Works for Me Wednesday

So what is sooo special about these little things called clothespins??? They serve multiple uses in my house! Not only do I use them for their intended use--hanging clothes or diaper covers to dry, I also use them for....

• holding rubberbands! I clip a clothespin to the side of my bill slot on my desk and then hook rubberbands over the pin.
• holding receipts! I superglued a magnet onto one side of the clothespin and then stuck the clothespin on the side of my fridge. This way I have a place when I or hubby come in from shopping, we can clip the receipt there and the receipt doesn't get lost and forgotten before it is registered on the computer checkbook(better known as Quicken!).
• holding chip or cracker bags closed so that they don't go stale!

You can usually find a bag of these at your local dollar store!

I am sure that there are more ways that I could use these little inventions! But these are a few of the ways that they work for me! For more tips on things that work for others, head over to Rocks in My Dryer!

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays

Time again for Kitchen Tips over at Tammy's Recipes!!! Instead of an actual tip, I want to offer some encouragement! If your house is full of picky eaters like what mine is, then this encouragement is for you! The encouragement is this...Don't be afraid to try something new!! and Don't give up trying to find new things to try with your family!!

I have tried over the years to try new recipes to help my family eat more than the same old getting in a rut type dishes. Each one that I try seems to come with failure, usually the majority of the family doesn't like it, despite the fact that the ingredients are the same things that I use day after day in favorite dishes.

This past week, I tried something new again after almost a month of eating the same old in rut type dishes. I made French bread to make into garlic bread to go along with a family favorite meal of spaghetti and meatballs!! The bread was a hit with the whole family! So much a hit that I probably should have done TWO loaves! This was an encouragement to me that I finally made something that everyone enjoyed!

I also did up these soft pretzels. These were not as big of a hit with the family as the french bread. Just my oldest son, and I ate them after everyone tried them once.
For more tips, head over to Tammy's Recipes!

Teaching Tip Tuesdays

In my quest to read other blogs, I came across Donna's site--The Helpful Homemaker! She is hosting meme called Teaching Tips Tuesday. I thought I would join in this week with a tip. My tip is "Don't be afraid to use something other than textbooks!" I know that for some, using textbooks are helpful tools! It helps with confidence in knowing that you are teaching your child everything they need to know and you are not missing any concepts.

There is so much FREE wealth of educational resources on the internet that you don't need to use textbooks! I will show you how over the course of several weeks, I will take you to websites that I use to build my home schooling curriculum.

Where do I find what topics need to be covered at what level?

Getting a hold of a scope and sequence chart or charts is important to the planning process. If you were to get a "pre-packaged" curriculum you would find the chart in the teacher's edition of the book. However, when you don't use a "pre-packaged" curriculum, you don't have the chart available to you in order to plan out your schedule for the year. So you need to head over to...

World Book's site and check out their "Typical Course of Study" page. They have conveniently broken down each grade level into links. You can click on the grade level that you are teaching your child and find a wealth of topics that need to be covered for the year. For me, I usually try to cover all the topics listed under the Math and Language Arts sections. For the History, Science, and Health and Safety sections, I try to cover only two to three topics out of each section. The reason why I only choose a few is because I find that the topics for those subjects repeat themselves over the years.

There are other places to find scope and sequence charts. Head over here to my list of sites that I have used to help me put together curriculum for my kids.

Come back next Tuesday for more websites! In the meantime, head over to Donna's for other teaching tips!

Menu Plan Monday

**This is just a plan and plans have the ability to change at the cook's discretion! I am so glad that menu plans are JUST PLANS because last week's plans got changed more than once! Last week for the first time, I made homemade french bread to go with our spaghetti dinner! That got some rave reviews from my family so that will definitely be something that I keep in the menu rotation!

This week is going to be interesting for two reasons:
1. I am starting the week out being sick with a cold that dh so gratefully(NOT!) passed on to me!! My head right now feels like someone took a sludge hammer to it and all my body joints ache!! So cooking will be all the “easy” meals that I have up my sleeve!!

2. This week is going to be a short week for me in the cooking dept! Because Friday afternoon till sometime on Saturday, dh and I will be on our church’s couples retreat!! The kids are spending the night at my parents’ house so I will not have to worry about meals for a good 24 hours!!!

Lunches listed are for the kids and I as dh usually takes dinner leftovers each day.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus, go check others out at her site!**

Sunday(2-24)
Breakfast: eggs, hashbrowns, canadian bacon and muffins
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: Arby’s (after evening church)
Snack: sandwiches(before evening church)

Monday(2-25)
Breakfast: pancakes(from freezer), sausage links and fruit
Lunch: sandwich, chips, baby carrots or applesauce
Dinner: cube steak, baked potatoes, and green beans
Snack: snack basket or go-gurt

Tuesday(2-26)
Breakfast: cereal and toast
Lunch: leftover spaghetti from last week
Dinner: skillet pork chops, mac & cheese, and peas
Snack: cookies & milk

Wednesday(2-27)
Breakfast: waffles and fruit or yogurt
Lunch: pizza rolls
Dinner: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and biscuits (**didn’t get made last week)
Snack: snack basket

Thursday(2-28)
Breakfast: eggs, cereal, toast and yogurt
Lunch: chicken nuggets and macaroni & cheese
Dinner: chicken rice casserole and homemade bread
Snack: snack basket or go-gurt

Friday(2-29)
Breakfast: waffles and Canadian bacon or sausage links
Lunch: leftovers or sandwiches, chips, applesauce
Dinner: kids at my parents, dh and I retreating!
Snack: gone

Saturday(3-1)
Breakfast: gone
Lunch: gone
Dinner: probably take-out!?!
Snack: popcorn

Singing Sunday

Amazing Grace
by John Newton (click the link to read the story behind the song)

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.