Just A Night Owl

Week 18. Half Way.

Written on January 27, 2012 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2011

I wanted to do something special for the kids as we finished this week of school. It is officially the half way point through this year’s studies. I took them downtown to our favorite cupcake shop.

For half a cupcake each….

Upon finding out they were getting just a half, it took about a nano second for one of them to ask if at the end of the year we will be returning for a whole? I definitely think that sounds reasonable. Absolutely, its on the books.

I love LOVE me some cupcakes. They are just so happy.

I also finished grading this week. I try and make a big deal out of grades. I think it is human nature to want to see measurable progress. I feel that it is important, even for kids. This is Emma’s first time with grades so we had a little explaining to do.

After I went over their grades, individually, I also let them know that they needed to take their dad in to show him their grades. You know that moment of pride/dread when you show your parents your report card? I don’t want my kids to miss out on that.

Each of my kids are struggling in a different subject. This is due more to the format of the curriculum than the actual material. For example, history has become difficult for my 6th grader. She has never struggled with history at all, but this year we are doing an online format and my straight A student had a D after first quarter. Here we are at the halfway point and she has a C+. Improvement! The temptation for me has been to abort this curriculum completely and give her something she can ace. However, after some prayer and thinking, I am continuing on with it. I don’t believe it is the curriculum, but rather the style of learning that is challenging for her. I think that it is important that she rise to the challenge and find a way to be successful in it. That is a skill that is crucial for all of my children to learn. If I tailor their studies to fit each of their strengths in every aspect, I think I will ultimately be doing them a HUGE disservice.

In other happenings around here…

I can hardly believe January is already coming to a close. Big highlights around here include a doctor appointment for me that revealed my cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels (which were not good 6 months ago) are completely normal. I have also lost 10 pounds this month and am on week 11 of the 10k program I am working on. (My 10k is coming in March). It has been 8 months since I gave up caffeine, fast food (have eaten it a handful of times), and began consistent exercise. The results have been well worth the slow and steady progress. A bunch of baby steps, take you places~~ BIG PLACES. Lest we never forget that.

Last week, my mama hit a great big clearance sale at one of her favorite shopping stores, Macys. My otherwise Target outfitted daughters and I enjoyed a lunch at the mall and a shopping trip with grandma. We are talking crazy cheap prices. Like $5 per item…and for Macy’s that’s pretty amazing.

My girlies are growing up into such beautiful young ladies. I am so proud of both of them.

It has been a great month full of hard work and laziness. I believe it takes a healthy dose of both to be successful.

In other news, you should see my baby boy’s hair. We sported a public bed head appearance at Lowes this morning. Note to self, no more putting this child to bed with damp hair, no matter how tired he is. It is absolutely unruly. Completely the opposite of this boy.

I am spending the weekend planning our next reading unit, finishing up plans for our Pyramid Cafe unit, and celebrating two dear friends at birthday parties. I will also throw in three runs @ 5 miles each and never forget to thank God for the blessing of cute hats to help get me through the I have no time to do my hair days. There are a lot of them.

It’s a fabulous life.

Happy Weekend!!!

xo.

My God Shall

Written on January 25, 2012 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2011, Life, My kids

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I was filled with doubt when I began homeschooling. Looking back, one of my greatest concerns was that my children would get everything they need to grow up into happy, healthy, well functioning, non weird, non unsocialized children who were taught at home. Was it even possible????

Three years and many tears later I will tell you, heck ya. It is.

It doesn’t matter what God has called you to do. Whether it be to send your babies to public school, Christian school, private school, charter school, homeschool, online school, or school in a van down by the river….

My God shall supply all your needs.

MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS.

Lord, as I seek to know you more, please melt my desires and wishes to become one in the same with Yours, as I travel down the path You have set out before me.

One of the biggest concerns I have heard from homeschoolers in general is FRIENDS. Connection. How will we get enough?

Would you believe we have a sweet family who lives two doors down? There are four children who live there. They homeschool too. We live on a court with a park at the end of the street. Recess can become a little more fun, a whole lot more quickly.

The girls will be girls…and the boys, well they will most definitely be boys.

Looking for the beauty in God’s provisions, every step of the way.

Learning to always be content. Learning to be filled with joy and thankfulness of the beauty that is around me every second of every day.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.-Phillipians 4:19

Hannah’s Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Written on January 24, 2012 by just a night owl in Recipies

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Who is Hannah you ask? She is the adorable and hilarious sister of that duo that rocked it out on Biggest Loser, season 11. I was sad to see that season end.

This recipe is SO good….and healthy. Kid friendly too. My kids loved it.

INGREDIENTS

Olive Oil Spray

1/2 cup minced onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1lb extra lean ground turkey

salt to taste

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1 can chicken broth

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

2 large sweet red bell peppers

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet with olive oil cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to the pan. Saute about 2 minutes, or until softened. Add turkey and season to taste with salt. Add garlic powder. Break meat apart and cook over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Add 1/4 cup tomato sauce and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Reduce heat and simmer over low for about 5 minutes. Add fresh cilantro or parsley to the turkey mixture ( I use cilantro).

Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and stem. Put in baking dish and spoon the turkey mixture into each pepper half. Place all stuffed peppers into a casserole baking dish and pour the rest of the chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with a little cilantro, if you like, to make look pretty!

(I did not because my kids don’t “like eating bushes”)

Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. When done, sprinkle with cheese before serving.

oh yum!

Thank you Hannah!

New Additions.

Written on January 24, 2012 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2011

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My whole house is usually in some sort of state of flux. The crack down on our budget has reduced that dramatically. However, I am pretty stubborn, I mean resourceful, and still find ways to update, switch around, and make over spaces. It is possible, even for free.

The classroom is no exception. At the beginning of the year our room and my office looked like this and this. I have had some new additions since September. The first is due to the combination of having an amazing friend and being in the right place at the right time. Have you ever had that moment of when the stuff of life, several reorganization project cast offs, and the Goodwill pile all join forces and threatened to attack? The only way to win is to just start begging people to take things A-WAY? I was the recipient of just such a moment and a generous lovely friend said please get it out of here. Done. Her Cherry wood filing cabinet received a make over during the holidays and now she sits in all her ivory loveliness in my office. I am officially a grown up….and a teacher. I can’t believe I have never owned a filing cabinet. They are pretty handy. Go get one. Or find a friend with a lot of clutter and just sit around and look cute. You never know.

I had a bunch of aqua file folders because I do own file BOXES. I relabeled and quickly filled up my filing cabinet. The top drawer holds all of the non curriculum type of things I own. These are primarily extra resource books and activities to fill up the kids workboxes. I love pretty organization. Thank you, G. I owe you one!

Christmas brought me this cute little birdie. I love birds and really want a parakeet, but my family loudly disagrees. Boo. My stack of books that I have just finished or am waiting to get to, became her little perching place. By the way, If you are a Tori hater, don’t judge. Mommy wood was at the Dollar Tree and I have always been curious about Tori’s books. I love all of her design and crafting and party planning……I need to check out her writing.

This past year Shawn’s grandpa went home to be the with Lord. He was an IN-cred-ibly-loved and Godly man. Our first born son was named after him. All of the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren were loved and blessed to receive special things from his home. We were given his globe for our schoolroom. We love having it with us.

We were short a chair at the school table and another fabulous friend of mine gave me this one. Cute huh? It was dark wood with a mustard yellow velvet seat cover. I made her over late one night, with some leftover paint and fabric. I now have this fun new seat. For FREE. It makes me happy. Thank you Miss Monica!!!

We have also been clock~less for a while. When this one graced the shelves at Target I fell in love. After several months of waiting, a late night grocery run allowed me to find it on clearance for just $7.48. The best part of it is, it does not say “tick, tick, tick, tick…as many clocks do.” It pays to be patient.

Over the weekend I started tackling my grading and progress reports. It really helps my kids to know where they are throughout the year. Just like “real” school. Our system of papers goes like this…

1. Assignments are completed.

2. Things get graded together, or by me depending on what it is (usually the same day).

3. After grading, they go into the inbox. Each child has their own.

4. Every so often, I clean out the inbox. I enter all the grades in my grade book.

5. I pick out my favorite papers/projects to save and the rest go in the trash.

6. The ones that I have saved head to the second drawer of my filing cabinet,

where they wait until the end of the year.

7. When the year is over I move the years worth, to their permanent home (which is currently under construction).

THE END.

The project I am doing to control school memorabilia, has been circling Pinterest and blog land for awhile. I am just getting my version completed and will show you the big reveal next month.

We had a quiet day around here. Laundry, school, cleaning, grocery list making, appointment setting, and cookie making. You know a little of this and a little of that. We are taking it easy after the heartbreaking loss of our Niners last night.

I hope your day was happy!

Control Freak Much?

Written on January 22, 2012 by just a night owl in Life

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I love the weekends, especially the ones with rain involved. My hubby and I had a date night on Friday. We stayed up late and talked, side by side, by the fire. It was perfect. I love good conversation. I seriously could talk for hours. I love the connection. Love it. I also find that I process everything better out loud. I can’t tell you how many times I have been talking something through with someone and enlightened my own self as I was talking it out. These are times when I think that perhaps I should consider paying myself for therapy. Things just start to make sense as I hear myself say them.

Over the last couple of years the Lord has been really working on my own down deep issues. The ones that maybe no one sees, but become glaringly obvious as soon as the lights go off and you fight for sleep. You know those kind? The super fun ones. They are the ones that inevitably shape you. They keep the work hours long and the schedules busting at the seems…. the credit card debts high, the pounds on, the tough exterior in perfect fighting form, or the subtle poor me persona doin’ its thing. They sit, oh so magically, beneath the surface at a place that is perfectly situated below where they are easily seen but visible enough to let you know that they are still there.

Somewhere along the way, I’ve recently decided to embrace the fact that I am a control freak. Control freaks all look a little different. Some are blatantly obvious. Some, not so much.

I think I am one of the worst kinds, because I didn’t know I was one. Remember When Harry Met Sally? She was high maintenance, but thought she was low maintenance. I am Sally. However, not so much with ordering. O.k. wait, that is a lie. I am a super high maintenance eater too. Omg. BUT the point is that I am a control freak that didn’t know she was one. I didn’t fit my own definition of one, so I never really considered it. Turns out, I am a control freak of the emotional kind. This revelation came about after the prayer….Dear Jesus, I want to trust you more.

I have realized that trust and control freakiness do not play well in the sand box together. Not. One. Bit. Despite my life long attempts to make these two get along, I have finally realized it ain’t gonna happen. They do not and can not co exist. Basically with these two, you have to pick sides. You can’t have 100% trust in someone while maintaing control. At least, I have not found this to be anywhere near successful. Believe me, I’ve tried.

When I choose to trust, I have to embrace the fact that I am not in control. Let go…..two words that have the ability to induce panic for me. Merely typing them might be the reason my heart is starting to race. You see when you let go, you can get hurt. I don’t like that.

The problem is that letting go allows an immeasurable amount of joy. Living life to the fullest, the way it is meant to be lived. Drinking in every moment. Feeling everything. My heart’s desire. I do want that.

But it also means embracing the fact that I can not control this world around me. Life will not play out the way I think it should. I can not guarantee a life that is illness free, tragedy free, and heartache free…and after deep pain comes the instinct to protect, bottle up, and c o n t r o l….a vicious cycle perhaps.

I choose to let go. Let go of my need to protect, worry, and stress. My God’s got this.

It is a tough choice. A daily choice. Sometimes a minute by minute choice. I want to look at my life through His lens not mine. Trust Him with all of my heart, all of it. Trust Him with my husband. Trust Him with my precious babies. Trust Him with my joys and trust Him with my sorrows. Trust Him with the little and trust Him with the not so little. Give up control. Give it up. GIVE. IT. UP.

Growing is so flipping tough sometimes. Ugh, how there are days I long to sit and play on Pinterest and eat bon bons all the day long. Adorn myself in some fabulous pajamas and just watch the world go by. Growth is so necessary and comes in such unexpected ways. It is also so uncomfortable and leaves me drained and completely vulnerable. It is there, however, where change happens. God is there and God is good.

Lord, thank you for the still of the night. How many tears have been shed there, deep cries of the soul experienced there, fears have been quieted there, and unending hugs to my heart received there…..

God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

Takes one to know one

Week 17

Written on January 20, 2012 by just a night owl in 170 School Days. 2011

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We are almost to the half way point of the school year. There are SO many things that I am loving and a couple of things that I am looking to change for next year. My fears of doing school with a baby were unfounded. He has only made it better. He is completely used to the routine as he knows nothing else. It works and works well.

I just made final plans to attend this years Homeschool Convention in Santa Clara with two of my dearest friends. I can’t wait. We are going to have a fabulous time . I think it is an absolute requirement for homeschool mamas to get away for a weekend. We are going to stay at this funky little hotel that is reviewed as the Geek Chic hotel of the Silicon Valley. Amusing.

We have been traveling around the world still with our Expedition Earth curriculum and just finished up a two week stay in France. It has definitely been my favorite study so far. The girls made Eiffel towers with popsicle sticks. That part was an epic failure. I don’t even have a completed version to show you. It was that bad.

Fortunately for all of us our next project was truffles. It started off great. Then came the begging to try the chocolate. It was an unsweetened chocolate bar. I warned they wouldn’t like it. They didn’t believe me, so I did what any good mother would do and let them try it. They believe me now. The end result was much better. Next week we are off to Italy. Wish this were real life.

I am still in the routine of making the kids lunch boxes the night before. It is a huge time saver. HUGE. I totally embrace it. Once in a while, however, we bust out a HOT LUNCH day. It is unscheduled and arrives on the days that I was too ~~lazy~~ busy to do what I know is best and make their lunches the night before. Yesterday, it was Eggos. High class cafeteria food around here. Nothin’ but the best.

My mom found us a letter play dough set on an after Christmas clearance at 90% off. The whole set was just .79. It is now a workbox activity for Emma.

This past week she used it to practice her spelling words.

We took a one week break from our regular spelling curriculum, so that she could spend a week learning all the names of our family and our street/city/state name.

One of the kids favorite subjects this year is vocabulary. I am quite certain the fact that candy is involved is partly the reason, however they really are actually enjoying it. We started using Wordly Wise. There is a vocabulary list of words each week, daily exercises, and a quiz. In the teacher’s guide, I found a set of “extra optional” weekly exercises. They are a set of 15 fill in the blank sentences. I turned it in to a game with my older two. I read the sentence and whoever stands up first gets to answer .

If they answer correctly, they then win a piece of candy. Just one.

We do it every Thursday and it becomes all out war. I love it.

It is FINALLY raining here in sunny California. I have big plans this weekend to do nothing, relax, and catch up on some grading.

Have a fabulous weekend.

iCarly Family Night.

Written on January 19, 2012 by just a night owl in Family Nights

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A couple of years ago, a sweet friend and I were on a crazy road trip to Las Vegas. It was insane and a little Thelma and Louise~esque, just one of those trips. On the way down south, we received word from my awesome clearance shopping mama that the toys had hit the 75% off mark down THAT DAY at Target. So, what did we do? Well we called sweet friend’s husband at work immediately, so that he could drop what he was doing and direct us to the nearest Target. Priorities, ya know. We ended up in Bakersfield and found some great deals. There was an iCarly charades game for $3.74. Sweet friend suggested FAMILY NIGHT and I was on board immediately. Finally, this game made its way out of my cupboard tonight, for our return of family nights….For a little more info about our family nights check out here or here.

iCarly night it was. We began with the infamous spaghetti tacos. If you haven’t watched the show, I apologize for the grossness of this concept. I did not come up with it. I have to say, however, they were not all that bad.

Believe it or not, my girls loved them. We washed them down with a version of Groovy Smoothies.

Next was on to some RANDOM DANCING.

There was a lot of chaos and fun.

A little bit of the robot…

Some dancing on the counter…

twirling with daddy…

….and a whole lotta smiles.

We ended the night playing the iCarly game. It was tough. Charades with four children is gonna be, but you add in the weird iCarly trivia and you have a problem. Not to mention the game throws in weird obstacles. Taylor ended up having to act out a word while RANDOM DANCING the entire time.

Shawn did great, but all I can think is DEAR LORD, will someone please guess the correct word, so my poor husband can blink. He was trying to act out the WORLD’S FATEST PRIEST. Yeah, no one guessed it despite his mad skills.

Emma drew the Gibby card. She busted it out successfully and loved every minute of it.

It was a great night. There is more to come….If my kids had their way it would be tomorrow.

Enjoy your families this weekend.

The Chalkboard

Written on January 19, 2012 by just a night owl in My home

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Worth Quoting

Written on January 18, 2012 by just a night owl in Random

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I am a complete sucker for sayings. In high school I am pretty sure I had 5,673,298 pins on my cheer jacket. That was the thing. I giggled when I pulled this out of the garage the other day. My favorite is I can’t cope with pastel colors. These are words that have stood the test of time for sure.

Today, I always gravitate towards plaques, pillows, candles, and all other home decor plastered with some profound truth. I love when people post them on facebook and pin them on Pinterest. Heck, now you can even wear them (which I frequently make my baby do).

They amuse me and inspire me. Some of my favorites…

Find Your Strong.

Some people suck. Avoid them.

Sometimes its ok to take a step back and admit you are being ridiculous.

Do more of what makes you happy.

Some people think that hanging in there shows great strength when the truth is “letting go” is the real test of character.

I never stick my leg off the edge of the bed no matter how hot it is because it would get eaten off.

Sometimes the things we can’t change, end up changing us.

They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Things around my home…

Uppercase Living allows you to design your own. We had this made for over our t.v. area.

These two canvases from Joanns, hang in our school room.

Home Goods is an amazing place to find cute anything, but definitely has a lot of things with sayings.

Live a good life pretty much sums it all up, right?

I made wall art with some wood squares from Joanns and scrapbook paper.

This sign I picked up at a flea market for $5. It makes me quite happy. It hangs in my babies nursery.

I am in the picture on the bottom row in the middle. I enjoy my hair.

This one hangs in my dining room. My kids are disturbed that the words are cut off at the bottom. I tried to explain that this makes it “artsy” looking. They weren’t buying’ it at all.

What are some of your favorites??? and more importantly, does anyone know who makes these up anyway?

Happy Wednesday.

Gem Dates.

Written on January 17, 2012 by just a night owl in Life, My kids

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The power of positive thinking can be C R A Z Y impactful. I need to bottle me up some of that and shake it all over my house. TOO MUCH DISCIPLINE is taking place over here. How can there be too much discipline, you ask? I ask the same thing. I guess it is too much negative behavior, that is the actual problem. There is nothing earth shattering going on. Just plenty of constant unending “little stuff”. Which actually is pretty big stuff to me ~eye rolling, sass sass SASS, arguing, not completing chores, and a huge amount of whining. Sounds fun, huh? Wanna come over?

When negative behavior comes, I tend to favor the “ok, that’s a chore” approach. This way I get a semi~clean house out of the deal too. However, this is sliding down a pathetic hill quite quickly. I have become a full time Mrs. Hannigan. Just me and my little pig droppings.

While it is tempting, I know that I can not just yell ABORT to all punishment and scream and run away. That will get me nowhere fast. It needs to have its place in our home, but it needs to be balanced with love and positive things. How do we strike that balance when the kids are struggling?

Then one day, I read this. It’s a long read, but full of great stuff about this mama’s household systems. I am adapting the GEM DATE from it.

GEM DATE :[jem dÆt] n. 1. a date earned with your mom or dad for exhibiting Christ like behavior over and over until your jar runneth over. 2. a time of hanging out one on one with either a mom or a dad. 3. a time to be loved on and made to feel like the special little child of God that you are.

Jars @ Home Goods $1.99

Gems (aka marbles) @ Walmart $3.00

Each child gets their own color of gem and their own jar to collect them in. I get to dish out gems for whatever I want such as attitudes, actions, extra chores, etc. They receive gems for GOOD things. However, not every good thing with be rewarded and one is never ever allowed to ask for gems. When the jar is so full that they can’t put their lids back on, they are rewarded with a GEM DATE. We started this, this past Sunday. I filled them up just to show you. The big sliver thing behind the gem jars is our craft container (aka spice rack from Costco). It has nothing to do with our gem dates at all, but on a side note it is super functional and cute too.

I mixed all the gems together and put them in a great big jar that I already had at home. They live in my office on my favorite Ikea bookshelf of all time. The kids are allowed to go in and get their gem when they earn one. They take it and put it in their own jar.

The dates will occur one on one with either me or my husband. We will decide where the date will be and who they will go with. It may be as simple as a trip to the park to play catch, or Rite Aid for ice cream. Sometimes it may be a meal out, or even a game of mini golf. It will always be one on one.

It’s been a little over 48 hours and let me tell you whats happened already…

I am focusing and looking for their good behavior. Who knew this would end up changing me first and foremost?

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philipians 4:8-9