Forty Days of Lent

    I’ve spent some time today gathering ideas for us to do to observe Lent this year.  On Tuesday  we will make our annual trip to the Polish Village for Paczki.  We’ll have the Paczki for dessert after a dinner of Pancakes and Sausages.

    Wednesday afternoon we will say Good-Bye to the Alleluia .  We have been studying the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy the past few weeks, and this  Cross of Mercy that Kimberlee  shared last year ties in perfectly with this. 

   On Wednesday we will also draw names for  “Secret Simon”    I took the idea from “Secret Santa” that is often done during Advent.    We will put the name of each family member in a hat and each of us will draw one.    We will be “Simon” to the person we drew throughout Lent,  helping them to carry their cross.    On Easter,  we will each try to guess who our Simon was. 

  We will be hosting “Soup and Stations” on Fridays,  which will simply be praying the Stations of the Cross and sharing a simple meal of soup and bread with friends. 

  I shared these ideas with the children at lunch today,  and they all seemed very eager and excited.  I hope they feel the same 40 days from now! 🙂

    

Meal Plan Monday

Lots of great ideas here!

Monday:  Turkey Tetrazzini (using up leftover turkey!)

Tuesday:  Bavarian Wiener Supper  (using leftover dogs from the guys’ paintball cookout.)

Wednesday:  Almond Chicken and Rice

Thursday:  Beans in a Pot

Friday: Slow Cooked Corn Chowder (omit ham)

Saturday:  Fried Eggs with Chili Cheese Grits

Sunday:  Quick Shrimp Gumbo

Breakfast: Oatmeal, Cinnamon Rice, Cooked Oat Bran, Bagels and yogurt,

Lunch:  Quesadillas,  Sloppy Joes, Migas, Pasta Salad, Bacon and Eggs,

Thinking Outloud: Menu Changes

Just thinking out loud here,  talking to myself more or less…

Monday:  BUSY day!  Chicken and cheese quesadillas on the go…

Tuesday:  Torio’s are graciously bringing us a meal.

Wednesday:  Pork Chops and Pierogis

Thursdays:  Meal incoming from the Swain family

Friday:  Crockpot Corn Chowder

Saturday: Honey Roasted Pork Tenderloin and roasted potatoes

Sunday:  Turkey Divan

Monday:  Another ‘On the Go’ meal:  Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Lunch Ideas:

Quesadillas, Tuna Salad, Pasta & Sauce, Eggs and Sausage,  Beans and Corn chips, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches,  Homemade Pizza,

A Tour of the Birth Suite

    Well,  actually,  I probably will not birth here.  It will more likely be the livingroom floor where five of our children have already been born.  I plan on using the birth pool and it is to large to set up in the bedroom.  But I have been working diligently on preparing our bedroom,  or ‘nest’ as I call it,  for the baby’s arrival.  This is where the two of us will spend our first week together.   We will use this time to get to know one another,  to read each  others cues and to establish that blissful nursing relationship.  I am very blessed to have so many around me that will tend to all of our needs during this time.   I plan to walk no further than the bathroom down the hall.  Here is a tour of our nest!

This is the view from the door.  The cradle is a safe place for baby to lay when I do have to make that trip down the hall!

A cozy place to rock with Our Lady of Pepetual Help watching over us.

A place to rest our heads

Our dresser filled with mama’s pajamas and tiny baby clothes!   Dh and I made the belly cast over the weekend.  The girls and I decorated it with a Mary Cassatt print, a poem titled “Treasure” and hand painted flowers.  I have a beautiful St. Benedict medal to apply to it also.    A statue and print of Our Lady of La Leche watch over us from this wall. 

This area is prepared with freshly washed baby diapers,  rosaries on the wall.  (But who needs a rosary when there are perfect little baby toes to count Hail Mary’s on!!)  We also have some herbal tinctures ready for various post partum issues,  and a bottle of “Happy Mama” spray to lift our mood a bit. 

  That’s the tour of our “Birthing Suite”,  awaiting the arrival of our “Guest of Honor”! 🙂 

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.

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!