It's A Crazy Life.....

And what a crazy food/meal plan week it will be!!  Between kids being in and out of school, the holiday, travelling and more it's just a crazy food week!  But being that it is what it is....here is the CrazyLife meal plan for this week:

This year we've been doing a homeschool preschool program for Things #3 and #4.  Now, mind you, both Mr. CrazyLife and myself are public school teachers, so we are in no way against public school.  Or are we pro-homeschool.  We just feel that any education either at home or at school is important and that we should do all we can to keep our children on the right path and give them a headstart into life and education.


Since Auntie CrazyLife has been staying with the wee ones during the day, we decided it was easier to let her homeschool the preschool rather than find a new place for them and add extra running and expense into our day.  She's been trained in early childhood education, so it's a great choice for us.

So far this year, the kids have worked on their letters and numbers, both recognition by sight and sound.  I cut a vinyl alphabet with my Cricut and we hung it on our kitchen wall.  It looks quite nice, if I do say so myself.  =)  Thing #3 can now write his full name and Thing #4 can recognize and say all the letters in her full name.



They have also done units on "All about Me," "Halloween," "Apples," and "Fall."  Our kitchen/dining room is decorated so nicely with all the artwork they've done.  We've added to it with artwork the older children bring home from school.  It's a lovely way to decorate the house!

The children and Auntie also work on the weather and calendar every day.  It's so cute to hear Thing #4 singing the days of the week song all the time!

This past week, the kids and Auntie have been working on shapes and colors.  It's so funny to hear my wee two year old pointing out all the shapes she sees as we drive around town!  She can even draw her own circles and squares!

Next week the topic is Thanksgiving. 

Today we went to the library to find a book on the first Thanksgiving and about the history of Thanksgiving.  The kids will read that and do some answer comprehension questions orally and then draw a picture of what the first Thanksgiving looked like.  We also have some Pilgrim head crafts to make from  HERE.  I also found a printable book there about symbols of Thanksgiving and one about counting.

I also have used my QuickCutz cutter to make some Thanksgiving shapes (Boy Pilgrim, Girl Pilgrim, Boy Indian, Girl Indian, Turkey, Corn, Leaf) which will be used for a couple different things.  The kids will use them for making patterns, counting, color identity, shape identity and of course, storytelling.

So far, this homeschool preschool thing is working quite well.  With Auntie CrazyLife doing the main lesson during the day and Momma and Daddy CrazyLife filling in during the evening and weekend, I really see a lot of progess with the kids. 

Plus, it's been fun putting together units and making all the materials and planning curriculum.  I'm probably kind of a nerd in that way, but I love curriculum!  Look for more homeschool preschool ideas in the future!

Cold and flu season is in full force with us.  And we always seem to get hit hard in the fall.  Thing #4 has already had pnemonia this fall and Thing #3 had croup.  We've had the nebulizer out and going since the middle of October and it will stay in active duty until about mid-March.

I try to prevent colds as naturally as possible.  We up our doses of Vitamin C and Vitamin D during the colder months.  We also run the humidfiers all the time.  I personally up my Vitamin B12 dose as well. 

Something new I'm trying this year  is Oregeno oil.  It was suggested to me by our local heath food store.  I looked up online and found these things out about it:

Fall is by far my favorite season of the year.  Despite horrid allergies, I love the cooler weather and the changing of the leaves.  I think one of the benefits to living in northern mid-Michigan is that the fall weather makes for some beautiful drives.

With cooler weather and greyer skies, my head immediatly turns to warm belly food.  This is the food that fills you up and warms you from head to toe.  My favorite kind of food!

Today I'm sharing my famous pot-roast recipe.  It's super easy (even for a busy working mom mid-week) to throw together and super yummy too! 

As a running theme in this blog....Life goes on.....

Late summer happened and with it the taking apart and putting away of the garden.  We froze many a green/yellow bean, corn kernal and broccoli tree.  Not to mention the berries that were frozen and put away.  Or the mushrooms, berries, onions, and apples that were dried.  The onions that were braided and put into the cistern for storage.  The peaches canned.  The apples sauced.  The tomatos juiced and sauced.  BBQ sauce made.  Cabbage fermented and frozen as sauerkrat.  Busy times.

Then school started.  Thing #1 began second grade in the gifted and talented program.  She's doing grade level work in science and social studies and working one grade ahead in math and language arts.  She is in a magnet classroom, so all the children are at the same level and working at the same degree.  Thing #2 began first grade and is having all the challenges that come with being a spirited child in this world.  He just doesn't fit into the box of a "typical" first grader and has a teacher that wants all her kids to fit neatly into that box.  It's a struggle, but he's coping well and we're working with him on respect and expectations.  Things #3 and #4 began doing preschool with Auntie CrazyLife, who comes to our home each morning at 6:45 to watch the children.  Having her around has been a lifesend.  Mornings are so much easier and the big kids don't have to ride the bus anymore.  I'm not rushing around to get out the door and everyone is happier in the home setting than a daycare setting.  Mr. CrazyLife and myself both started teaching in new schools this fall and are adjusting as well as we can in the situation.

Add afterschool dance classes, college classes and church activities and well, we're pretty much on the go all the time!

So that's life....I'm trying to be more productive with the blog and keep it updated more; life just seems to step in the way.  I haven't been online at home in almost 3 weeks!  And at school during my prep time I'm actually planning and prepping (amazing, I know).  So time has been limited.  I promise to update, but expect like 5 posts in a day and nothing for like a week!

Thanks for sticking with me and being loyal followers and friends!

I admit it.  I had fallen into the rut of doing almost everything for my children.  I picked out their clothes.  I made all their meals, packed their schoolbags, even picked up their dirty clothes off the bedroom and bathroom floors. But there came a point at the beginning of this summer when I said to myself, "Self?  What in the heck are you doing?"  This came after spending almost an hour picking up toys and messes after the children had gone to bed.  Why was I the one doing this?  I didn't make the mess.  If anything, I'd picked up that same exact mess at least three times already that day. Why? Why? Why?

I never intended to become the parent who did everything for their kids.  I wanted my children to be independent.  I wanted them to be able to take care of themselves.  And they were - they just couldnt' or more likely, wouldn't  do it.

So I declared war.  As soon as school was over this summer.  I made up a system to "help" them help themselves.  And it's worked....as long as I keep up on it.

You see, my children are just like myself.  In order to stay accountable to me, to them, to each other, we need a visible checklist, something we can see what needs to be done.  This can't be something you can hide away and forget - it has to stay constant, and you have to be able to physically manipulate it.

I mentioned in my last post about my love of the Motivated Moms system.  I keep the calendar in a 3 ring binder on my kitchen table.  I HAVE to mark things off the list before I feel like I can finish my day.

The kids are the same way.  Through trial and error, we came up with a system that helps them help themselves (and me in the process).  It's worked for the most part - vacation days kind of put us off.  But the biggest thing is that we keep it visible and that the kids are able to physically manipulate their list.

Here's what we do:

I made up a chore chart for each of the children.  I just used Excel, nothing fancy.  Each child has 7 chores per day.  These things include brushing teeth, making beds, picking up bedrooms, picking up toys, picking out clothes.  They also include some "extra" chores - setting the table, clearing the table, sweeping the floor, taking out the trash, putting away laundry.   Many of the basic chores are the same for each child, allowing me to use the same template for all four munchkins.

I post the chore charts on the side of the refridgerator.  That way, the kids can check themselves to see what needs to be done and I can check to see how they are doing.  When they finish a chore and I've checked it, they can put a sticker on the chart for that day.

Each chore is worth 5 cents of "momma money".  At the end of the week they can earn up to $2.45.  This isn't a real allowance.  It's Momma Money.  The wee monsters and I sat down and came up with a list of rewards that they can "buy" with their Momma Money.  The things included, dinner out, a date with mom/dad to the park, swimming at the college, a sleepover wih a friend; all things that are free or reletively free.  Or they can save up or pool their money to "buy" something larger: a trip to the zoo, a movie date, a toy from the dollar store, etc.

It's working pretty well.  The kids are saving up right now to buy a trip to the zoo for the Halloween event and Thing #1 wants a sleepover with 2 friends.  If they start to fall behind, a simple reminder of what they need to do and what they are working towards seems to help.

And we're all staying more accountable!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
How Does Your Garden Grow?

That old child's verse comes into my head whenever I talk to someone about my garden.  I love my garden.  I love planting seeds and watching them grow into plants, flower and produce food that then sustains us.  I love the beauty of the different plants as they grow - vines ever moving outward and upward, sunflowers reaching towards the heavens, tomatos and beans bushing out with little flowers everywhere.  It's poetry in motion.

And now that it is the end of August, it's a body in motion as I try to harvest everything and get it preserved and put away for the colder months!

So far this season, I have frozen about 8 quarts of broccoli, 8-10 quarts of corn (with more in the refridgerator, ready to go....just finding the time) and 1 of green beans (too hot so far for many).  I have also put down 4 quarts of raspberries and about 4 quarts of blueberries into the freezer.  I did up 16 pints of peaches (from a 1/2 bushel I bought at the farmer's market), most of those in light syrup, but a few "spirited peaches" with peach schnapps in the syrup!  I also did 11 jelly jar size (?) of sweet n' tangy BBQ sauce.  I've never done that before, but it sure does taste yummy!  We've had sauerkrat brining for about 6 weeks now...another two weeks and I'll take it out and freeze it.I had a whole pot of tomatos stewing for sauce, but ended up burning those.  That irritated me...about 30 lbs of tomatos down the drain.  (well, actually into the chicken pen, but whatever).  Remind me not to try to stew tomatos while playing video games with the kids again, okay?

The garden is still going in full swing.  It seems like almost everything is coming in at least two weeks early, despite our late planting.  My beans are finally flowering quite a bit, so I'm hoping for more of those.  The tomatos are going bonkers and taking over the entire end of the garden!  The sweet potato vines look awesome, although I haven't dug around yet to see what's under there (anyone know when to harvest them?).  Broccoli and celcery are looking good and still going strong. And our pumpkins are already turning orange....I hope they stay good till the end of October!!! 

I've planted more peas and radishes and lettuce and spinich for the fall garden.  It's been so hot this summer that we really had a hard time with the cool weather stuff that usually goes all summer for us.  I'm hoping a fall garden goes well.

And I'm hoping that Mr. CrazyLife proves good on his promise to create my cold boxes this fall.....I'd love to keep some things going through the winter!!!

Blueberry, that is?

It's blueberry season in Michigan and I love it!  As a child I never cared for blueberries.  I refused to eat them - whether plain, in muffins or mushed up in yogurt.  I hated them - with a capitol H.  My Gram used to say that I was her favorite blueberry picker, because my bucket was always full - I never ate any while picking!  In the years since, I have grown to tolerate them.  I still won't eat them plain or just mushed and mixed with yogurt or cottage cheese.  But I will eat them cooked in breads or pancakes.  And I love them in my breakfast smoothies!

My family has had a tradition from, well, forever, that every August, usually the first weekend, we all meet at Gram and Gramp's house and go blueberrying.  My aunt, uncle and cousin come.  Gram and Gramps used to come before it got to be too much for them.  My mom and sister always come up.  It's a fun time.  We have a favorite farm that we go to and the berries there have always been fantastic!

This year the calendar was not our friend.  We just couldn't find a time to meet up with everyone and hit the farm.  I was sad.  My own family usually picks around 30-40 pounds of berries and my mom and aunt pick around the same for their family.  I was worried about not having any berries for the freezer this year.

Then I discovered a secret, hidden treasure, just up the road from our own little farm - a BLUEBERRY patch!!!  Now, it isn't the best patch I've ever been to (you should see the patch at Soldini Blueberries - that's our favorite little patch!), but it isn't too bad either.  The bushes are huge and the berries small - but still tasty!  So I've gone a few times and picked.  It's late to be picking here, but these bushes are sill loaded up with berries.  I took the kids once and will probably go at least once more this month.

So now I've got berries to freeze.  Yay!!!  And berries to use in my favorite blueberry recipes.  Here's a couple to share....try them out and enjoy!!!

Lemon Blueberry Shortbread
2 C white or white whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp salt (I just pinch it in)
1/2 C dark brown sugar
1/2 TBS grated lemon peel (I use fresh and guesstimate the measurement)
3/4 C dried blueberries (I use fresh or frozen)
1 C butter (only butter - no substitutes)

Heat oven to 350.

Mix flour, salt, sugar, lemon peel and blueberries.

Cut in butter and mix till crumbly.  Continue mixing until a smooth dough forms.

Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out cold dough between two sheets of wax paper to about 1/2" thickness.  Cut out with cookie cutters or score and cut into squares.

Place 1" apart on cookie sheet and bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Whipped Cream - yummy on cakeor with fresh fruit
2 C whipping cream (not coolwhip)
1/4 C granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C mushed blueberries

Mix together all ingredients in a deep bowl (it splatters).

Whip with a mixer 8-10 minutes or until a nice whipped cream texture.  Chill.

Enjoy!

So another bloggy break for me.  I guess the summer and blogging just don't go well together in my world.  I've got a ton of things I want to post on and just never seem to find the time to post.  I think I'm going to try to type some up as drafts and then go and post them bit by bit.  Maybe that will help me keep updated!

Anyhoo...since my last postings....we've gone on holiday.  I'll do more on that one later.  We've been working in the garden and harvesting a few things.  It seems that the big farms are harvesting about two weeks early this year due to the heat and water, but since we planted a bit late, we're right on schedule.  Playing with the kids and trying to keep them busy.  Working on catching up with unfinished and half-finished home projects.  Just really keeping busy. 

So to all my wonderful followers and friends, I hope you're still out there!  Drop me a note to say hello!

It's still early here in Michigan to be harvesting too many things from the garden....in fact, we're still PLANTING in the garden!  Every week we try to add a few more plants/seeds to our yard and garden.  Things are growing ip everywhere and it's looking like a good year.  The only thing we have left to plant is some pumpkins.  We'll also add a few more radishes, carrots and lettuces later on this summer for a fall harvest.

But for now....

We're havesting strawberries.  And lettuce.  And radishes.  And rhubarb.  And the first peas of the season yesterday.  Yummy!

I also harvested my first crop of chamoille yesterday.  It's in my dryer now, and the house smells so fantastic!  I can't wait until it's ready to blend into my own special chamoille tea blend!

So now that's it's summer time, I like to do my meals plans a little differently.  Instead of general lists of meals to make whenever, I actually schedule a meal per day.  Breakfast and lunch I still play it loose, but for dinner/supper it's scheduled.  Now, mind you,  I don't always follow the schedule and sometimes mix up the days, but I at least try to keep it a little tighter.  =)

With that said.....

Well, I've taken a short hiatus from blogging.  With the end of the school year and re-adjusting the kids to a summer schedule it's been super crazy.  Then add in the fact that every weekend in June is action packed with out-of-town and in-town events and relative visits and such.....well, there you go.

Sooooo....hopefully my wonderful followers haven't lost faith in me and will check back in.  I'm going to be better at posting now, I promise!

It's June 21st - the longest day of the year.....the summer solstice!  Happy Summer Solstice Day!!!

I'm linking up to the New Friend Friday at The Girl Creative today.  Hope to meet some new friends and find some new blogs to hop around and follow!

Bath Fizzies Baisc Recipe

1 C baking soda
1/2 C citric acid (available at drugstore/bulk foods)
1/2 C salts (dead sea or epsom)
1/2 C corn starch

Mix together all dry ingredients.

1 TBS water
1-2 TBS oil (any light vegetable oil will work; I've also used cocnut oil)
1-2 drops food coloring (if desired - makes for fun colors)
1-2 tsp essential oil (if desired - for fun)

Mix wet ingredients and add to dry ingredient mixture.  Now you have to work fast before the mix begins to set.  Take the mix and press into a mold.  Let them sit in a dry place, out of humidity for at least a day.  You can take them out of the mold reletively quickly as they will take shape and then let them dry out of the mold.  You can also use just about anything for a mold - ice cube trays, candy molds, plastic two piece christmas bulbs, etc. You can also take large scoops and use your hands to mold them into balls.