The Simple Woman's Daybook Dec. 14

Outside my window... very cold rain, that is supposed to turn to ice then snow

I am thinking... about the homeschool enrichment classes I just signed Lucy up for. She's doing a field trip class, 2 Rosetta Stone languages (Latin and Spanish) and art classes -- all for free through a nearby public school district.

I am thankful for... Facebook. Seriously! A friend from college just found me on there. We'd lost touch over 15 years ago and I'm so happy to be in touch with her again.

I am wearing... my workout clothes, which I never changed out of after exercising this morning.

I am going... we went to the library this morning. The library has an ongoing used book sale, and I bought 3 books and 3 magazines for less than $2!

I am currently reading... Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet, by Christian Wiman; Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin; Great Books, by David Denby

I am hoping... to bake some Christmas cookies this week.

From the kitchen... hamburgers for dinner tonight, with grass-fed beef.

Around the house... finishing up Christmas projects and wrapping presents.

From our studies... we've taken most of the month off school, but are continuing with multiplication, since it's taken quite a long time to get through that. But the end is in sight! Lucy knows all the times tables except the 8s and 12s. We've also continued this month with our history read-alouds, because the kids love them. We're reading books about the Middle Ages, along with The Story of the World.

Listening to... rain on the roof.

From my picture journal

Simple Woman's Daybook, Dec. 7

Outside my window... gray clouds. We had about a 1/2 inch of snow this morning, then the sun came out and melted most of it. Now we're supposed to have our first winter storm of the season tomorrow through Thursday!

I am thinking... about trying to write some new poems.

I am thankful for... homeschooling friends who live very close by so that I'll be able to get out of the house and see people even in the middle of winter when the snow is piling up

I am wearing... gray fleece pants, black sweatshirt, my new slipper-boots

I am remembering... my first winter homeschooling, when there was so much snow I thought I'd go stir crazy stuck in the house with the kids all the time!

I am going... to take Matthew to preschool tomorrow morning. Not going anywhere today.

I am currently reading... "Saint Maybe," by Anne Tyler. Just finished "Real Food," by Nina Planck

I am hoping... to find out whether or not I'll be moving away from here soon.

On my mind... Christmas!!!

Noticing that... now that Matthew is 3 1/2 Lucy and he play together a lot more. Which means I have more time to myself. Wonderful!

Pondering these words... "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ..."

From the kitchen... leftovers. But this weekend I made up a new recipe, Fortune Cookie Encrusted Salmon with Hoisin Sauce. It was fabulous!

Around the house... I cleaned today, so things are looking good. I need to vacuum upstairs, though.

One of my favorite things~ listening to Christmas music by the fire while reading a book.

From my picture journal

To Do Tuesday

Crazy Adventures in Parenting hosts a regular "To-Do Tuesday" where you're supposed to post your to-do list for the week. I thought I'd try participating this week.

PROJECTS
-Send out review copies for the new book that just came out from the publishing company I work for. This is a multi-step project that involves writing and printing letters, writing address labels, stuffing envelops, etc.
-Work on Christmas projects: cross-stitch, family recipe book. The to-do list will be very Christmas heavy soon!

ERRANDS
-Mail my poetry book to publishers.
-Take Lucy to the doctor.
-Take the kids for their second dose of the H1N1 vaccination.

PHONE CALLS
-Mammogram appointment
-Buy Nutcracker tickets

GENERAL DAILY TO-DOs
-exercise
-school work
-reading
-keep the house relatively clean
-do a load or two of laundry
-cook and bake
-blog (well I don't usually get around to this every day!)
-take the kids to play dates and their usual activities (dance and Girl Scouts for Lucy, preschool for Matthew)

The Simple Woman's Daybook Nov. 16

Outside my window... cloudy, but not too cold.

I am thinking... about going to library school and becoming a librarian once the kids are older

I am thankful for... a quiet day at home with no scheduled activities!

I am wearing... gray fleece sweatpants, a black sweatshirt with the name of my friends' band on it, striped socks that my mom knitted for me

I am remembering... how much I love fall weather

I am going... nowhere at all next weekend. Seems like a weekend at home is a rare thing lately!

I am reading... Just finished Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler. I'm also in the middle of reading Great Books, by David Denby.

I am hoping... to finish all my Christmas present projects in time

On my mind... Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. I love the Christmas season!!

From the learning rooms... Lucy's writing her own chapter book

Noticing that... my favorite slippers from Austria are missing

Pondering these words... "My soul find rest in God alone."

From the kitchen... chicken thighs, stuffing, broccoli, Michigan-grown organic squash

Around the house... listening to Matthew's little voice singing Bible songs in his room during his rest time

One of my favorite things~ Christmas music

From my picture journal..

One of Lucy's spider webs made out of yarn.

Tortellini Chowder

Small World at Home is looking for soup recipes today ... so here's one of my favorites:

2/3 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped red sweet pepper
2 T. minced garlic
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
1 T. olive oil
3 c. chicken broth
2 c. cubed peeled potatoes
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
2 T. all-purpose flour
2 T. butter, melted
1 15 1/4 oz. can whole-kernel corn, drained
2 c. half-and-half or light cream
2 c. refrigerated or frozen cheese-filled tortellini, cooked and drained
Tortilla chips, broken

Directions
1. In a Dutch oven or kettle, cook the chopped onion, the red sweet pepper, the garlic and jalapeño pepper in the 1 tablespoon olive oil for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender but not brown.

2. Carefully stir in broth, potatoes, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.

3. In a small bowl, stir together flour and melted butter; add to soup mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute.

4. Reduce heat and add corn, half-and-half and torellini. Heat through. Ladle into bowls and top with broken tortilla chips.

Weekly Wrap-Up: November 6

Wow was this week busy! We had a bunch of play dates scheduled this week, along with our usual activities, Girl Scouts and dance for Lucy, and preschool for Matthew. It was one of those weeks where I was longing for a little more home in our homeschool! We all had a great time hanging out with friends, though. And we did managed to get a fair amount of school work done as well. We read the "Christianity Comes to Britain" chapter in The Story of the World. This piqued Lucy's interest in England, so we got a book about England from the library with nice pictures, which I've been reading aloud. We also got a DVD called "Families in the United Kingdom," and another from Netflix about traveling to England. I'm excited that Lucy's interested in England because I love England and have traveled their twice. I got out all my England photos and Lucy and I had fun looking through those. We also read some stories about St. Patrick, and Lucy read a kid's version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, along with about 15 or 20 other library books. I got a huge stack of books for her Saturday and she's already read through them all. Her appetite for reading is huge!

Lucy did the usual assortment of other subjects: Spelling, Grammar, Memory Work (she's memorizing the helping verbs), Writing, Handwriting, Latin, Bible, Music, Church History, Art, Science, and Math. We've been using a game for learning multiplication tables that's working really well. It's called Timez Attack. It's a bit of an investment ($40 for the full version), but it's really improved Lucy's memory for the times tables, so it's been great! Matthew and I have started The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, from Peace Hill Press. He's really interested in words and letter sounds right now, so I figure I'll work with him a bit on it as long as he's interested. He's been watching phonics DVDs from Leap Frog, and those have done a great job of teaching him letter sounds.

The highlight of the week is today, which is Lucy's birthday. She's turning 9 at 7:45 p.m and she's very excited about it. She's having a friend sleep over tonight to celebrate, and then we're having a Harry Potter party tomorrow. I can't believe I have a 9 year old!!

Simple Woman's Daybook, Oct 26

Simple Woman's Daybook, Oct 26

Outside my window... a huge flock of birds in the soybean field beside my house

I am thinking... about the Christmas presents I'm working on making: photo books, a family cookbook, and a cross-stitch

I am thankful for... the fact that my 2 kids get along with each other so well!

I am wearing... jeans, blue sweatshirt, wool slippers from Austria

I am remembering... that I need to change the laundry

I am going... to an open mic, a poetry reading, and a concert this week. I don't usually get out that much!

I am reading... Beverly Cleary's autobiography, A Girl From Yamhill It's fabulous!

I am hoping... my knee stops hurting soon so I can get out for some walks this week.

On my mind... a friend's nephew who was hit by a car last week and is in critical condition

From the learning rooms... phonics for Matthew; early church fathers for Lucy

Noticing that... there aren't many leaves left. It's going to look like winter soon. I'm not really ready for that!

Pondering these words... "Maybe we can grow raisins in the ground and make new raisin trees" -Matthew. He also wanted to plant a peanut today.

From the kitchen... easy meal tonight: tacos

Around the house... laundry, the huge mess the kids are making in the family room, which includes a ball pit made with some plastic balls and the baby pool

One of my favorite things~ Matthew's belly laugh

From my picture journal...