Back to the Old Ways

I am realizing that some of the things I used to do were actually good and useful and I am trying to get back in the habit of making plans.  I had been trying to make things a little easier on myself by using a textbook as a spine for our history studies for my middle students, but failed to check out how the text handled a key segment of history and found that it was contrary to our viewpoint and we have had to go back and do some reading and listening to others who use primary sources as the basis of their teachings on the subject.

I am also going back to using more of our KONOS activities.  My kids just learn better and are more interested in learning when they can have more discussion and hands-on activity that just book-learning.  And I don't want my younger two to miss out on the fun and the memories that we have from using KONOS, so it's back to the tried and true.  This week in our American history studies we will focus on the Dutch settlements in the colonial period.    We will make cottage cheese, cook over a fire (this may be on the grill if the ground is too wet), make a beaver hat, read Hans Brinker, declare a Dutch cleaning day,  and learn how the Dutch women were very industrious and use our time wisely.  We are also studying about Africa so will pull out the KONOS for that as well and spend a few weeks in the deserts of North Africa reading a Ballantyne book, The Pirate City, about Algiers, study Islam and the Tuaregs and do lots of map work. Individual reading and writing assignments will be based on the history and geography topics.

I set  and met a goal to eat out of the freezer and we did!  My freezer that holds our ready to eat meals was almost empty.  Only half of a smoked turkey remained and I think the kids were going to revolt if I served turkey again.  This weekend I prepared three meals of a Mexican chicken mix (I made chimichangas for Friday night and put two bags of the mix in the freezer), four meals of spaghetti sauce, two pans of lasagne (one we ate Sat. night) and two meals of bbq pork for sandwiches.  This week I will do several chicken dishes and cook up a 10 pound bag of Northern beans and a five pound bag of black beans to have as quick meals in the freezer as well.

I did make a menu for this week.  We should have a more "normal" week, but Jeff has a three day trip  to the Creation Museum later this week.  We decided not to travel with him this time.  We were up there last year-exactly a year ago, in fact.  During the terrible ice storm that caused much of Kentucky to loose it's power for many weeks.   See--

 Here are my plans-

Monday-grilled chicken and mushrooms (cooking lots of chicken to add to the freezer), green beans and baked potatoes

Tuesday-chicken breasts in mushroom sauce (freezing some as well), rice and green beans

Wednesday-bbq sandwiches, baked beans and cole slaw

Thursday-spaghetti, salad and bread

Friday-potluck with our homeschool group--taking crockpot mac and cheese and meatballs

Saturday-pork fajitas (making extra for the freezer), mexican rice and salad