Feeling Chatty and Menu 9-16-17

Hello Friends!

What a week this has been and this next week is busier than that! I am trying to stay on top of it all and not get overwhelmed! Lots of stuff going on!

I have got a lot of questions lately from friends and family about homeschooling, so I just thought I would sit here and answer a few things while I am feeling chatty! If you just want to see the menu for this week, go ahead and scroll to the bottom for that.

I never really thought about homeschool until Abbey was about 3 years old. I wanted to homeschool her starting in Pre-K, but Big Daddy was against it, he wanted her to go to school. When I found out a very close friend of our family was the Kindergarten teacher a the school closest to us I felt at peace with her going. I knew she would be fine. And she was! And she still talks about the bond she has(to this day) with Mrs. Cristy, and things she learned, friendships she made, etc..
Then came 1st grade, Abbey was to have Travis's 1st grade teacher, he really wanted her to have her so that was no question there she would still go. She loved Ms. Sherri just as much as he did and made more friends and had a fun year. Moving on to 2nd grade, while we loved the teacher, and Abbey had lots of fun, this was the year we started looking in to homeschooling as an option for us.(Big Daddy still wasn't completely on board) By the end of 3rd grade it was decided, and if I had known that I could have pulled her earlier in the year I would have! We had her signed up to homeschool August 2013.
Oliver has never been to public school. (Although he has mentioned it a few times)

Homeschooling has been wonderful for our family. When Abbey was in school before she would have to get up around 6:30 or so, and every morning would be a fight(we aren't morning people) In the afternoons when I would get her back she would be hungry, grumpy, tired. We would do school work, and then get maybe an hour with her before it was bath and bedtime. I'm glad to not have to do that with Oliver.
The freedom that comes with homeschooling is amazing, not living around public school schedule is amazing, having family time all the time is amazing. In some ways homeschooling definitely changed our lives!

Recently, I changed my schedule so I can be home 4-5 days a week again and it is working out so much better for our family.
So like I mentioned in my last post we don't really have a weekend. We usually take Sunday and Wednesday off. This just means I am at work and they are home with Daddy. They don't crack open all of their book work, but they both still read their books,watch documentaries(or Magic School Bus or Brain Games, etc) play games together, draw and color, help Daddy with chores, sometimes cook dinner for Mom, etc.. Still lots of life learning even if the workbooks aren't out!

Since we do not take all of June-August off we can take more time off in other areas. So the plan is to have days off in October and then we will "take off" from the week of Thanksgiving until New Years.(Taking the days we didn't use in the Summer) Now we absolutely will not be laying around and being lazy that whole time, although I do admit there will be days of that too) Even though I say we will be off, I just mean that we will have a very light load during those times. We will still be doing Math most days because my kids do not do well taking weeks at a time off from Math. We will also be working on our Holidays Around the World Unit Study, making Holiday Crafts and Cooking, watching documentaries, etc... That time of the year is the favorite for my whole family which is why we decided to adjust our schedule accordingly.
We will also take a few days here and there in the Spring and in May/June as well.

I want people to see the other side of homeschooling. We are(obviously) not homeschooling for religious reasons. They are not locked in a room all day. We are not letting our kids lay around and play video games all the time! But they are also not tied down to a desk all day. Both of the kids can get their bookwork done in about 2-3 hours which leaves time for Art,Computer, playing outside, running errands with parents or Papaw, help with chores, going fun places, spending time with friends, etc.. And they do still get to interact with other kids and get "socialized"(I hate that word now) Heck, we just had a couple of our favorite girls over for a sleepover and I had them bring their school work with them. They didn't mind, they did their work and then they all did Art together, cooked, dyed hair, etc...
My kid gets more focused social time with people now then when she was in public school.There is usually something going on each week.  For example these last few weeks Abbey volunteered at the Fair, she also had 4-H.
And this weeks schedule looks like this:
 Both kids are going to a Historical Society picnic with my parents.
 We are going to a Dessert Social(a get to know you) picnic with our Homeschool group
 Possibly P.E. class and a Fine Arts class
 Junior Master Gardeners
 Both kids have Dr Appointments

Now obviously not every week looks like that, but as you can see they will be interacting with many different people through out all of that. Some their age, most not, and I like it that way!

Right now Oliver's base work is:
Handwriting
Math review work before we step in to a new 2nd grade curriculum.(Can't wait until next year when he can move in to 3rd Grade Teaching Textbooks!)
Grammar and Spelling
Reading and Reading Comprehension
Social Studies (which at this level is basically communities, our country, continents, family, etc...)
Daily Geography
Science- We are loving reading MANY Magic School Bus books, watching the shows, and doing experiments.

We add in lots of books, documentaries, experiments, Art,Field Trips, extra classes, etc...

Right now Abbey's base work is:
Cursive Writing
Math
Grammar and Vocabulary(Wordly Wise)
History
Science
Geography
Reading
Typing

And same as above we add in read-alouds, documentaries, experiments, Art, Music, Field Trips, extra Classes such as 4-H., P.E., JMG etc...

Obviously, this is not all I have to say about that subject, I could keep going on about how much we love it, the benefits we have, etc...
If you have questions about homeschooling I can help you the best I can or I can get answers from other seasoned homeschool Moms for you.
I understand that it is not for everyone, but like I said above it's what works for our family!

Now on to the Menu! Crazy busy week, not even sure we will be home for some meals so I am just throwing out what I have down and I will fill in with what I have on hand as we go.

Breakfast:

Shake

Smoothies

Giant Breakfast Cookies

Cereal

Eggs and Toast


Lunch: 

Eat Out

Salad

Sandwiches

Leftovers


Dinner:

Sweet Potato Taco Foil Dinner   with Corn on the Cob  (Carry Over)

Low Country Bake (using my grill recipe and just baking it on a sheet pan in the oven!)

Eat Out

Turkey Kielbasa, Taters, and Kraut in the Crock pot with green beans

Mississippi Chicken  with Cauliflower Rice

Chicken Sausage with Veggies


Hope you all have a great week!

Menu 9-10-17

Hello Friends!
Hope you have all had a good weekend!
We have been moving right along with school at our house. We have a different schedule going on right now. We are currently taking 2 days off a week from school on Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday is our day that's up in the air each week. If we are home, we do book work but, we are also using it as a Family Day/Field trip day as well. Just whatever is going on that week.
Today we got our school done in the morning, had lunch, did some outside work(making sure everything is secure in case we get high winds from the storms coming in), and brought up the inside decorations for Halloween from the basement.

I had a few minutes before I need to start dinner so I thought I would share this weeks menu plan. We have 2 new recipes that we are trying out, the Salmon bites and the Spaghetti Sauce. Everything else are things we love!

Breakfast-

Cinnamon Rolls with Fruit (held over from last week)
Protein Shakes
Smoothies
Omelet with Toast
Banana Bread with Fruit (held over from last week)

Lunch-

Salad
Leftovers
Sandwiches
Snack Plates (hummus and veggies, pepperoni, applesauce, etc..)


Dinner-

Pork Carnitas  with Cauliflower Rice

Beef and Broccoli with Brown Rice, Egg Rolls, and Fortune Cookies

Leftover Night

Salmon Bites with Red Potatoes  and Brussel Sprouts

Jambalaya Pasta  with Roasted Green Beans

Sausage, Kale, and Potato Soup

Spaghetti with Sausage and Meatballs  (I am not making that huge pot that she is because I have never made it before. We will see how it goes and if we like it then I may make a big pot next time)


So there you have it. Hope y'all have a great week!

Menu 8-7/8-13-17

Hello Friends!

One week in to August already! I can't believe it!

Even though we Homeschool year round now, after being in public school all my life I still feel as though I should be getting ready for back to school! We are currently moving right along with 2nd grade and 7th grade. I can not express enough how much we love the freedom that comes with Homeschooling. It has absolutely helped our family in many ways!

I am currently sitting in the school room as I write this blog. I have been in here most of the day, doing some school with Oliver(Abbey was gone to a 4-H Day of Service), cleaning up, getting things better organized, etc..
Yesterday, I got some motivation to start back with this blog. A Homeschool Mom friend of mine said that she was going to be posting on a Facebook page to keep track of their Homeschool happenings for her kids to look back on. And it made me think, I already started a blog and I pay for this website every year so, why not pick up where I left off and get back to something I enjoyed! I still want to post meal plans, recipes, school happenings, adventures, etc...

So here we go! I thought I would jump back in with a simple meal plan for the week.
I am only doing 5 days because we have a Baby Shower and Birthday party this week.

Breakfast-
Smoothies
Premier Shakes
Oatmeal with fruit
Cereal with fruit
Omelets (Ok, don't laugh but, we have recently discovered making omelets with bacon bits and my kids love them!)

Lunch-
Leftovers are the main thing!
Sandwiches
Snack Plates (Fruits, Veggies, Pepperoni, Pretzels, etc...)

Dinner-

Chicken Salad - I am basically taking some of those Tyson Chicken that I bought on sale at Kroger and putting it in a Salad. Easy/Lazy dinner.

Pinto Beans, Cornbread, Sauerkraut and Wienies, Fried Taters (Big Daddys request for his one night off)

Buffalo Chicken with Sweet Potatoes (recipe)

Pork Chops with Veggies

Pizza Casserole(Recipe coming soon)


We hope you all have a great week!

If you haven't already, check out the Smoky Mountain Momma Facebook page!

Thanks for stopping by!

Meal Plan 2-29/3-6-16

Hello Friends!

I thought I would jump over here and share our Meal Plan for this week, while I had a chance.
Lots going on here and there. We are in full swing with our addition to the house and every thing is looking good! We are all very excited! The kids will have their own rooms and we will have a new Dining/School room! I can not wait to get in there and get everything organized!

We are hoping for a ride in the mountains this week to get away for a bit. I will share pictures if we do! :-)

Due to some changing health issues I have started dabbling in to the Trim Healthy Mama Plan so some of those meals are on here as well. I haven't gone 100% in because I am not big on all the artificial sweeteners. But I like the concept of the plan.
There are a few new meals on this plan and if we like them I will be sure to share the recipes!

Monday:
Breakfast Sandwich with Fruit
Packed Lunch
*ARBYS*

Tuesday:
Smoothie
?
Moab Tacos (Crockpot) with Veggies

Wednesday:
Smoothies
L.O. Tacos
*PAPAW*
(Papaws night to take care of dinner)

Thursday:
Fried Eggs with Bacon and Avocado
Chicken Sausage with Kraut and Veggies
Egg Roll in a Bowl Meal

Friday:
Oatmeal with Smoothies
Salad
Smoked Sausage and Veggie Bake

Saturday:
?
?
Lazy Lasagna with Green Beans and Salad

Sunday:
Cereal/ Smoothies
Quesadillas with Veggies
Taco/Taco Salad

I'll start on Monday...

Hello friends!
I thought I would get on here and try to jump in to this blogging thing again.
(I appreciate everyone who has reached out and tried to encourage me to get back at it.)

I titled this "I'll start on Monday" because that's what I would tell myself every time I thought about posting over here again(because it is always great to start something on Monday right?)
I took some time away from all this...just because!
But, I want to get back in the hang of it, so I thought I would post today and give you an update on where we are and what we are doing now!

*Oliver turned 6 in November
*This February 15th is mine and Travs 10 year anniversary!
*Abbey will be 11 in March
*We got a dog! A Black Lab/Golden Retriever mix, she is about 16 weeks old now.
*We are about to go in to a renovation on our house and redo some flooring.
*We are still homeschooling...and still loving it!
*I made a YouTube channel and I am hoping to figure it all out so I can share some "Vlogs" with y'all :-)

I would like to get back on track with blogging recipes, meal plans, grocery hauls, homeschool things, and anything else y'all would like me to.

Life-
Life is always hectic around here. I would love for it to slow down a bit but, this is the season that we are in, in our life right now, and I just have to embrace/accept it and move on. So in order to help a bit, I have started using a large Dry Erase board to schedule out our day(I said I would never do this but, we have seen that it helps tremendously with getting everything done, being accountable, saving sanity...) I actually go through and right out a detailed schedule for the entire day from 7:30 a.m.-10.pm. What dinner is and who is cooking it, what chores need to be done, who has what activities which days,etc..
So today's schedule looks like this, not much actual book work for school today because we have a Valentines Party and Abbey has Basketball practice tonight.
We have started limiting the time the kids have for T.V. and Kindles so in order to get "Tech Time" they have to have their chores done. But they can also lose Tech Time for bad behavior.
(Excuse the messy handwriting)

Recipes-
I don't have any recipes to share today but we try new ones about every week, so look for some new ones soon. :-)

Meal Plans-
Meal Plan for this next week;

Monday:
Pigs N Blanket
Snack Foods before party
Biscuits,Gravy,Eggs and Sausage

Tuesday:
Eggs and Toast
Soup
Red Beans and Rice with Kielbasa in Crockot

Wednesday:
Banana Muffins with Smoothie
L.O.
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches(Crockpot) with Baked Beans and Chips

Thursday:
Oatmeal with Fruit
L.O, OR Salad/Hummus plate
Chicken Stir Fry with Rice

Friday:
Eggs and Toast
L.O. or Dipping plate(Veggies with Hummus, Fruit with yogurt)
Hamburger Steak and Gravy with Taters and Peas(Big Daddy request)

Saturday:
FREE DAY...KIDS WITH YAYA  :-)


Groceries-
We went on our big once a month grocery trip this past week and I had fun spending the day shopping with the kids. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this trip.(It was just me and the kids and it was a bit hectic.) I was able to hit up a Grocery Outlet,Walmart,Aldi, and Kroger Marketplace, and found some great prices and things to stock up on.
So we will just have short trips in the next few weeks for mainly produce.

Homeschool-
We have been homeschooling for almost 2 years now, and I feel more relaxed and settled in then when we first started. I am still learning new things every day though. We hope to stick with it from here on out!

Abbeys 5th Grade Curriculum-

*Math Teaching Textbook 5
*Handwriting without Tears + Keyboarding without Tears
*Spectrum Science + Skit Kits
*Spectrum Spelling
*Spectrum Writing
*Spectrum Reading + Reading List with comprehension questions
*Spectrum Geography
*Social Studies text book
*She also has Art books, Craft books(Like Origami, etc...) We have Sign Language flash cards that we work with. Lots of odds and end like Brain Quest cards,Kindle games, and lots of books on lots of subjects :-)

Abbey and I just got done reading Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry and we watched the movie. We are going to start the other 2 books that go along with that this week.

Olivers Kindergarten Curriculum-

I am pretty laid back with Olivers schooling. Right now we are mainly working on numbers, and reading, and just the basics.

We have workbooks(for letters,numbers,handwriting,math,reading,etc...),Handwriting Without Tears + Keyboarding without Tears, ABCmouse.com, StarFall.com, we watch Youtube videos (on letters, numbers, counting,reading,etc..)We have the Bernstein Bears Big Book Of Science,We use Bob Books and we are going to start Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read this week! We do scissor activities, play-dough, outside play, Brain Quest cards,games, read lots of books, etc...

Both kids also do Field Trips, and Craft Times, etc with local Homeschool groups.

I have figured out that we like to take June off, and then start back up in July so we can take extra days off in October when the weather is beautiful outside, It also gives us extra time off in December when there is so much going on.

Here is a snow video that I was playing around with, while learning the ropes of Youtube. This is from a storm that we got in January. We are currently expecting snow the next 3 days, not sure on accumulation but hoping for enough that the kids can play in it!
Snow in the Smoky Mountains

So that's it, y'all should be caught up with what we are doing and have been up to since I last blogged. We'll see if I can keep up with it.
Thanks for coming over and please let me know if there is anything you would like me to blog about.

Christmas Movie List and Christmas Decorating

Christmas is our favorite time of the year! We have lots of Christmas traditions, such as decorating the tree together as a family, watching certain movies together, and making the gingerbread house on Christmas Eve together. I try to find fun crafts and do at least 2 a week with the kids. We will also take a night to go to the Shadracks Christmas Light Show at the Smokies Stadium and possibly ride through the rest of the county to see lights as well.
  Here is a list of some of our favorite Christmas movies! And some pictures of our decorating! (Keep in mind my house is VERY small and I am not a professional photographer)

**Favorites

* Smoky Mountain Christmas
* A Christmas Story
* To Grandmothers House We Go(Olsen)
* The Santa Clause 1,2&3
* One Magic Christmas
* White Christmas
* The Grinch - new and old
* National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
* A Charlie Brown Christmas
*The Christmas Gift
* It's a Wonderful Life
* Home Alone 1,2
*Polar Express
*Jingle all the Way
* Jack Frost
*Scrooged
* A Christmas Carol

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Eloise at Christmas Time
Berenstein Bears Christmas Tree
Franklin's Christmas
Casper Haunted Christmas
Barney's Night Before Christmas
Curious George:Very Monkey Christmas
A Very Thomas Christmas
Santa Paws 1&2
Beauty and the Beast:Enchanted Christmas
Ice Age: Enchanted Christmas
Muppet Christmas Carol
Garfield Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas
Donkeys Christmas Shrektacular
Beethoven's Christmas Adventure
A Scooby Doo Christmas
Ernest Saves Christmas
Arthur's Perfect Christmas
A Golden Christmas
Elmo Saves Christmas
Flintstones Christmas
Winnie the Pooh and Christmas too
Elf

Sesame Street Christmas Carol
Prancer
Prancer Returns
Miracle on 34th Street
Rudolph
Frosty and Frosty Returns
Santa Clause is Coming to Town
Frostys Winter Wonderland
A Year without Christmas
Mickeys Choo Choo Express
Mickey Saves Santa
The Happy Elf
Prep and Landing & Totally Tinsel Collection
Disney's Christmas Carol

I'll be home for Christmas
Nightmare Before Christmas
Holiday Inn
A Year without Santa
The nutcracker
Blizzard
Shrek the Halls
Elmo's Christmas Countdown
Santa Buddies

Pushing Forward and September Menu

After some inspiration from fellow bloggers I am *Pushing Forward* :-)

I can't believe it is September already guys! We have had so much happen so far this year.
Some of you already know this but, Big Daddy had to leave his job at the beginning of the year, so we took a role reversal for about 6 months where he stayed home with the kids and I worked...a lot!
This in turn made me push things that I love to do to the wayside, this blog being one of them. I just didn't have time y'all, and when I did I was just too tired!
Big Daddy went back to work in June and things are finally coming back together.
We started homeschooling at the beginning of August and we LOVE it, it is a big adjustment for us but, we are loving all the freedom that we have!
I hope to get back in the groove of things here and continue to post recipes and menus, but also I want to start sharing our homeschool journey as well!

I am starting out by posting this September menu. We have a lot going on in the month of September so I decided to just do the menu for the whole month to make things easier.

Breakfasts Choices: 
*Cereal with Fruit
*Shakes
*Smoothies
*Biscuits & Gravy,Eggs and Sausage
*Eggs and Toast
*Oatmeal and Kefir
*Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins and Kefir

*Pigs N Blanket and Eggs
*Waffles and Fruit
*Pancakes and Eggs
*Yogurt and Fruit

Lunch Choices:
Lots of Left Overs 
*Sandwiches
*Grilled Cheese
*Chicken Nuggets
*Pizza
*Burritos
*Tuna Salad
*Pizza Soup(recipe coming soon)
*Homemade Bread,Cheese,Fruits and Veggies
*Salads
*Smoothies
*Minestrone Soup

Dinner Choices: 
*Goulash with Salad and Green Beans
*Lipton Chicken with Crescent Rolls
*Bratwurst with Peppers and Onions
*Hamburgers,Homemade Fries, and Baked Beans
*Aprils Quiche
*Crabby Patties
*Lasagna Subs with Salad and Green Beans
*Crazy Mixed Up Rice Dish(recipe coming soon)
*Hot Wings with Homemade Fries and Roasted Veggies
*Aprils Simple Red Beans and Rice
*Taco Casserole
*Unstuffed Zucchini

*Steak,Baked Potato,Salad, and Beans
*Turkey Kielbasa and Summer Veggies 

*Soup Beans and Cornbread,Kraut and Wienies, Fried Taters
*Chili {Wendy's Style}

*Grilled Chicken Salad
*Veggie Soup and Cornbread
*Pork,Taters, and Kraut

*Taco Chili with Rice 

:-)

Adjusting my focus and catching up!

Someone asked for my email the other day, and I thought "Hmm, I haven't check that in a while." 4,000 messages y'all!! Seriously! Arghh! So as I am sitting here deleting them(wishing there was a delete all button but knowing I wouldn't use it if there were) I came across one email from Google, the subject, "Registration for SmokyMountainMomma.com will expire soon"  And I thought  "Smoky Mountain Momma, Oh ya, that's my blog...OMG my blog is going to expire!" HaHaHa
Needless to say I need to check my email more often! I have hopefully updated everything where it won't "expire"

I saw this on Facebook this morning, "when life gets blurry adjust your focus". And it hit home!
The last few months have just been crazy! But, it's time to sort it all out and adjust the focus. So I thought I would start here with this blog I love.

*My last post left off on what to do on Snow days. We had lot of snow days in January. The kids loved playing in the snow!

*February came and went with Big Daddy and I celebrating 12 years being together and 9 years married! :-)

*Sissy turned 9 in March. We celebrated with a big sleepover at our house.
 We were also surprised with 11 baby bunnies! (ours were suppose to be 2 girls)

*In April we had a fun Easter at our house with family, lots of yummy food and egg hunts.
 We took a family beach trip, and Big Daddy and Sissy got to ride on the Darlington Race track with the track president.
And we came home to 8 more baby bunnies!!!!

* So far in May we have took the kids to the Ripley Museum and putt-putt golf (when they had local days)

And Sissy had her field day..

Something new going on, we have decided to homeschool the kids starting in August. I have been pouring over everything to do with it lately and talking to all the homeshool moms I know, to make sure I am on the right path. I will share more once I get everything figured out. :-)

Things I am loving right now,in no particular order-

Aprils Quiche
She has lots of good recipes and meal plans too

Tennessee R.E.A.D.S.
Have found lots of books on there for homeschooling too

Homeschool Facebook groups

Brother has just got in to Dragon Tales in the last week and he loves it! And I love that he loves it and gives EvantubeHD a break for awhile!

Lemon Water- I have been drinking lemon water every morning instead of coffee. :-)

This Sweet Potato and Chicken Soup from SimplyTaraLynn.com
I make it about once a week and eat on it all through the week. It's great!!


You will notice that I have not been couponing as much as I was. There are many reasons but maybe I will pick it back up again. I also didn't take pictures of all of our bento lunches lately either. (Things fell to the way side after certain life events)

Moving on...
Next week is the last week of school for Sissy and then we have 2 full months of fun stuff to do. Like going to the pool, going to sleep away camp(Sissy) having a big yard sale, lot of birthdays to attend, park play time, walking at the river walk, going to Cades Cove, going camping, etc...

Everything is coming back in focus...  :-D