday is soccer so that is crock pot day.  I fill in all the Saturdays with whatever crock pot meals sound good. Sunday is always tacos after church and date night. Every Friday is homemade pizza.

See?  Super simple because that's 16 meals I don't have to think about!

Then I can just fill in all the blanks with whatever I have in my freezer, whatever the kids have requested, and whatever sounds good.  Mike was in Austin last week so we had 3 nights of kid food...whatever they wanted that they could cook and clean up themselves.  Read: Momma's not cooking when Daddy's gone. I bought easy foods for this so they could have fun with it.  I also have a master meal list in my bullet journal to make this whole process even faster.  No more thinking of what to fill in the blanks.  I just look at the list and pick from there.  Or maybe try something new on a night when I have lots of time.

When it's all done I make it cute for the month and then FINISHED!!

Because Clothes Are Of The Devil

 When Nathan was little I dreaded the seasonal transition to cold weather.  He was impossible to deal with when it came to clothes.  Long pants could not extend past the top of his ankle.  Sleeves could not touch his wrist.  And if the seam on his socks did not perfectly line up across his toes his day was ruined.  

Thankfully he outgrew it.  

Enter Bennett.  Nathan part 2.  In fact, he kinda hates clothes altogether.  He will run around in underwear and a superman cape all day until we absolutely have to put real clothes on to go somewhere.  Then we come home and he strips them all off.  

But now it's getting colder.  And rainy.  And there is just no choice.  

Yesterday it was time to get dressed and I pulled out a couple pair of pants.  I didn't even bother asking him to wear long sleeves.  One thing at a time.  I gave him a choice of which pants and then it was ON.  He dug in his heels and refused to cooperate.  He wanted shorts.  

The good thing was that we were not trying to get out of the house.  We were staying home and playing outside.  So I gave him the choice to put his pants on and join the fun outside with the rest of the family.  Or sit on his bed until he was ready to put his pants on himself.  He threw himself on his bed in the most dramatic display of despair.  

I left the pants on his bed and walked away.

I fully expected him to stay there until we came back in but NOPE.  In just a few minutes he came out with his pants on PLUS a smile on his face!  I was so proud of him. 

 I'm pretty sure if I had pressed the matter and fought with him, he would've panicked and refused even more.  I'm glad I was able to give him space and time and share the control.  He made a good choice and I'm hoping we can build on this for next time.  Otherwise, it'll be a long winter!

Happy Birthday Jesse

 

 This awesome boy is SIXTEEN today!!  

He is getting to spend his birthday week in Austin with his dad on a work trip and having a bunch of fun in the meantime.  He's played golf, slept in a hotel, eaten at fun places, toured the Capitol, and explored Austin. 

 

Isn't his smile THE BEST!?  He is such a sweetheart and I miss seeing him on his birthday.  We all called him this morning and sang to him.  We will celebrate when he comes home with some of his favorite foods and people.  

I love you Son of mine.  Happy Birthday! 

School This Week - Penmanship

I changed up almost all of our curriculum this year to a company called The Good And The Beautiful.  For the most part, I'm loving it.  One of my favorite pieces is our penmanship.  

This is Nathan's (8th grade).

I love the artwork they have to copy.  It makes developing fine motor skills more fun. 

Compare that to Jesse's (9th grade).  Totally boring.  I was hoping it would help him learn the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Actually there's very little of that.  

 But a whole lot of this....snooze.....

Absolutely no fun and not interesting at all.  At some point he will switch.  

Here's Zeke's.  Even though Zeke is 6th grade, I bought him level 3.  Handwriting is such a struggle for him.  I had him evaluated by an OT at one point and he basically said that 

1. He's a boy. 

2. He's 10

3. He's left handed

So give him a break.  

It's very basic but sill has simple artwork to copy.  Every day is different so it keeps him interested.  I also love that it doesn't require much from me. In fact, on this page he just wrote his own letters in the boxes!  I just check it off each day and correct anything that looks terribly wrong.