ABCs of Homemaking

This was on The American Homemaker, and I thought it was cute.

Aprons--y/n If y, what does your fave look like?
I have a few basic aprons but they don't fit around my growing belly.

Baking--Favorite thing to bake?
Many things. Muffins, biscuits, tortillas, pancakes, desserts, and on and on

Clothes line?
No, I don't have or use one.

Donuts--Have you ever made them?
My uncle gave me two recipes but I haven't used them.

Everyday--One homemaking thing you do every day?
Cook

Freezer--Do you have a separate deep freeze?
Yes, but we don't have the space for it. It's in storage until we get a new garage built.

Garbage Disposer?
Yes!!

Handbook--What is your favorite homemaking resource?
Internet is all I really have.

Ironing--Love it or Hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
I hate ironing. I prefer to toss it back in the dryer and call it good.

Junk Drawer--y/n? Where is it?
I think the tops of counters and dressers is where my junk accumulates.

Kitchen--color and decorating scheme.
Primary Red and Cobalt Blue - a modern look.

Love--what is your favorite part of homemaking?
Doing things on my own schedule.

Mop--y/n?
Our floors have to be hand scrubbed, not wet mopped. They are far overdue.

Nylons, machine or hand wash?
I don't wear them. I hate them. In the winter I wear long skirts and boots.

Oven--do you use the window or open the oven to check?
both. Usually I turn the light on to keep an eye on stuff. Then when the timer goes off I open and check.

Pizza--What do you put on yours?
Peppers, onions, and some meat.

Quiet--What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
play game boy Dr. Mario or Tetris.

Recipe Card Box--y/n? What does it look like?
I have an apple covered cook book I write recipes in. I try them 2 or 3 times and if everyone loves it I write it in the book.

Style of house--What style is your house?
Small and cozy. Decorated in a modern style throughout. Lots of red, blue and abstract paintings.

Tablecloths or Placemats?
That's just more laundry.

Under the kitchen sink--organized or toxic wasteland?
Organized. I have racks attached to the doors for plastic wraps and foil. Everything is in order.

Vacuum--How many times per week?
Probably once on average. Some weeks MORE and some weeks not at all.

Wash--How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
5-ish.

X's--Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
No not really. I have a running list of things that need to be done.

Yard--y/n? Who does what?
Peyton mows and that's about all we do to it.

ZZZ's--what is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
I don't think I do the same thing regularly before bed except check my email.

Anyone else want to play the ABCs?

A day in our preschool

Here is our preschool schedule...

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Preschool

Calendar Activities - month, day of week, date,weather

Reading - 15 minutes of reading

Letter of the Week - various activities, work on letter book, http://www.starfall.com/

Math -number of the week

Bible - read, story, songs, verse, practice hymn
Pre-writing - work in wipe off books
Postcard Learning - choose one post card per week
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Most of her activities achieve more than one goal. For example, working with the calendar teaches number recognition, days of the week, weather, sequence (what comes next), and so on. Reading usually has fiction and nonfiction. We read about baby animals or read I Spy books themed with numbers. Bible is usually combined bible verses from Sunday school or practice hymns she will sing for the congregation. Also, her writing books are more than one subject as well. She is essentially learning to hold her pen right. However, they are themed with numbers, letters, colors, shapes, etc.

So here is a break down of our preschool...

Calendar - We sing days of the week. I always ask her "what comes next?" We put up one of our weather elements. Sometimes she likes to read all the letters on the days of the week. We just play with the calendar until she's ready to do something else.

Reading - We have a dozen of our favorite fiction books, but we usually save those for bed time. Reading during the day is usually structured towards whatever we are learning. Right now she has titles like, Ten Apples up on Top!, Dr. Seuss's ABC, Fairy Numbers, Five Little Bunnies Hopping on a Hill, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, The Alphabet God's Way. She also has some very basic board books that show the alphabet and things that start with those letters. I took a picture of her reading this at her desk though we usually read on the couch or in bed. She likes these books because they are similar to the game she plays on the computer.

Letter of the Week - Each week we focus on a new letter. This week is C c. I focus on her learning the "big" and "little" letters as well as the phonics. This has been a BREEZE with http://www.starfall.com/. I have to limit her time on the computer and she has learned nearly all the lower case letters on her own. Last year we learned the big letters. So I wanted her to learn lower case this year as well as phonics. But while playing the computer games, she learned lower case in no time at all. So we are basically working on phonics and reinforcing lower case.

We are also making a letter book. I make a large letter on the page and she glues things onto it. We also post the letter on her learning board and practice it throughout the week. Another activity we do is walk around the house and look for the letter.

Math -Math at this age consists of counting, ordering, sorting, or recognizing numbers. Math is probably the easiest to slide in with other areas. At the dinner table, she likes to count how many boys and how many girls. We read lots of books with numbers. We practice the calendar numbers. We find numbers in the house. She has an I Spy board book based on numbers.

I have created a caterpillar out of numbers. Each week we post a new letter on the learning board and move the old number to the growing caterpillar.

Bible - We don't have this one nailed down. I have gone back and forth on which bible stories to read. We do well with learning verses and practicing songs. I write her verses on construction paper and hang them on the learning board.

Pre-Writing - This is Breesa's favorite thing to do. Sometimes she disappears and I can find her at her desk doing her workbooks. She is so proud of herself when she finishes. She usually gets a sticker as well.

Post Card Learning - When my grandma passed away she left me a shoe box full of post cards. Being a homeschooler, I couldn't toss them. So I have decided to let Breesa pick one card or group of cards per week. Then I find movies, books, or activities to teach her about that subject. So far we have done the king crab, foxes (snow fox and red fox), and this week it's light houses. We will actually go to see one so that will be exciting. She really gets a lot out of these and it's like a science lesson when we study animals or history when we study something like light houses. We post these on the learning board also.

Learning Board...I am sure by now you are wondering what her learning board looks like. It was inspired by the Letter of the Week curriculum. We post everything we are working to the learning board. When we are finished we move the items to a specified location. The bible verses go on one wall. The numbers go with the caterpillar and the letters go down the side of a book shelf. I haven't decided on a place fr post cards but I may put them in an album to look through. I also keep a sticker chart on the board so that we can keep track of what subjects we are getting done. I don't focus on getting it all done every day. But at least with stickers I know when we did it last. Plus she likes them!!

Baby Registry

Here are the things I want for the baby...we technically don't need anything except diapers.

Netted Washing Bag-for all those tiny baby things like socks, bibs, etc
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Changing Pad-a contoured pad for the top of the changing table
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Baby Carrier-go to http://mamatoto.org/documents/MakeAWrap.pdf to make a Moby Wrap..nuetral colors
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Stroller-undecided on this but I guess I will need one..single,double-I don't know...
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Booster Chair-We never used a high chair, a boost seat will do and is much cheaper. There is a blue/green or red/yellow.
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DIAPERS-Any kind all sizes
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Wipes
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Diaper bag-I have one I sewed for Breesa but I need one a smaller "tote" type bag.
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Boppy-nuetral color like green or yellow
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Breast milk bags
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Thermometer
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Nail Clippers
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Pacifiers -a few would be nice to have on hand.
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Brush/comb
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Baby Book-Ok I am dying to buy the Suzy's Zoo BLUE baby book.
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Other Suzy Zoo stuff-Boof the Bear accessories like passy clip, fork and spoon, stuffed bear, anything Suzy Zoo...
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Ok I actually registered at Wal-Mart.

The 4 o' clock panic

Ever get the 4 o'clock panic? You know, the one where you realize you don't have anything ready or planned for dinner. You end up with frozen fish sticks or ordering out. I have been working on avoiding this chaos. Tonight was our first night back in town. I didn't have much for groceries. Pierce was on his way in town so he was picking a few up for me. We were on the phone while he was in the store trying to think of something to cook tonight. Anyway, we decided on baked chicken wings and no sides. I was irritated because I hadn't planned anything and still really hadn't decided on anything for dinner.

After we hung up, I was searching around on the Hillbilly Housewife website and came across a recipe for easy bread sticks. I decided I could make them. And coincidentally, I had lasagna on the menu for this week. So Pierce was bringing home a few things I needed for that. I had Peyton start browning meat and I went ahead and started the bread sticks....SO EASY!! These bread sticks weren't that hard and they were SO DELICIOUS!! Anyway, we finished up the bread sticks and meat, mixed the sauce into the meat, and laid the first layer of noodles by the time Pierce got back with the groceries. All I needed was the cottage cheese and mozzarella. I finished the lasagna and popped it in the over. At Pierce's request, I boiled some corn to go with dinner. TA-DA!! I outsmarted the 4 o'clock panic AGAIN!! Dinner was so good. Check out the link for the garlic bread. They are made with a bit much butter and white flour but sometimes you just gotta live a little!!

A Bittersweet Goodbye

Another chapter in the book of my life is closing. This was my last weekend in the Missouri Air National Guard. I served eight years between activie duty and the National Guard. I think it's a bittersweet good bye. On one hand it is something I have been a part of for 8 years...my entire adult life. On the other hand, there are so many other pursuits in my life. I feel like I am at an exciting point in my life. I can do many things from this point on.

I traveled many places because of the military. I lived in Tokyo, Japan for almost three years. I visited Okinawa, Guam, Hawaii, 20+ states. I earned an Associates degree in Logistics/Transportation. I am due to complete my Bachelors in Psychology in May. The Air Force paid all but seven classes of my degree...that's one big "scholarship". I wouldn't have gotten a degree if it hadn't been for the Air Force. I am excited to achieve that.

The Air Force provided me with many opportunities to succeed. I found the love of my life in the military. We have been married now for 6 years. Being a soldier brings many burdens into a family as well as the soldier. Having two soldiers in one family is a difficult task. While he continues his career in the Guard, I am going to serve my country by supporting my husband.