…the Amish lady at the store asks you if they are all yours!
Category Archives: large families
A Beautiful Baby Boy
Mark Benedict arrived on Sunday, August 26th, at 1:30 am. He weighs 7 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21 inches long. He was born in the water after a very smooth and peaceful labor. We are both doing very well and enjoying getting to know one another. Each baby brings with him a deeper understanding and awe of exactly what we are participating in when we accept God’s Divine Plan.
I will post pictures whenever I make it downstairs to the pc. My husband brought his laptop up for me to use right now. Thank you all for the prayers!
Our School Season Menu
We started our new chore assignments two weeks ago and it is running very smoothly. We are still spending alot of time outside and the lawn and garden need tending too, so that throws a kink in the inside upkeep. I know that will slow down when the weather cools.
Last week we implemented our three week menu rotation. I listed each week in our Homekeeping Journal. I also listed each recipe and the ingredients needed to make each dish. This has made my meal planning, list making, and shopping so much easier. The nesting urge is also in full swing, so most of the meals I doubled and froze an extra. As of right now I have five dishes and two meatloaves (giant ones at that!) in our freezer. We always get TONS of much appreciated meals from friends and family after having a baby. So many, that when Molly was born that we had a warm meal delivered every other day for over a month! My goal is to make my postpartum time simple, enjoyable, and memorable for the entire family. I know proper meal planning plays a big role in this.
First I thought I’d share our lunch menu. We have the same thing each day of the week. This way the older children learn how to make these simple meals well, my shopping list stays the same for lunch items, and we know exactly what to grab out of the fridge each day after spelling lessons! 😉
*fridays are aways meatless
Lunch Menu
Mondays: Beef, bean, and cheese quesadillas/burritos, tortilla chips and salsa/nachos.
Tuesdays: Soup, (homemade or canned, depending on circumstances) peanutbutter bread, milk
Wednesdays: Pasta with alfredo sauce and broccoli and homemade rolls
Thursdays: French bread pizza, cheese cubes, baby carrots
Fridays: Egg or tuna salad sandwiches, yogurt
Dinner Menu Week 1
*unless otherwise noted, I have steamed spinach with each meal and we all have some form of either frozen veggies or fresh salad. Drinks vary from milk to icy lemonade, and of course a Killians for Dh ! 🙂
Monday: Magnificent Casserole, corn muffins. (made three, ate one, froze one, Mary and I took one to a family that just had their third precious child.)
Tuesday: Son of a Manic Mealoaf is on the menu (from Leanne Ely’s Frantic Family Cookbook) but we had a pleasant visit with unexpected guest during dinner prep time. I threw some steaks under the broiler and made a quick salad instead. I made up the meatloaves yesterday and tucked them both into the freezer.
Wednesday: Baked Chicken. It was Samuel’s birthday and he requested pizza, so Papa John’s delivered dinner this night. I made two baked chicken dishes up and froze them both.)
Thursday: English Muffin Casserole was on the menu for this night but one of my dearests friends showed up with a piping hot meal for us at 6 o’clock. We enjoyed her delicious chicken chili over brown rice, green beans, fresh bread, and chocolate pudding! 🙂 Her 5 children made the most adorable cards for me and the kids! I made the English Muffin Casserole up yesterday (2 of them) and tucked one into the freezer and one is ready for us to enjoy after Mass this morning.
Friday: Baked Macaroni and Three Cheese. (I made two and froze one)
Saturday: A Saturday favorite, made by Tony and Abby, Tomato soup and Grilled Cheese! (They talk about opening up a diner one day, they would call it D&D Diner. Dad and Daughter…funny, those two!)
Sunday: We will have one of the English Muffin Casseroles I prepared yesterday.
So week one had some change ups, but I always had something on hand to make no matter what cropped up. Yesterday afternoon Dh took most of the kids to play some baseball while Molly and I did our shopping for the upcoming week. (I won’t share with you the ugly details of my stereotypical pregnant woman breakdown in the parking lot…) We plan on begining our lesson times on Monday. I am hoping to have few to no distractions while we try to get back into our schooling groove. (you can laugh at me later! LOL!) Following is our menu plan for next week.
Dinner Menu Week 2
Monday: Chicken and Rice Chowder. I plan on making a big simmering pot for dinner, and the base for another night to be frozen for later.
Tuesday: Red Beans and Rice with Keilbasa. I have enough to make one/freeze one.
Wednesday: Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks. I have enough for two meals, one to eat, one to freeze.
Thursday: Pot Roast and Potatoes. I will make two roasts, one to eat, one I will shred for another time.
Friday: Creamy Tomato Pasta. Again, one to eat one to freeze.
Saturday: Spicey Hoppin’ John – YUM! (and of course, one to eat one to freeze)
Sunday: Chicken/Pasta/Greens salad and bread.
32 Weeks and 4 Days
The time is drawing nearer –
Soon we will be blessed –
With another one of these –
Thank Heaven for Little Boys! 🙂
Thinking Out Loud – Homeschool Plans
My husband and I are supposed to be at a Homeschooling Conference today, but once again, life had other plans for us. So I will be spending a good part of my weekend concentrating on our plans for the upcoming school year. We will have a kindergartner, a first/second grader. (he’ll be doing first grade work in some areas, second grade in others.) A solid second grader, a fifth grader, and a seventh grader. Add to all of that the sweet little people we will have running around: a 4 year old, 3 year old, 14 month old, and in a few short weeks, a newborn. God is so good to us.
I spent the early hours of this morning revamping our homekeeping duties to reflect the shorter, more structured days, and more time spent at home in the cooler seasons. I have simplified our meal planning on a three week rotating menu that everyone has agreed upon. I re-assigned kitchen duties to suit who will be home when. (Three boys are in Conquest, and our oldest daughter will begin her first year of Challange Club.) I have divided out some of the basic household chores so all of the children contribute to keeping the house in decent working order.
Now it is time to concentrate on our academics. We will be enrolling our 7th, 5th, and 2nd graders in Seton this year. It is a big change from our usual ecclectic hodgepodge of resources that we have drawn from. The structure seems to be what my 7th grader craves, what my 5th grader needs, and I think it will be a good move for my 2nd grader that completed the CHC second grade lessons last year. (I use the word ‘completed’ loosely, we deviated from the lessons plans in many ways, yet always using them as a guide.)
Mary will be the fifth child that I will homeschool for kindergarten. While we will loosely follow CHC here again, I have plenty of resources on our bookshelves to draw from. She is so very eager to learn new things and master new tasks. I really look forward to watching her blossom.
Isaac will also follow CHC’s second grade lesson plans. We will probably follow these pretty closely for him, as he thrives in structure and likes to have his tasks neatly laid out before him. He will be preparing for his First Holy Communion later next year and I firmly believe that when it comes to sacrament preparation, CHC cannot be beat!
I have some very specific goals for each child, and then some very specific goals for the entire family. I will delve into some of these in a later post. I actually expect many of my upcoming posts to focus on our plans for next year and our preparations for welcoming a new little child into our family. While all of this overwhelms me at times, I know that my worry accomplishes nothing. I am trying to to keep the words of St. Benedict , (a heavenly intercessor that has been very present in our family this year!) in my thoughts, “Ora et Labora!” – “Pray and Work!” I trust that God will supply me with all of the Grace and strength that I need to raise and educate my children for His glory. What He wants, I want. It’s that simple!
Mother, It is such a Beautiful Morning
We will will take our breakfast on the veranda.
Okay, so it was more like “Mama, can we eat our oatmeal outside?” Either way it’s cute! This is where my little boys were at 6:30 am, in their jammies and all! I think we’ll have our lunch out there too!
Dinner in A Little House
I loved this blog post by Joanne. They have 12 people living happily in 990 square feet. What a happy scene! Ten Kids and a Dog
Joyful Chaos 