Riding her bike

She has finally mastered this skill! 

 

Pinterest Food Follow Up

Here are the results of the week of eating new recipes!  I didn't remember to take pictures each night.  If you would like the links to the recipes you can find them in this post. 

Monday:  Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup
Like all the other recipes I have tried, it tasted really good.   It is still not as good as Panera's.  I am sure it has something to do with the fact that I don't use Velveeta. 

Tuesday:  Chicken & Cheese Lasagna Roll Ups 
I changed this recipe from red sauce to white sauce, because of Josiah's allergies.  It was wonderful.  Very similar to the white lasagna I make, but a better presentation. 

 
Wednesday:  Creamy Chicken Taquitos
These were AMAZING!  It made enough for two batches.  I froze the second pan and have dinner for another night.  



Thursday:  Sour Cream & Bacon Crock Pot
I thought this tasted like chicken, nothing special.  Trevor loved how tender it was.  I think the sour cream made it really moist.  I won't waste the soup & bacon on it next time. 

 
Friday:  Date Night

This was not planned, so we will be eating the pizza this Friday!       

Saturday:  Tortellini Spinach Bake
This gets a 2 out of 4.  Only 2 of the kids liked it.  I loved it.  I left out the lime juice, since Josiah can't have it.  It is super garlicky.  I am pretty sure Trevor would not have liked it.  Since only 2 of the kids will eat it, it will go into the take to potluck part of my cookbook! 

Daisy to Brownie

Eliana after her 100 years of girl scout party

Here she is Bridging to Brownies

Our new brownie!

Eliana's New Troop 

1st Time Roller Skating!

This was such a good picture of Miah I had to include it

Asher hanging out in the playland

The twins both fell down right after this picture was taken

This is the only time  Josiah was still while on skates all night

Summer Fun #1

We checked  the 1st thing  off of our summer list today!  Nothing taste as great as strawberries straight out of the patch!

Eliana's a pro!

Asher's 1st time picking!

He was much more interested in eating them.

Josiah is helping out!

All 22 lbs of strawberries

See what else is on our list here

Pioneer Days!

We are part of a homeschooling group that has some very talented moms.  We attended an event this week called Pioneer days.  The other moms were demonstrating some skills that would have been common during pioneer times.  It was a great way to end our school year of studying Little House on the Prairie.   Here are a few pictures from the day!

Miss Jennifer shows the girls how to spin!

Yes, that is a look of frustration on Eliana's face.  All she has wanted to learn for months is how to knit.  Miss Jennifer is teaching her.  It is not going as well as Eliana had hoped!

JoJo helped churn the butter.

Making Candles

This is the soap Eliana whittled.  If you can't see it, Optimus Prime is carved in the top.  Don't worry - I can't see it either!

Proof Summer is HERE!

 

April Goals = better than March

Even though I did not get everything finished on my goal list this month, it still feels like I got a lot accomplished.  I didn't finish both books on my list, but I did read a couple of fiction books this month.  For those of you that use library loan you will understand this.  I have several books on my list that I am waiting for.  You never know when you request a book how many other people have also requested the same book.  It is a waiting game.  One of my books came in this month and I had 1 week to read it.  I am over 1/2 way through Beth Moore's  So Long Insecurity.

If you have never read a Beth Moore book, I highly recommend it.  She writes like you are having a conversation with her.  I feel like I could sit down with her over drinks and it would be like talking with an old friend.  The context of this book is about insecurity.  For those of you that are secure in everything you do - I applaud you - but that is not me.  This book has been hard to get through because of the changing it is doing in me.   God has been pointing out lots of pride issues in my life and this book is going to the next layer.  It has been a good book, just taken a little longer to read than normal.

 
I was supposed to paint the hall closet door with chalk board paint this month.  When I say "I", it means Trevor.  I (Bethany) am not allowed to paint.  Trev took on the project of replacing the dining room floor this month - so the hall closet had to wait.  Maybe it will get done next month.

We tried two new recipes this month:  Chick -Fil-a Nuggets  & Home made cheese its
The nuggets were amazing.  They will be the only chicken nuggets I make from now on.  The cheese its were also great.  I didn't roll them out thin enough so they were not crunchy like a cracker.  My kids didn't care and ate them up.  This recipe only made enough for snack time one day.  Next time, and there will be a next time,  I'll roll the dough out thinner and double the recipe.

This month's clean/organize goal was to clean out the laundry/utility room.  I broke it down into a two month goal.  It is the only room we have to store things so it becomes a cluttered mess.  I did take a before picture and if I can make  the room look the  way I want it to next month I'll post before and after pictures.

Summer Fun List

We are six days away from summer vacation.  Can you hear the excitement in my voice?  Being a homeschooling family means that we really don't ever get a break.  We are always learning!  But we do take the summer off from our structured school day.  It really allows me to just be mom and and not deal with school stuff.  For the past several summers we have been making a list of the fun things we want to do as a family.  This all started after we realized that summer had gone by so fast and we had done so little as a family.  Because I (Bethany)  love lists, each spring we make one.  We started letting the kids add things to the list last year.  We still have not checked everything off of our list in one summer.  But it has made us more intentional about spending time together.  The big thing we noticed last year was that the kids have such simple things they want to do.

So here is our Summer 2012 list:

Go Camping

Pick raspberries

Swim in Miss Laura's pond

Go on a gator ride with Grandpa

Visit a Zoo

Go on an adventure with Dad

Butcher rabbits

See a movie at the drive in

Go swimming at Lake Shelbyville

Pick Strawberries

Go to the pool

Visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's Home

Go fishing 
Pick Blueberries
Read the 1st 3 Harry Potter Books

Fort LaMotte Days

They all look like they are having fun, don't they?

Early in the year we were learning about forts.  I became obsessed with finding a fort to visit.  After a trip to Lincoln Log cabin and a conversation with an interpreter, I found out about Fort LaMotte.  It is located in Palestine, Illinois.  This was the 4th year for the weekend of events.  My mom and I took the kids on Sunday.  The fort was much smaller than I expected.  If you live in Illinois I would not recommend going to the fort except on this special weekend.  Eliana was really excited about seeing the canon fire.

She decided that once she did see it, it was to loud and she didn't like it.  The boys were looking forward to the fighting.

 The boys thought the Indian dancing was funny.  The fort was surrounded with craftsmen.  We saw a pewter maker, a gun collector, a quilter and a grouchy surveyor.  There were many more.  The kids favorite part was the period games.  They had a whole tent with games for the kids to play. Eliana even got my mom involved.

The day ended with the van battery being dead.  Had I not been so stressed out I should have taken a picture of the nice militia men who jumped my car for me.  But getting home was the only thing on my mind.  Over all a good day, the rain stayed away.  This is not an event I would take the kids to each year, it is just not big enough.   I am curious to see how the school day trip goes next year. 

Playing a marble version of tic tac toe

Asher wanted to play too

Bowling

The magician

Showing us how she uses her loom

Big Boy Hair Cut

This is the most recent picture I have of how long Asher's hair had gotten.  He's hanging out with his best bud JoJo.

The new  hair cut! He is saying CHEESE!