A Simple, Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Yummy Meal

• one box of Barilla Plus elbow noodles (packed with protein)
• cheddar cheese (not sure how much, depends on how cheezy you like it) I use about 10 to 12 oz.
• taco seasoning mix
• 2 tablespoons milk

Make pasta according to package directions. Drain. Put back in pot. Place cheese (either sliced or graded) in with hot noodles, mix and cover. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir. At this point you can add the milk if it seems to thick to you. Sometimes I add milk and sometimes I don't. Add more cheese till it's the consistancy you like. Then add Taco seasoning mix to taste. SO yummy! Add some carrots on the side for a veggie and you have a simple, healthy complete meal. My kids LOVE IT! This will really come in handy on Fridays during lent. Enjoy!

TTFN

~Tina

I Was Amused

Although the issues facing us today are real and scary, everyone needs to laugh once in a while.

TTFN

~Tina

Tot School Time! "Fishing for Fun"

Evan and I did our first Tot School last week. So much fun! We've been doing "school" off and on since last year, but it was so sporatic, I didn't feel I was organized enough to post at Tot School. I love reading all of the Tot School posts! There are so many moms with so many great ideas!

Evan is really enjoying having this time set aside just for him. We usually begin right after lunch. That's when the older girls are on a break since they've been working all morning. Our first theme of the year is "Gone Fishin". He is the one who inspired me to choose this theme. He was sitting on his bed one evening with the string from his toy telephone dangling down the side. He said, " Momma look! I'm fishin'!".

Here's a look at some of the "Fishin' Fun" we've been having.....

We played with some flannel board fish and a fisherman. We did counting rhymes, poems and songs about fish.

We read the story of "Jonah and the Whale". I picked up an inexpensive, colorful picture book of this Bible story at our local used book store. He was very interested! Then we used a sticker sheet that I purchased at Oriental Trading Company for him to recreate the scene. He did well with this. We touched on the fact that Whales aren't fish and neither are dolphins. Then I showed him some YouTube footage of whales in the ocean, some above water and some below. It was interesting. Alexa even thought so.This printable activity can be found at First School . Evan enjoyed coloring the fish and cutting them out (with some assistance).

By the way, my son is really.........Batman. Fun with counting, colors, cutting, gluing and numbers......all in one project!

Evan made a rainbow fish using a fish outline, cut up tissue paper, a googly eye and glue. He loved playing with his fish after he was done.

More fun with this game/puzzle that I bought for Evan over the summer..... I just remembered I had it out there, when I saw him playing with his telephone like a fishing pole. He was thrilled when I brought this in from the garage! He played with it for the longest time, then built the puzzle when he was all finished.

He has requested I get this out, every day since. :-) You can buy your own here on Amazon. It is very reasonably priced, considering how much fun Evan has been having with it. He can now name all the sea animals in this puzzle! And we discussed colors, too.

He also used this fishing pole to fish for the felt board fish we used earlier. I attached a paper clip to each one and he used his fishing pole to catch them. Then he sorted them into the matching colored cups.
One day, we did a letter F page. He cut out the little pictures of things that start with F, but didn't feel like coloring them. He did "trace" the letters at the top....in black. He loves black. I think it has something to do with Batman. :-)

Have a wonderful week and check out the other tot school posts! So many interesting, fun and inspiring ideas out there!

TTFN

~Tina

Alexa was veeeerrrrryyy chatty on the way to taking Skylar to karate this evening. I needed to tell Skylar something before I dropped her off. I waited for a break in Alexa's talking, then hurried to say what I needed to Skylar.

We got to karate, and Skylar ran in the building. Then I remembered something else I should have mentioned to Skylar and I said it out loud. Alexa stopped talking and said, "Could we get back to what I was saying now?" I said, "Alexa, do you know what a conversation is?" "Two people have to take turns talking for it to be a conversation." "When one person just talks it's called a speech." Alexa, without much hesitation then said, "Then I'm 'speeching', now can I continue, please?!"

Well, at least she's clear on the terminology now. ;-)
TTFN
~Tina

Children's Art Study: Monet

Alexa and Skylar learned about Monet this week using this book and some Monet prints. I put the prints on our bulletin board for them to observe throughout the week.

The book gives an informative overview of the artist's life but keeps it at a child's level (1st through 6th grades?). They add little cartoons and some humor which holds the child's interest. Then after we discussed the artist and his life, we discussed his style of painting. We analyzed the paintings and made observations. Then I printed out an outline copy of one of Monet's paintings. I found it here and printed out a copy for each of the girls. It was small (I think because I don't have an account with them), but it was big enough. Then I printed a copy of the original picture for the girls to use as a reference. They worked hard on these.

It amazed me how both girls, looking at the same painting and trying to copy it, each had their own interpretation of it. Skylar's style of painting is very different from Alexa's. They both did a great job, put forth a lot of time and effort, and enjoyed themselves.

(Alexa's is on the left and Skylar's is on the right)

We will be doing a more complex Monet paintings next week. I'll keep you posted. I know the girls can't wait!

TTFN

~Tina

To My Big Brother

Happy Birthday, Jack! We miss you and think of you every day! You would have been 43 today. I can't believe it's been almost 10 years.

Love you big brother!
~Tina

Please Pray

A friend and fellow homeschooling mom had to have an emergency c-section today at 36 weeks. Her little baby Helen weighs only 4 lbs and had to be sent to another hospital where she had to have surgery on her tiny body. Her mom is now at that hospital with her. Things are very uncertain right now as the doctors fight to save little Helen. Please pray for baby Helen, her mom Elizabeth and the whole family.

~Tina

ETA: Dear baby Helen passed away on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Please pray for her family during this very difficult time.

The Birth of Our Lady and the Beginning of Another School Year

We went to Mass this morning at a local church. It's not the church we belong to, but it is one that many of our friends attend, and we do belong to their homeschool group. It is a beautiful church, very new and yet has an old feel to it because it's not modern looking at all (thank goodness). I'll admit, it was a bit rough getting up to get across town by 9 am. , especially after just getting back from the beach. But it was a beautiful way to start the new school year.

We celebrated the Nativity of Our Lady at Mass and with friends, old and new, and at the church hall afterwards. There was a puppet show, that really held Evan's interest, and a cupcake rosary to be enjoyed. There was a craft for the children and good conversations with friends, many of whom we haven't seen all summer. It was a really good start to the school year.

Before we left, we took flowers to the statue of Mary in the church, and said a prayer to her. I always find it so fitting that the celebration of her birth comes at the beginning of the new school year. It's a reminder to me, to try to imitate her life, to follow her example of patience and love and saying yes to God, no matter what. It's a reminder that God is in control here, not me and I need to accept when things do not go the way I plan. And that I need to see the beauty in the everyday tasks of life. As the priest said this morning, "Mary did everyday tasks....perfectly." I need to find the joy in the everyday tasks that God has called me to do, and do them to the best of my ability.

So, I'm off start dinner and check school papers. And I shall do my best. :-)
TTFN
~Tina

Back from Vacation

We had a really good time at the beach. The weather was not ideal, and we were not able to be in the water as much as we had hoped, but there were many enjoyable moments spent making memories. We got back over the weekend and have now switched our focus to trying to settle back in and getting things in order for school. It's kinda tough going from beach vacation to school over a couple of days. I have to get that "back to the grind" mindset. It's so easy to just become lax and let yourself go over vacation. So I'm sticking to some simple goals for this week.

• Celebrate the birthday Our Lady on Tuesday by attending Mass with one of the local homeschool groups, then join in their celebration with a craft, cupcakes and Litany of Loreto.
• Start all the children off with the basics (mostly math and language arts) for this week, then work into the good stuff next week.
• Get laundry caught up.
• Finish getting the schoolroom cleaned out and bins prepared for each child.
• Work on a meal plan for the Fall.
• Get everything on the calendar (dance, karate, co-op, club day, Taylor's Co-op classes, CCD, and field trips). I'm really hoping I didn't plan too any activities for the kids this Fall. I don't think I did, but we do have a big year. Taylor makes her Confirmation and Alexa makes her First Holy Communion. Then we have a big trip to Disney coming up in May.

Hope your school year is getting off to a great start!

TTFN

~Tina