Today Christmas Carol practices start so I am busy all day. I am just taking a moment to write down my plans and share a recipe with you. Tomorrow I will share Chicken Pot Pie.

• Workout at YMCA for 1 hour: cardio
• Homeschool
• Clean Kitchen
• Prepare Freezer Recipes: Bean Burrito Filling - Chicken Noodle Soup - Chicken Pot Pie
• Laundry
• General Cleaning

Chicken Noodle Soup

	x2	x4	x6
3 lbs. chicken, cut up	6 lbs	12 lbs	18lbs
10 cups water	20c	40c	60c
2 t. chicken bouillon	4t	8t	4T
1 ½ t. salt	1T	2T	3T
½ t. pepper	1t	2t	1T
1 bay leaf	2	4	6
1 cup sliced celery	2c	4c	6c
1 cup thinly sliced carrots	2c	4c	6c
¼ cup chopped onion	½ c	1c	1 ½ c
Serving Day
2 cups noodles

*Original recipe yields  approximately 7 – 1 ½ cup servings

Cooking Day Instructions

Combine chicken and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Skim surface of broth if necessary. Add bouillon granules, ½ cup onion, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Cover; simmer 35-45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from broth.

Bone chicken and cut up. Skim fat from broth. Return chicken and stir in celery, carrots, and ¼ cup onion. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until carrots are desired tenderness. Soup may be frozen in gallon bags after cooling, using the freezer bag method.

Serving Day Instructions

Thaw soup until slushy. Place in saucepan. Remove bay leaf and bring to a boil. Drop noodles into boiling soup. Cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until noodles are tender.

NOTE: I use noodles purchased from the freezer section of my store and keep them near the soup in the freezer.

Today's plans include:

• Girl's are cleaning out the garage while little ones play in the backyard.
• Freezer cooking for me: Bean Burrito Filling & Chicken Noodle Soup. (Maybe more)
• Organize the laundry room and go through all our clothes for winter.

  UPDATE: I ended up organizing the freezer, deep cleaning the dining room and making 3 freezer meals of homemade macaroni and cheese. Oh, did I mention I went to some garage sales?

I will post recipes later after I finish cooking. Upcoming freezer recipes include:

1. Chicken Lentil Chili
2. Meat & Macaroni Casserole
3. Chicken Pot Pie.

 Instead of those recipes, here is what I made today. Depending on how many servings you wish to make, double or triple your quantities. Remember you'll need a large mixing bowl. Before I had a catering bowl, I used a new dish pan I bought from the dollar store.

Upcoming posts include:

• My Christmas gift ideas including blog tutorials I have found. Notice I added all my favorite blogs and websites to my links today.
• My favorite Freezer Cooking Books & Websites. Tips and hints I have learned along the way.

Gotta Run!

Moe's Sloppy Joes (aka Sloppy Moe's)

6 pounds lean ground beef 2-3 onions, chopped 1 1/2  chopped green bell pepper 4 (8oz) cans tomato sauce 1 1/2 cups ketchup

3 tsp. salt 3/4 tsp. pepper 3 tsp. chili powder atleast 3/4 cup brown sugar or to taste

1.	In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
2.	Stir in the tomato sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper, chili powder and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. (TASTE) Add more brown sugar to taste, should be slightly sweet. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Once cool, estimate how much your family will eat per meal and ladle into gallon size ziplock bags. Lay flat on a tray and freeze. Once frozen, stack sideways to save room. To reheat, just defrost and warm on stove.

Black Friday: That is what AOL said is happening today. I am not going to pretend I understand it or even how it is going to effect my family but what I do know is that the Lord started prompting me last February to begin a garden I was terrified to start and to start stocking up on our normal meager food supply.

In my home, I used to just have a small pantry of food items. Really no more than 2-3 weeks worth of food. Over the summer I created three new food storage areas in my home. The first was an unused closet that I installed shelving in, the second was a tall shelf in my basement and the third was a large, new deep chest freezer I keep in the basement. All of my pantry's are full (although I would like to add more) and my freezer is on its way.

Another thing I have done for several years is make and freeze food to save prep time in my home. I just don't have the time to cook from scratch everyday. Well, with the way things are going, I believe it is a good idea to have as much stock as possible, and freezer food is a great way to save time and money.

I don't make all my freezer meals in one day, but I do make a lot over several days time. I am going to share with you a few of the items I am currently stocking my freezer & pantry's with in the next few posts so check back often.

Yesterday my family and I drove way out to an apple orchard and bought about 60 lbs of apples. We bought seconds which allowed me to buy at an excellent price. One 10lb bag of apples was only $3 each!!! These apples are beautiful, healthy apples. It is just their skins that are a little rough looking. Here is what I have made so far.

Yesterday my husband and I made applesauce. We washed the apples, then sliced them into quarters. We then put them in a huge pot I own with about 1/4 full of water. We boiled the apples, stirring occasionally. Once they had broken down we put them through my mother-in-laws antique food mill. Using this, I didn't have to peel or core the apples, but if you didn't have one, you could just peel and core them and then use a potato masher or whatever you have on hand. 

After that, I added sugar and cinnamon until I liked the taste of it. We then labled 12 gallon size freezer bags and ladled the apple sauce in. Once cool, stack the sauce on a tray or other flat surface and freeze. Once they are frozen solid you can stack them sideways to save space in your freezer.  

Today I made apple pie filling. I am sure I have enough for atleast 10 pies if not more. Here is the recipe I used: (I slightly altered it based on reviewers advice)

Apple Pie Filling

Submitted by: Terri Rated: 5 out of 5 by 80 members

Yields: 40 servings

18 cups thinly sliced apples 3 tablespoons lemon juice 4 1/2 cups white sugar 1 cup cornstarch

2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 5 cups water

1.	In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice and set aside. Pour water into a Dutch oven over medium heat. Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
2.	Add apples and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until apples are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.
3.	Ladle into 5 freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Cool at room temperature no longer than 1 1/2 hours.
4.	Seal and freeze. Can be stored for up to 12 months.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/10/2008

Coming up: Homemade Sloppy Joes, Chicken Lentil Chili, Pantry Mixes and MORE!!!

Today was a great day! I tried out for A Christmas Carol that is put on here in my city. I was in it last year with my daughters. It really is a pretty big deal. We play at a huge theater for about 8000 people. I tried out last year on a whim and ended up getting a speaking part. I always knew I enjoyed acting but I thought I was too old (I am 35). So today I tried out again. I really would love a dancing / acting part. We'll see. My auditions went really well. Tomorrow my daughters are trying out. Two of them are not feeling well at all tonight, so if you read this please pray that they will fell better by tomorrow. My oldest daughter was supposed to try out today with me, but she was too ill.

After auditions, I came home and did some baking. First I made some Pumpkin Spice Muffins I saw on a blog somewhere else. They are only 2 Weight Watcher points per muffin so I can eat them. I'll post the recipe below. I also am making some white bread for the kids. I love homemade bread and so do the kids. Too bad I can't have any.

Pumkin Spice Muffins - Make 24-30

2 Boxes Spice Cake Mix
1 Can Pumpkin
1 1/2 Cups Water

1. Mix everything together.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray Muffin tins with cooking oil.
3. Fill Muffins 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes.

UPDATE: Even though they are still sick, the girls were able to try out on Sunday. We were called on Monday and we were all asked to be in the play! My two youngest were even asked to be dancers. We start rehersals on Monday, October 13, 2008.

This year I decided to move upstairs to homeschool. Over the years I have become less and less schoolish, and more a family who homeschools. I have stopped enjoying the classroom feel and really like doing school in my diningroom. We have the opportunity to sit on the couch, or the front porch on nice days and I really like that.

Because I don't want to have school items all over my house, I have kept the bulk of my materials downstair and only brought up what we are currently using this quarter including a few basic art supplies. If I find I need something, we can just go downstairs to my supply cupboard in my old schoolroom, which is now converted to a a TV room. I added a couch to the room and took our TV down there.

So without further ado... Here is our learning area in the diningroom!

I actually found this shelf on the side of the road one day. I pulled right over and threw it in the back of my van. Now it sits in my diningroom. I use the library heavily in our homeschool, so all my library books are on the shelves that face out. Underneath I have my two older girls books in the blue bin and my two younger girls textbooks in the white. I keep all their notebooks in a bin off to the right. I also have a basket with some books I will be using in the coming weeks, but not currently. I store my Lesson Plans in a notebook that slides in between the two bins on the bottom shelf.

The only other thing I have are basic supplies like pens, pencils, glue sticks etc.. I made a little caddy for those and I keep it on the diningroom table except for meal times. I don't like to remove my tablecloth and placemats, so whenever the girls have to write, we put their papers on a clipboard.

This new arrangement has worked wonderfully and I love it! I hope you enjoyed seeing my new learning area!

I have been on a diet / exercise plan again for about a month. It is so exciting to really see the changes in my body. Something I realized is that dieting is HARD! But once you get going it gets easier after a few days and temptations are a lot less. I also learned that I always misjudge how much I eat, so it is easier just to use a system. The system I use is Weight Watchers Points. I don't go to meetings. Only went once to get the tools. Last fall I lost 30 lbs jst using the WW tools. I am allowed 22 points a day. I don't have a hard time eating within that range as long as I choose good foods. Here is a recipe I just tried today and it is WONDERFUL!!! It is also only 3 points so I can fit it in.

Strawberry Smoothie
(2 servings)

A book I really wish I could keep forever is Gene Logsdon's Practical Skills - A Revival of forgotten Crafts, Techniques, and Traditions. This book is filled with so much good information, illustrations and good humor. I love it!

Here are two more books I would like to buy sometime soon. 

Happy Autumn!

Here is my first post in the "All About Me" catagory.

Name: Michelle PolishLastNameski

Age: 35

B-day: February

Location: Ohio

Husband: Associate Pastor in our hometown

Children: 5 (4 girls and 1 boy) (Ages: 14, 11, 8, 5, 2)

Notes: Both my husband and I got saved when our youngest was 1 year old. We were invited to a baptist church by some good friends of ours. I couldn't go because I had a job at the time, so my husband went. My husband was a former rock dude, having played in bands for several years. He had his hair down to his waist up until 2 weeks before our wedding. He just wasn't the church type. He went and later that evening, when I saw him, his whole countenance was so different from what I had ever seen before. He was glowing. I knew I had to go to this church. The following Wednesday I went. It seemed as if the Pastor was speaking directly to me. All the things I was struggling with we addressed. I knew at that time that I needed to learn more.

For about a month we continued to go to church, when one evening some church members stopped by our house. I remember I was watching Melrose Place on TV. They just stopped in for a minute and left a Bible track. After they left, I sat there reading God's plan of salvation for the first time. I just didn't know all of this information even though I had gone to church off and on for most of my life. Right then I gave my life to the Lord. That was in November, and that Christmas was spectacular for both my husband and me even though he wasn't saved yet.

Then in January, our Pastor came to our home and my dh accepted Christ and we all cried together. Two weeks later we were baptized with our dear friends who had invited us to church with them. They too were new.

It wasn't long afterwards that my husband said he felt called to the ministry. At first I was dead set against it. I didn't want to leave my home and family and move away so he could go to Bible college. But shortly after my second daughter was born, the Lord changed my heart. We had had time to grow in the Lord, and spend an amazing amounts of time with our dear friends. Sometimes all night, talking about God and praising Him for our salvation.

We moved to Bible College in 1998 (January 1st to be exact). We moved all the way to Minnesota. We spent the next 4 1/2 years there while my husband got his bachelors degree. After that we moved to Illinois where my husband was a Youth Pastor. It was then that we realized we didn't agree with Youth Ministry, so we had to leave that position. We moved back to Ohio, where my husband had a normal job for awhile and obtained his Master of Arts degree through a seminary in Iowa that he traveled to to take classes a few times a year.

Then we were blessed when he was offered a position as Associate Pastor right here in our home town. He is in Iowa right now taking a class towards his Master of Divinity degree. We hope he will finish this up within the next two years.

I am a pretty simple girl who loves old fashioned skills and ways. This summer I had my first garden ever and canned for the first time ever. Today I canned tomatoes for the first time. I love to freezer cook and make homemade mixes for muffins, pancakes and my specialty... BISCUITS!!! (with homemade strawberry jam that I canned!!!)

As you can tell, I homeschool, always have and always plan to. I love my family so so much. There is no place I would rather be than right here with them everyday. I want them to always be close to me even when they are grown. We talk about creating a family homestead someday. That is my one true dream. I am very proud of my daughters, they are all modest by choice and have beautiful hearts too.

My favorite books ever are the Harry Potter series. I truely do not see ANYTHING wrong with them. I know some do, but to each his own.  I recently finished the last in the series.

I love to sew, but only from my own patterns. I make a lot of skirts & dolls. I cherish giving homemade gifts and look forward to Christmas time when I can do so. Look for posts on this in the future.

I am starting a homeschool group. I love to talk with other homeschool moms. 

Well that is all for now. You can check out my daughters blog by scrolling down a few posts to see the website address.

Michelle 

Oh, one more thing. I don't really like to write. This could have been REALLY long with lots of details, but I just can't stand typing that much. Now if you want to hear all the details, come over for tea sometime! 

Well the first day is at a close. It went well for the most part. I need to modify my loop chart a bit, and decide where I want to do school. We used the diningroom today, which was pleasant once my little 2 year old boy went down for a nap. I really don't want to go into the basement/playroom. I think I am going to have to however so that baby boy will play and leave us alone.

I am really loving Tapestry of Grace. It is working very well. I loved discussing the girls worksheets and having bible verses to look up in relation to the exercises they completed.

I am disliking Rod & Staff Math 1 (we are finishing this up before I move my dd into Horizon's). Too many worksheets and too much repetition. Hey I just had a revelation. I am going to only have her do every other problem so it doesn't take her all day. I really wanted to buy Horizon's for her, but I had already bought 1/2 year of R&S and I felt it important to not waste that purchase. So we will use that for this term and then move into Horizon's Math 2 when we are done.

Other than that I am really loving it all!

Here is something for you to ponder. The company / books I would like to spotlight today is the Lost Book Company. I recently saw a sample of th Edward Eggelston's...

 This book is really wonderful. It has tons of amazing pictures and little topic notes in the margins so you always can find topic easily. This book is a winner.

This company also publishes Emma Serl's Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons. Looks like they are now publishing Teacher's Guides for these! You can visit them at http://www.lostclassicsbooks.com/

Hello!

I had just nearly finished a long post to you all when I hit a wrong button. WOOSH! Gone... So I start again.

I have decided that I will start posting my weekly happenings, current obsessions and random thoughts here for my readers pleasure instead of occasional posts here and there. Do I have readers???

So for the upcoming 3rd week in August 2008 here we go!!!

This week is the beginning of our 2008/2009 school year. I am excited and ready. I have everything ready to go. This year I will officially be adding in my 4 child into the schedule. I have made a loop schedule so that each child will get equal billing in their time with mom. Core subject schooling should only take 4 hours a day. 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m., Half hour break 10:30 - 12:30 p.m. followed by lunch. We will then use the afternoons for art, handicrafts, baking, and projects.

I am currently obsessing over Christmas. YES! You read that correctly. I have been checking out tons of crafting & sewing books from the library. This year I want to spread out my Christmas crafting over the next few months and put even greater time and effort into crafting gifts for my family. To me there is no more valuable gift than one that is handmade by someone specifically for another. I find a huge amount of joy giving these types of gifts. Recently I made a banner for a little girl for her birthday. DD's 2&3 went to her party. I didn't get to see her open the gift but my dd's told me all about it. I loved it so much, I made one for myself in my livingroom and diningroom colors. Whenever we get our camera fixed I'll show you a picture of it, but for now you'll have to see an example of what someone else on the internet made so you know what I mean.

Isn't this weird and cool! I just love it! I hung mine in the archway between my livingroom and diningroom. I want to make seasonal ones now too! I will probably make a Thanksgiving one, a Christmas one, and a Valentines Day one. I may hang them from my mantel as well.

Something else that is new is that I am starting a new homeschool group with several friends. We are called F.A.I.T.H. which stands for Family Academics in the Home. Our first official get together is in September with our kick-off picnic. We will be giving away a ton of fantastic doorprizes. I have around 15 doorprizes. Some of them are worth $100 !!! I will tell you more about that after it happens. I really hope that we have a good turn-out.

In other news I am starting up my fitness & diet routine again. Last winter I lost around 20 lbs until I fazed out of it all in the spring. I am still down that 20 lbs, but now I want to lose another 20-30 lbs. My goal is to get into the 130's somewhere. I think I am in the 150's currently. I haven't weighed myself all summer. I will be going to the YMCA on Monday so I'll know then. I will be using my weight watchers materials as well as www.fitday.com to track my dieting. My exercise routine will look like this:

Monday - Wednesday - Friday  :   Cardio (swimming, running, biking, aerobics, etc...)

Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday  :   Weight Training using hand weights and my own body weight. I'll be going to the YMCA to use their weights and also working out at home using one of several women's weight training books I have.

I have also spent the summer gardening and I made my first ever canned jam. I am getting ready to make some more because we have tore through a lot of it already. I wanted it to last all winter! My new favorite blogs are  http://www.homesteadblogger.com/quiverfull/ and http://thesimplewomanscannery.blogspot.com/ . I also love this website http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/index.html . It belongs to the first blogger I mentioned.

A great book I am currently loving for Christmas crafting:

A Great book I own:

A here are two great deals on sale now !

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=2118&it=1&affiliate_id=5506

http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=23257&it=1&affiliate_id=5506 

My first ever meme, from By Sun and Candlelight . Hope you enjoy!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

My husband and I had just completed his first full year in Bible College. We had moved there after our salvation and marriage. We had our oldest daughter who was 3 when we moved and our second born daughter who was 6 months when we moved. We were living in a rented house in a great neighborhood. We only paid $350 month for this house. Those where the days!

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today:

• Tidy Up (We deep cleaned yesterday)
• Take a bike ride to the library with all the kids
• Have a nice lunch
• Lay baby boy down to bed for a nap and do some summer school
• Work in the garden

3. Snacks I enjoy:

• Glass of chocolate milk
• Bowl of cereal
• Hot tea with vanilla creamer and english muffin with homemade jam
• bagel and cream cheese
• chocolate chip cookies and cold glass of milk

4. Things I would do if I were a billionare:

• Buy my grandma a new house
• Give to my church
• Support married & bible college students with scholorships
• Buy a farm with a specially designed house. I want a huge school / play room with a garden atrium in the center, wood flooring thoughout, tons of shelves, decorated like pottery barn. The farm would only be used for our own family's needs, not to sell.
• Help build bike trails and provide high quailty bike's and surrey's for the those in need. I would love less dependence on cars. I think the surrey's would be awesome if they could be enclosed for poor weather. (I also want a horse and buggy.) I think the Amish should have their own roads that are seperate from the main car roads in their counties. The cars FLY by them and high speeds. Believe me, we know. Maybe tomorrow I tell you about my bike trip through Holmes County!

5. Places I have lived:

• Ohio
• Minnesota
• Illinois
• Michigan

Please keep it going! If you do this meme, leave me a note that you did it!

Michelle

Visit my oldest daughters blog!

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wonderland21/

We used to call our school Didasko Christian School for the last several  years (Didasko measn "to teach" in greek) but I was tired of that name and am ready for a new name. Well, the Lord inspired me through Pilgrim leader William Bradford who spoke of the pilgrims by saying...

"They cherished a great hope and inward zeal of laying good foundations... even though they should be but stepping stones to others in the performance of so great a work."

I was so amazed at this because this is exactly how I feel. I don't know what the Lord is doing in my life or my family's life, but I would feel so blessed that even if I don't do anything greater than teach my children at home, lead them to love their God and a lifelong commitment to serving Him, that my life can be but a stepping stone to greater things in the future for my children and their children and their children.

So we are now officially...

Stepping Stones Christian Academy

Hi!

We started back to school this week. We are keeping it really light until August 1st when we will jump in full steam. Things are going really well doing it this way and I think I will add a little more each day so that it doesn't seem like I am dumping the whole load in a few weeks.

So far what has surprised me the most is our 2 new math programs. I really really really struggled with what to get this year as I have felt like we have never had success with math in our homeschool. All I can say is WOW! Praise God for His leading. I feel like I have some winners.

My oldest dd has taken to Teaching Textbooks like fish to water. She loves it! As a matter of fact I told her twice today she didn't have to do math and she begged me to do it. Today was her unit test and she was excited to do it. HUH??? Wow, this is exciting!

My next dd, who has ALWAYS struggled with just about every subject and is WAY behind in math has been doing GREAT with Horizons Math. She was moving soooooo slow through Math-U-See and I felt like we were just getting farther and farther behind. She never understood the concepts being presented that way they were and she was bored to tears with MUS. I wanted something that could keep her interest, would help her to catch up and would be easy to teach. After looking at EVERY math curriculum at the HS Convention, I finally decided on Horizons at the end of the day. I love teaching it, It is so easy and it is great for working with more than 1 child at a time. I am so excited about it, I am going to order the Kindergarten level for my 5 year old and the 2nd grade level for my 8 year old as soon as she finishes Rod & Staff Math book 1 as we find this incredibly boring as well.

We are also using Analytical Grammar and after a shaky start because I was really unsure about how to teach it, we have found a groove and it is going well. I believe we will stick with it and be better off for it. I love that it goes in cycles so that when we get into the year full swing, we will be able to take a break from it and focus on other Language Arts.  (UPDATE: 10/1/08 - We have stopped Analytical Grammar and I am not sure if we will pick it back up. It has gotten very difficult. I may look into some online tutoring with AG. I'll let you know later!)

I recently looked over The Reading Lesson book and I like the less cluttered look of it than Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, so I think I am going to start my 5 year old on that with Explode the Code books.

Of course I am still smitten with Tapestry of Grace and I am looking forward to tomorrow when Year 3 redesign is due to arrive at my home via UPS! I can wait to look it all over!!!

Another product I am really excited about is Atelier Art. I received the sample DVD in the mail and I am very impressed with the program. I figured it out that if I combine my youngest 2 dd's, and my oldest 2 dd's, it will be cheaper than the art lessons we have been paying for, plus the cost of gas and the convience of doing the lessons when it is best for us instead of the teacher. I hope to eventually get all levels and then art lessons will be really inexpensive for my other kids! We are a big art family so this is an important subject for us.

Well I hope to update soon and let you know how the rest goes!

Michelle

PS Here are our Kindergaten plans.

Kindergarten 2008-2009

Phonics Writing Bible Time	The Reading Lesson Explode the Code Rod & Staff ABC Series Workbooks
History Geography Literature	Tapestry of Grace (UPDATE: 10/1/08 We are using this very lightly. I have added in a Fairy Tale theme and we are reading a ton of Fairy Tales from the library. Loving it!)
Math	Horizons Math Kindergarten (UPDATE: 10/1/08 I decided to save the money for now and use www.livingmath.net , the library and homemade games.)
Art	Atelier
Music	Piano Lessons (older sister teaching)
Science	Misc.
Nature Study	Misc.
Practical Skills	Baking together, Hand sewing, Whatever the older girls are working on.

Scenario: HELP! I am drowing in junk. My kids are creating disasters faster than I can keep up. I am overwhelmed and don't know what to do!!!

Solution: #1 Get rid of 95% of the toys:

Real Life Example: I had a playroom basement with all of the kids toys. I thought if they had a place to play that would help and it would keep the rest of the house clean.

Reality: Too many toys meant huge messes in the basement. Then the kids would invade the other areas of the home with their toys so they could have an organized place to play. The whole house was always a disaster!!!

Solution: I organized and packed away almost all of their toys. I rotate bins of toys as they get board with what they have. This has resulted in a very clean basement most of the time and plenty of creativity with their stuff. I don't rotate very often either. The room is easy for them to clean so they don't get overwhelmed with it. Result: Happy Kids & Mom

#2 Go get Sink Reflections from your library. It really will help you way more than MOTH. If you want help developing a schedule, I recommend Confessions of a Happily Organized Family by Denise Schofield. These two books will change your life!!!

Well I am all done shopping for next year and here is what were using!

	8th Grade dd	5th Grade dd	2nd Grade dd
Phonics			100 EZ (finish) Explode the Code
English	Analytical Grammar (UPDATE: 10/1/08 Dropped for now)	Rod & Staff 3 (finish)	First Language Lessons (finish) (UPDATE: 10/1/08  Dropped. Will pick up Primary Language Lessons after done with 100 EZ)
Writing	Tapestry of Grace	Tapestry of Grace	Tapestry of Grace (UPDATE: 10/1/08 I am going to use Writing With Ease in a couple of months. It looks FUN)
History	" "	" "	" "
Geography	" "	" "	" "
Literature	" "	" " Progeny Press Guides	" " Progeny Press Guides
Math	Teaching Textbooks	Horizons Math	Rod & Staff
Spelling	Spelling Power (UPDATE: 10/1/08 Dropping Spelling. She doesn't need it.)	Spelling Power (UPDATE: 10/1/08 Modified. I am using the method, but not the book. I am using real books to give her a dication, and then pulling her spelling words from there. We then do a Spelling Power Worksheet using those words.)	Rod & Staff 2 before SP
Art	Atelier	Atelier	Atelier
Music	Self-Taught Guitar Piano Lessons (UPDATE: 10/1/08 She has a piano teacher again. Yeah!!!)	Composer Studies	Composer Studies
Science	Using misc. resources I already own. Next year will get something more advanced.	Library	Library
Nature Study	Misc.	Misc.	Misc.
Practical Skills	For everyone: Teaching our daughters to be Keepers at Home. Misc. classes & library books to try new skills	" "	" "