Babies

Picture of Hudsyn licking the spoon after the kids and I made double chocolate chip cookies from scratch!!!

So in a little over 19 weeks Hudsyn will become a big sister. She will turn one on Sunday! I can't believe that there is more space between her and the new baby than her and Bella. Time has flown by being pregnant. I cant believe that we are approaching the half way mark. On October 9th we will have our ultrasound to find out if baby is a boy or girl. We have to wait until after the 20 week mark because my doctors office is so busy. At my last appointment the doctor said the latest they will induce me is 38 and 1/2 weeks. They are a little concerned because last time I was dilated to 3 and 70% effaced almost a month before my due date, and because we live about 45 minutes from the hospital. Coupled with the fact that February is usually an snowy and icy month, which obviously could add more time. The doctor told me that she hopes Chad knows how to deliver and that we should know where all the other hospitals are on the way. So that is just a quick update to let you know where we are at in our fifth pregnancy!

Zoo Field Trip

On Monday we took our first field trip to the Toledo Zoo. We had a great time. The weather was sunny and mild. It did heat up a little later in the day. We changed the little girls from jeans and long sleeve shirts to sun dresses. The kids had a wonderful day. Here are some pics from the day.

Week in Recipes

This was our menu this week! We tried some new things and they were all great! Monday: Broccoli Cheese Soup 1/2 cup butter 1 onion, chopped 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli 4 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth 1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed 2 cups milk 1 tablespoon garlic powder 2/3 cup cornstarch 1 cup water DIRECTIONS In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in milk and garlic powder. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick. Tuesday: Fajitas Ingredients Olive Oil Green and Red Peppers Onions Chicken Breast Fajita Seasoning Tortilla Shells Desired toppings Directions Add 2 TBSP in a saute pan add in peppers and onions cook until onions turn clear. Cook chicken until no longer pink in pan with leftover olive oil and onion and pepper flavor, season with fajita seasoning. Slice in think strips and serve over warm tortillas. Wednesday: Campfire Hash Ingredients: 1 large onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 Tbsp olive oil 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 pound smoked kielbasa, halved and sliced 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies 1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained In large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add potatoes. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add kielbasa, cook and stir until potatoes are tender and well browned, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in chilies and corn; heat through. Thursday: Potato Chip Chicken Strips Ingredients: 1 cup sour cream 1/8 Tsp garlic salt 1/8 Tsp onion salt 1/8 Tsp paprika 1 package 12 ounces potato chips 2 pounds chicken breast, cut into 1-inch strips 1/4 cups butter ranch In bowl, combine sour cream and seasonings. Place potato chips in another bowl, use a potato masher and crush chips. Dip chicken into sour cream mixture then coat with potato chips. Place in greased 15x10 baking pan. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with ranch. Friday: White Bean Chicken Chili INGREDIENTS: 1 lb chicken 1 cup chopped onion 1 can (or the equivalent) chicken broth 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 tsp Cumin seed (ground will not withstand long cooking as well) 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves 3 -15oz cans white beans (great northern or cannellini), drained and rinsed 1 or 2 chopped red, green or yellow bell peppers, or combination jalapeno chili peppers, fresh, jarred or canned, optional or 'to taste' (depending on how much heat you like!) PREPARATION: In a 4 or 6 quart slow cooker combine the chicken, beans, onions, chicken broth, garlic, cumin and oregano. Chicken will shred during cooking. Let cook 4-6 hours on low. Add the bell peppers and jalapeno peppers (if using) no earlier than the last hour or hour and a half before serving. Saturday: Lemon Pepper Chicken Caesar Salad Ingredients: Chicken Breast Fresh Romaine Lettuce Lemon Pepper Seasoning Shredded Parmesan Cheese Caesar Croutons Ken's Original Steakhouse Caesar Lite Dressing Bake 2 chicken breasts seasoned with lemon pepper earlier in the day (so you can cool them) Place all ingredients in bowl, add thinly sliced chicken.

Homeschool Pics!!!

Here are the kids during school on Monday after their bookwork was done. They are blindfolded (with my hoodie) to show that it is difficult to walk in darkness. After that we took off the blindfold and saw how easy it is to walk in the light. We talked about Jesus being the light of the world and that he will help us find our way through the darkness.

The other pics are them making an "S" out of a spaghetti noodle! "S" is our letter sound for the week!

My Cleaning Schedule

This is how I keep our house in any sort of running order (ideally): My housework schedule Monday: clean bathrooms vacuum dust mop floors Tuesday: file paperwork de-clutter Wednesday: mop floors vacuum de-clutter clean out fridge Thursday: clean bathrooms dust menu planning change sheets Friday : mop floors grocery shop vacuum Saturday: catch up day Sunday: day of rest! Plan weeks school work Laundry Schedule Laundry schedule Monday: jeans and lights Tuesday: darks Wednesday: towels Thursday: lights and jeans Friday: whites and sheets Saturday: towels Sunday: catch up The kids also have their chores - making beds, unloading the dishwasher cleaning the playroom and a few other things. They each get an allowance on payday, which is bi-weekly. K gets $10 and T gets $5. This keeps them moving!

School

Pis of K on her first day of fourth grade!

I know I am biased but isn't she cute!

I started home schooling Tristin and Grace last Wednesday. We have been having a ton of fun! The curriculum we chose to go with is called My Fathers World from A to Z. http://mfwbooks.com/ We are doing the kindergarten program. Grace is six weeks younger than Tristin and is 21 days short of making the state cut off for the same grade as T. Which is kind of silly because she knows every bit as much as him after he went to pre school for a year.

We are having fun with it. Here is how our day goes right now- Each morning we turn on kids praise and worship and get out their instruments and sing and dance. We sit at our table and pray for our day and our families then read from the Bible about the day of creation we are working on. We do our first project about that day of creation they get to color cut and glue (from which we have found that Bella loves glue sticks and uses them as lip gloss)! Then we review each of the letters by playing a game where they put a marble on each letter I call out. Then we do letter flash cards. Sing our ABC song 100 times then Old McDonald and a few others with letters in them. Then we do our final project, They are making a creation book about what that day looked like (sun and moon and stars on the fourth day). Our curriculum does a two week intro to creation and then starts the real stuff, the intro is just to kind of break them in to a school day at home and lay a good beginning foundation. I will post pics of us home schooling soon, I have to recharge my camera batteries first.

I have to go take a shower so we can start school. Grace will be here soon!