A Small Adjustment

Between December 21st and January 21st, I worked for four hours, over two days.

Between January 22nd and January 26th, I worked for 15 hours, over four days. I didn't get a whole lot accomplished last week around the house.

This week will be a little easier--no day classes, for one thing. But next week, I'm supposed to start a day class that will be twice a week, 3 hours each day. It'll last 5 weeks. That puts me at 16 hours a week, occasionally more.

Those will be some nice paychecks, and we surely do need it right now. Of course, I won't know if I'm coming or going most of the time. As it is, half the time I get in the car, I have to stop and consciously think, "Where am I going again?"

Since I'm going to be missing three dinners per week (and two bedtimes, sniff), I've tried to plan out our meals for the month. This means a substantial amount of prep work for stuff to go in the freezer. I've decided that although I might not be able to freeze the entire meal, I can have the basics ready to go. I have five pounds of ground beef, waiting to be turned into taco meat, patties, sloppy joe meat, Salisbury Steak and Pasties (those last two have to wait for the addition of ground pork, so I won't open the package and do those things until tomorrow or even Tuesday). I'll go to the store for the ground pork (as well as a rutabaga, pot roast, and a few other things I can't get at Aldi) tomorrow. I also have some Italian Sausage that is destined for pasta sauce. I put four freezer bags of leftover ham into the freezer tonight, too.

Wednesday, we're going to the roller skating rink to see if it would be a good place for an 8th birthday party. Saturday, we're going to the movies. Friday, I'm going to a Creative Memories party all by myself. Hopefully, I'll be able to do more than just sit there, dazed.

Of course, we also have various library, dance, and Brownie items to attend to, and now that we really do have snow, I'm asked on a daily basis if we can please go sledding someplace with a real hill?

Can you all say "oy?" I knew you could . . .

Homeschooling: Lauren

Lauren's Schoolwork is still at a very basic stage right now.

Bob Books Very thorough, systematic process of learning to read. Strictly phonetic. Dull.

Math Workbook I got a Kindergarten Math workbook because I knew it would be systematic and thorough. It's OK, not great. I still create extra worksheets.

Poker Chips A nice manipulative for counting, and she loves playing with them. Later, I can use them to teach place value, although I'll probably use pennies and dimes, which is more natural for that. They're also good for basic patterns.

Whole Language Once we get through the Bob Books (we're about half way), I'm going to start her on some material that I wrote. Instead of a phonics approach, it's whole language. I believe that phonics does have a place in learning to read, but I don't much like it. English isn't a phonetic language. I've seen so many kids get bogged down in sounding out a word that they lose the thread of the rest of the sentence. Whole language is more about reading for meaning, and using context clues to help figure words out. "What makes sense?" is something I used to say a lot when working with kids on their reading.

I currently have six weeks' worth of material, but writing more is easy. I haven't used those materials with Sarah lately (or written more for her) because her reading is pretty good overall, and there is so much stuff available online that serves her needs sufficiently.

Clock We have a little plastic clock that we use for practice. So far, we're only doing the top of the hour and the half hour. That's slow going.

Writing Right now, I have two sites that I use to generate writing worksheets. The ESL Handwriting Practice is nice to do one set of many words. The Handwriting Worksheet Maker is good for writing the same sentence many times.

Starfall She still loves this site, although we don't use it quite as often now that she knows her individual letters and many small words.

LittleFingers More Games

Book Review

Frozen Assets Lite and Easy: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month

I posted a while ago that I wanted to get the freezer stocked up so that getting dinner on the table would be easier, so I checked this book out of the library. I didn't realize that it was the Lite version, and that many of the recipes would be based on tofu, eggplant, and tuna. I did make the Turkey Divan (with boneless pork chops, of course). Jeff & I thought it was ok, but neither of the girls liked it, so I won't bother to make it again.

I also made the pork stir fry. I know it's traditional to coat the meat in cornstarch, but the coating ended up being a little heavy, and the sauce had way too much cornstarch in it. Next time I make it, I'll just use my own sauce as usual, although I might dust some of the meat with cornstarch, just to see if leaving the egg wash out makes a difference. Jeff said he prefers regular stir fry anyway.

There's one more recipe I wanted to try (Lime Marinated Pork Chops), but I don't have a lot of hope for it, frankly. I still haven't given up on bulk cooking--I've got a pork loin that I had sliced into chops ready to be individually wrapped, and I made a bunch of meatballs Saturday night. Still, it would be nice to be able to add some new recipes to the mix. I'm going to keep looking at the library. I've found a lot of online recipes, but those often don't seem to match our tastes, either.

I think I've lost my mind

Part of me wants a blizzard. I've been relieved that our winter has been so mild--the roads have been easy, which is a big relief to me. But I want to take the kids sledding. I want them to go make snowmen. I want to see big fluffy drifts.

I know that when this happens (probably in March), I will freak out and have fits and not care about what I'm saying right now.

Easier Than Expected

Wow, that only took a couple hours, including drive time and stopping at the teacher's store to pick up a Language Arts book for Sarah.

The Children's Place has jammies on major discount right now--I got 6 sets for less than $50. Of course, when I walked in the door, Jeff was on the phone with my sister who said, "Let's do Christmas presents next week, when you come over for H's birthday." Heh, she wasn't ready either! But now it's done and I don't have to stress over it any more.

I'm still taking suggestions, though, because we do have the 6 year old girl birthday coming up, then the 8 year old boy. How much does Darth Tater rock? Quite a bit, I'm guessing!

Christmas Shopping

Yes, Christmas shopping, today. Tomorrow is the first time we're going to see my stepsister and stepbrother since well before Christmas (it's my nephew's dedication). I'd been hoping to make Christmas jammies for all their kids. Well, a couple problems with that. One, I never got their measurements. Two, I never got my own kids jammies finished. Even now, they're waiting for me to pull the sewing machine back out. Yeah, gotta get on that.

So today, I'm off to shop. I have no idea what to get for

• a 10½ year old boy
• an almost 8 year old boy
• a 6 year old girl
• a 2½ year old girl
• a 3 year old boy
• a baby boy under a year

Stumped, utterly. Wish me luck.

Updates

I know I haven't been writing much lately, but I haven't been reading too much lately, either. Well, online reading. I've been getting books out of the library for me to read instead of just the kids--what a concept!

Lauren is getting over a sinus infection. I almost didn't take her in to the doctor (Tuesday), but her cough Monday afternoon was so bad that I swore I was going to. Glad I did, but really, how do you decide to take them in when they don't have a fever, and the runny nose is clear?

I'm making progress on cleaning out the house. My goal is to throw out one bag of garbage per day, and I'm getting there. I cleaned out a cabinet in the living room and that's now our arts & crafts storage center. Holy crap, we had about 30 cannisters of play doh! I threw out all the ones that were getting dry, though, which was about half. You can also see the floor in the back half of the basement now, at least in a small area. There is still a lot of organization to do, but once I get rid of stuff (to garage sale/Moms2Moms sale or donate, that is the question) that will be easier, too.

(whispering, for fear of a jinx) Lauren seems to have stopped sucking her fingers, at least during the day. (shhhhhh . . .)

I got Frozen Assets, Light & Healthy from the library, and there are a few recipes I'm looking forward to trying. They look like recipes I'd make anyway, but if I can make them in advance, life would be easier. That's kind of the idea, huh?

I'm trying to eat healthier, but less success there.

Meal Planning

I'm trying to plan out easy meals again, maybe prep stuff to go in the freezer. Since I'm going to be working three nights a week, we have to have things that are easy for Jeff to finish. I spent some time looking at Once a Month Cooking sites last night. I'm thinking that if I buy a big package of hamburger, I can divvy it up into

• patties
• meatballs (spaghetti sauce, BBQ sauce, sweet & sour, brown gravy, stroganoff)
• cooked loose (spaghetti sauce, tacos, chili, lasagna, sloppy joes, mostaccioli, shepherd's pie)
  

I'd like to think of things to do with leftover ham that don't include soup or anything creamy, since I'm the only one who really likes those things. I don't want Jeff to have to stress with the girls over dinner when I'm at work.

I'm also going to try doing some "pocket pies" (as seen on Good Eats) or calzones. I'd like to find some vegetarian and fish options as well. I'm also trying to do this on a reasonable budget. Time to dig out some cookbooks and get creative!

You want that? Really?

My uncle gave the girls gift certificates to Toys R Us for Christmas, so yesterday, we went to use them. We walked around a while, telling Lauren that she did NOT have enough money to get Dora's Talking Kitchen (thank God!).

First Lauren saw a very large stuffed Nemo, which she carried around for a while until she saw the McDonald's Cash Register. After that, it was all over for her. Since she's gotten it home, it is far and away the thing she has played with the most. She's constantly taking our orders, and never takes off the visor. I'm concerned about future job choices . . .

Sarah walked around even longer. I thought she was going to go for a skateboard--she's asked for one before, and she loved her bike, her scooter, her (new) roller skates--but she walked right past them and finally settled on a gladiator/knight dress up set. Two swords, a small shield, a breastplate, and gauntlets. I've taken to calling her "Zena."

Merry Christmas, Every One!

Baklava Dissection

I made baklava last night; here's the rundown.

It tastes ok. Sarah gives it "a thousand thumbs up!" I'm a little more discriminating, heh. It's definitely a thousand times better than last year's. Still, the bottom is a little soggy, a little over-saturated in the syrup. I've eaten a little to much of it to really be objective, though : my taste buds are on overload. There's enough to take a plate to my Dad & Sharon's tonight, and another plate to Jeff's parents' tomorrow night. We'll see how it's received there. No torte this year.

I still think there's too much sugar in the filling. Next time I make it, I'll do five cups of mixed nuts (instead of just the almonds--and no toasting, because then the almonds at the edges would burn for sure) instead of four cups, and a scant cup of sugar instead of two cups (the recipes I'm looking at online don't have any sugar in the filling, hmmm). Also, I only used three sticks of butter instead of four, which seemed to work fine. I didn't have cardamom on hand, so I used cinnamon, nutmeg & a little ginger. Worked ok.

The hardest part was remembering how many layers of dough I'd put down. It's really hard to concentrate on that when the kids are running around and constantly talking. I ended up putting them to work keeping track of the layers. I still have a few sheets of phyllo left, though.

Next time I make it, I'll be more willing to tweak the recipe, having done it once on my own now.

Breathing Room

As of today, I am free. Free from German classes, computer classes, dance classes, Brownies, story time, and Sunday School. Free until January 2, when German starts again.

Oops, I forgot Sarah does have one more art class on Saturday, but that barely counts.

All this free time means I have lots of time to bake and sew. I'll need it!

Sarah got her Girl Scout cookie order form last night. This year, her personal goal is 250 boxes. Um. Hmm. Last year, she sold about 75 boxes, and that was overwhelming. I don't know how Troop Leaders deal with it! I'm hoping she gets lots of sales from church & cookie booths, so we don't have to walk around the neighborhood too much, although she wants to go out today. Yeah, that's not happening. Last year, my Dad took her down to where he used to work, but I don't know if he'll be able to do that again. Jeff's company frowns on bringing in fundraiser stuff from kids, so that's out.

Simplify My Life

In the interested of making my life easier, I've decided not to make Christmas dresses this year. I just don't have time. I'll still make pajamas, starting tonight. Luckily, we found some cute dresses at Kohl's for $40 for the two of them. If I'd made dresses, it would have been at least $30, possibly more, so I spent a little more money, but I'm saving a buttload of time.

I didn't make baklava this weekend, nor did we make stockings for the teacher gifts. The dollar store had cute tins, so we went that way instead. I might make baklava later this week, but if I do, I doubt I'll make Christmas Torte. That would definitely make things easier as well.

Taking Stock

OK, what's left to do?

I bought phyllo dough & almonds, so it looks like I will make another run at baklava. Here's hoping it turns out better than last year, and better than the macaroons.

I want to put sugar cookies in with the Sunday School Teacher goodies, so those need to be today or tomorrow.

I need to sew up the felt stocking for said goodies, which also needs to be done today or tomorrow. I'm hoping the girls can help. Just a basic blanket stitch around the outside, but we'll see how it goes. A whip stitch would probably be easier.

Still need to buy presents for most of Jeff's family. Also, I'm picking up some Godiva for my stepmom--how did I turn into my dad's personal shopper, I'd like to know?

Lauren is constantly asking if we can make gingerbread cookies & a gingerbread house, and "wrap presents for me."

Cards go out today.

Pajamas, which I will probably start on Sunday. I'm still trying to decide if I want to put lace on the collar & cuffs. Since it's a plaid, the lace would "girl it up" a bit, and they'd both like that, but I worry that lace gets itchy at the wrists & ankles. So, don't know on that yet.

A Bomb

Not to be confused with "the bomb." My mom makes kick-butt macaroons, and the recipe only has three ingredients (14 oz coconut, a can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp. vanilla) and three steps (mix all ingredients, spoon onto a baking sheet, bake 10 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees). They taste like the inside of a Mounds Bar, and most other recipes I've seen call for beaten egg whites, so I figured this one was a winner.

Except, not.

They taste fine--really, more like candy thanks to the sweetened condensed milk--but they spread badly. The coconut stayed in a heap like it was supposed to, but there was a "puddle" of tasty goo around the bottom of each one. So those will not be going in the Christmas bags this year.

Today is a stay at home day. No work for me, no classes for the kids, no shopping (I still have some left to do, but it will wait). We're going to jam on housework and schoolwork, and make more treats, including turtles. Those are so no-fail, the girls do most of it. Just take a small pretzel (I use the square ones), put a chocolate covered caramel on it (I couldn't find Rollo this year, so I'm trying Hershey's Treasures), and put into a warm oven so it gets soft. Push a pecan half into the top so that it squished down a bit, then let cool. Yuuuuuuuuuum.

Library: check. In addition to the books I always get books for Sarah to quiz on at Book Adventure, she found three books about space exploration. They all look to be written in the 70's, and are at least junior high level reading. I'm sure she'll look at the pictures, but will ignore the words. I also got Curly Girl, about dealing with curly hair. I only glanced through it, but it already looks interesting. There are many anecdotes in the "I hated my hair and tried to straighten it, but now that I let it be curly, I love it" family. Yeah, I get it. Her hair is awesome, and I'm not going to mess with it, but I would like to be able to deal with it better, maybe even make it curl more. The most interesting thing so far is that the author recommends never using shampoo. I have yet to find what to use instead, though. I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Macaroons: nope, because I'm out of parchment paper. I did make peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate and a few mint chocolate dipped Faux-reos, though. Macaroons & more of the mint dipped cookies are on the list for tonight.

Christmas cards: bought, and signed by Jeff. I need to get stamps, and get the girls to sign them before I add mine and get the addresses rolling.

Internet shopping: bought a puzzle for Jeff's mom, and cheap software for the kids. I still need to order a Coney Kit for Jeff's grandma & uncle in Florida, and some CDs for his dad.

Work: Have you ever had a coworker you wanted to throttle but couldn't because she's also a good friend? I know she's overwhelmed right now, and they have her juggling too much, but every time one of those balls falls, it seems to hit me on the head. I'm not mad, just frustrated. I'm once again looking at trying to find something else. Of course, all the stuff I see either requires skills or education I don't have, or pays about half as much as I'm making now. This job really is great in most aspects. It just isn't reliable.

Today is grocery shopping, and once Jeff's parents get here to babysit, I have a few more presents to look for before I go to work.

Today's Plan

Today's plan includes

• internet shopping
• macaroons
• library
• Christmas cards
• figuring out WTF is going on with work
  

We decorated the tree last night--Sarah can get ornaments about 3/4 of the way to the top!

Last Week's Silence

I really planned to keep posting every day, or almost every day. I have a lot going on, and I still have more homeschooling stuff to talk about. Last week's big project was the shepherd girls' costumes for church. Well, not such a big project. Skirts that are made from two pieces of fabric, with one seam and a drawstring waist, aren't a big deal, even if there are six of them. But of course I procrastinated, maybe because it wasn't' such a big thing, and I knew they'd go quickly once I got started. But every time I went to post last week, all I could think was, "I should be working on those skirts." So I didn't post.

I had a couple sewing machine issues, but they did finally get done, and the girls really liked them. I'm glad no one tripped, because I left them as long as possible and they did go down to their ankles. The play itself went really well--Sarah even got to solo on "Teen Angels are Teenage Fools." CUTE! Lauren got a little bored and fidgety, but did ok for the most part.

So for this week, I have shopping, baking, and pajama sewing to do, in addition to the regular life stuff. We're decorating the tree this afternoon.

My job drives me up a freaking wall. Again. Some more.

Oh, that's right.

No pajama work tomorrow. I forgot that I promised to make skirts for the shepherd girls in the Christmas play, which is next weekend. I got the fabric from the Sunday School director today, and measured all the girls. Since they're all different sizes (6 girls, ranging from a 24" waist to a 31" waist), and I don't want to worry about who has which skirt, I'm going to do drawstring waistbands.

I have to confess to being a little gratified that at least one of the girls was excited I was making the skirts (I'm going to try for some kind of scarf/collar/shawl thingy, too), because she liked Sarah & Lauren's Halloween costumes so much.

The pajama pattern I want to make isn't on sale until next weekend anyway, and I'll hopefully be able to find some fabric I really like then, too. I don't need to have the pajamas for my nieces & nephews done until New Year's, since that's when we usually get together, so that's easier. I don't know if I'll do the tops and bottoms for all four of them. Last year, I made them pajama pants, got a t-shirt in a co-ordinating color, and made a pocket out of the pants fabric. This year, I might totally lose my mind and cut the letters of their names out of fabric and appliqué them onto shirts (not t-shirts, though--they keep their house really chilly). A lot of it will depend on what I find next week and how much it costs.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Done.

No baking tomorrow--we're going to Jeff's parent's house for his brother's birthday.

Monday will be either buckeyes (but I need to buy more peanut butter), mint-chocolate oreos (need to buy faux-reos), "turtles" (need to buy Rollo candy and square pretzels), sugar cookies, more tartlets, or macaroons.

Baklava is still on the "maybe, because I'm a masochist" list.

I do need to hit the fabric store tomorrow, though, so sewing might take up all of Monday instead.