The twins

Homemaker Mondays

I've posted about this before, but each of my four children have required reading homework every.single.day. It doesn't matter if they are absent or if its a weekend, they are still required to read every night. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love it?

To prove that they have completed their homework, a reading log must be signed bya parent each night. They vary by class, but they pretty much include title, minutes read, and a parent signature. This format works fine for teachers who have to check 25 reading logs every day, but me, I like a more detailed approach.

I keep a notebook for each kid and each book they read is documented on it's own page. It includes title, author, date read, and a commentary by the reader. It helps when looking for new books to borrow from the library, no duplications or getting something you've already read.

Over at my new blog, I'll be posting some of these commentaries by my kids over the next few weeks. They will include my son's thoughts on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which he has just completely devoured the last few days and one of my girls will be talking about The Little House on the Prairie.

I also keep track of books I read, not in a notebook, but rather in a file on my computer. I just open up Word and type up a paragraph or two about the book. The basic storyline, my thoughts, things like that and save it in a folder I call Books Read. Creative, huh? Doing this makes participating in online book groups and carnivals so much easier because you already have the information handy, all you have to do is a little copy & paste work and maybe a quick edit or two and you're done.

What about you? How do you keep track of books that you read?

*Head on over to 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven for more awesome Homemaker Monday posts.

Proud Mama

Today, I am one Proud Mama!

When the alarm went off this morning, I was dreading getting up. I'm worn out from packing and cleaning, plus all the other "mom" stuff I do every day. I was thrilled when my daughter came in and told me to go back to sleep; that she was making my coffee and would get me up in 20 minutes.

After getting a little extra shut-eye, I woke up to find that not only were all four kids up and dressed, they were completely ready to leave for school. They patiently waited while I sipped my first cup of coffee and readied myself for the first of four trips I would make to the school today.

After many hugs, kisses, I love yous, and have a good days I dropped the kids off and headed home to clean up the morning messes and try to get a little packing done. I also wrote up a new post for my other blog, Kid-Lit 101.

Before long it was time to wake up the hubs and get ready to go back to the school for the Citizen of the Month celebration. Amber was chosen by her teacher and classmates as Citizen of the Month for September, claiming she is a model citizen and a friend to everyone. That she is polite, responsible, and exhibits excellence by trying her very best at everything she does.

That right there is very much Proud Mama material. After receiving her award along with the other celebrants of the month, we had snacks and talked a bit before sending her back to class and coming home for a few minutes before having to go back for my son's IEP for speech.

This is the first IEP meeting we've had for him at this school. His speech pathologist was great and seems to be really tuned into him and his needs. He has improved so much over the last year and is now in the 78th percentile, which is fantastic. We believe that he is doing so well that he may not even need speech for this whole school year. More than likely, the new school will evaluate him and release him from it. But that's ok. I know what his weaknesses are and how to work with him, so I'll continue to do that regardless of whtether or not he's officially seeing a pathologist. Again, very much Proud Mama material.

The kids and I are really going to miss this school. They've made many wonderful friends in the short time we've been here. I hope to take some pictures of them on the last day we're here. We've collected many phone numbers, addresses, and emails so they can keep in touch.

We're also looking forward to a new school and making new friends and reuniting with old ones. The kids are excited because basketball season will be starting shortly after we move and they will be playing with all their old team mates from previous seasons. I'm excited, too. I played basketball all through school and was thrilled that all 4 kids show such an interest in it as well.

Fried Apples

Today is Johnny Appleseed's 234th birthday. Celebrate by making these southern delights.

Fried Apples

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 medium tart apples, unpeeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions:

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
  
• Add apples, cover and cook until apples are juicy 4-6 minutes).
  
• Turn and sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar.
  
• Reduce to low heat and cover and cook about 5 minutes longer.
  
• Uncover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until sugar is absorbed and apples are lightly browned on bottom.
  
• Remove from heat and sprinkle with more sugar, depending on tartness of apples.
  
• Enjoy as a ham side dish or over toast or pancakes for breakfast.

Funny Photo Friday

My son thinks that since he is the only male in the house (other than his dad) that he is the almighty king. Here, big sis shows him who's really in charge.


This post is part of Funny Photo Friday, hosted by Blissfully Domestic. Click on over and join in the funny.

Fall Into Reading 2008

Katrina over at Callapidder Days is once again hosting the Fall into Reading challenge. It's a no pressure kind of bloggy carnival. All you do is write up a post with your reading goals for the fall season and then write up another post in December telling everyone how well you did (or didn't do.)

I love to read but I also have a family that demands so much of my time (just like every one of you) so I love no-pressure challenges. They don't mind if something comes up (it always does) or if you rearrange your goals mid-way through (it happens).

My goals for this fall are pretty simple. I usually read about 2-3 books a week but with a ton of birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas festivities looming over me this fall, I'm going to be realistic and keep my list manageable.

My first goal is to finish Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I started it a few weeks ago and am stuck a little over halfway through. It's just not pulling me in and I don't know why. It's interesting enough and I've enjoyed it. I think the pace is off from what I'm used to it and that may be causing my lask of attention to it. I'm used to page-turning thrillers and light & fluffy chick-lit. Big difference here.

Next up will be The Legal Limit by Martin Clark. I've heard that this book is as good as anything by John Grisham. John Grisham is one of my favorite authors. I've read a lot of his books and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. This comparison is the only reason I picked it up. I hope it doesn't disappoint. I'll let ya know, either way.


I checked out Katie Fforde's Practically Perfect to read in the car on our trip to Missouri last week. It didn't get read because I decided to sleep instead. Who knew the hubs wouldn't ask me to drive half-way and that the kids would actually behave themselves the entire 200 miles? It was pure (sleeping) bliss in the car instead of the normal whining, chaotic, disaster I'm used to. I was so shocked, it knocked me out for a solid three hours. The stiff neck and back was worth it.


I'll be reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte sometime before October 7th so I can participate in the Classics Bookclub carnival over at 5 Minutes for Books. It's a classic that I should have read years ago, but I didn't. At least that I remember. I've read tons of books and don't remember half of them. That's not good, right? My daughter has the Illustrated Classics version and is going to read along with me.


William P young's The Shack is popping up all over the place. I've read a lot of comments and recommendations on it have decided I'm going to give it a shot. If anyone has read this book and can give me a few details without spoiling it for me, I'd really appreciate it. Is it as spiritually compelling as some reviews claim? How graphic are the details? I know it deals with the death of a child, and father's heartbreak over it but that's about it.

Lisa Jackson is one of my very favorite authors. I have read pretty near all of her books. I'm a big fan of her suspense thrillers and even her romance novels are pretty good. I've been waiting for Left to Die for a while and know I'll devour it the first chance I get.




I've read several of Joci Picoult's books, including Nineteen Minutes and The Tenth Circle. She has a style of writing that I love. Easy to follow, well-written, realistic characters, her books have it all. The next Picoult novel I plan to read is Second Glance. It's story of the paranormal and promise to enchant from beginning to end pulled me in. I like a good ghost story now and then.



The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood has been on my to-read list for some time now. It's always being pushed aside for some reason though and this fall, I'm hoping to finally pick it up and see if it's as good as the reviews claim.




Girls on Track by Molly Barker is a parenting book/guide to building self-confidence and independence in adolescent girls. It's a 10-week plan for parents to help their daughters to keep themselves from getting pulled into the "Girl Box" of cliques, low self-esteem, peer pressure, and all that is adolescent girl world. It promises to enhance their emotional, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. My twins and I are patiently awaiting the arrival of this book. They are in the 5th grade and the woes of the "Girl Box" are looming just ahead.

My kids still love for me to read to them and the older three have started listening in on the preschooler's required daily story. (The school requires every kid to read or be read to every night-which is AWESOME.) I've decided to take our daily reading to the next level and instead of subjecting them to preschool books day after day, I've chosen a couple of books I think the whole family will enjoy.


The Hobbit was a favorite of mine in junior high. While my kids are not quite at that age, their reading and comprehension levels are, so we're going to be reading this book together once we get moved and settled.





One of my 4 year old's favorite movies is Matilda. We've watched it dozens of times. She even has a "Matilda" dress that she wears with her white socks and Mary Janes and a red ribbon in her hair. One of these days I'll have to post a picture. Anyway, since she loves the movie, I thought we'd give the dvd player a break and read the book by Roald Dahl. Which will probably just make her want to watch the movie even more. So much for giving the dvd player a break.


Another one I'm looking forward to reading with the kids is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I saw it mentioned over at 5 Minutes for Books and have wanted to read it ever since.





If you'd like to join the Fall Into Reading Challenge or find out what others are planning to read this fall, head on over to Caddapillar Days and sign-up.

Thirsty Thursday: Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers: The Non-alcoholic Edition

In light of September being National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, I've decided to post a few of my favorite non-alcoholic drinks for today's Thirsty Thursday.

The Shirley Temple

The first is the classic Shirley Temple. My girls love when I make these special treats for them and they are always requested when their friends visit.

Ingredients:

• 3 oz 7-up (per drink)
  
• 3 oz ginger ale (per drink)
  
• grenadine
• maraschino cherries and lemon wedges

Instructions:

• Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.
  
• Add 7-up and ginger ale to just cover ice.
• Add a splash of grenadine and stir.
• Drop in a maraschino cherry or two and garnish glass with lemon wedge.

The Roy Rogers

My son, being y'know, a boy, doesn't really care for Shirley Temples. He thinks they're too girly and sissy and he just won't have any of that nonsense. So to appease him and his buddies, I make them The Roy Rogers.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz cola (per drink)
  
• grenadine
• maraschino cherries
• orange slices
  

Instructions:

• Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.
• Pour in cola to just cover ice.
• Add a splash of grenadine and stir.
• Throw in a cherry or two and if your son will let ya, garnish glass with an orange slice. My son never lets me but sometimes his friends do. I guess fruit wedges on a glass is too girly?

Enjoy!

*Check back next Thursday for a Hot Toddy recipe you'll love. Especially when cold season goes into overtime.

I won! I won!

Yesterday, Rebecca of Girl's Gone Child hosted a giveaway of Rita Arens' new book, Sleep is for the Weak. And guess who won? That's right, lucky me!

I must be on a lucky streak since this is the second bloggy giveaway I've won in the last few weeks. And I bought a $2 lottery ticket a few days ago and won a hundred bucks. True, I lost it all at the casino later that night...

Anyway, Thanks for the great giveaway, Rebecca and Rita. I look forward to reading all my favorite bloggers offline.

And if you haven't already got your own copy of Sleep is for the Weak, you can get one here.

What's on your nightstand?

It's that time of the month again. No, not that time of the month. It's time for What's on your nightstand? hosted by 5 Minutes for Books.

Right now, I'm reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It's not the type of book I'm used to reading and it's taking me a little while to get through it. I've been working on it for about a week now whereas I usually finish a book in 2-3 days. I'm a little over halfway through and so far, it's been interesting. I have to say the beginning was more interesting than where I am now. Final verdict is still out, but so far it's been an okay book.

I checked out a couple of books the other day and planned to read them in the car on our trip to Missouri this past weekend, but I ended up sleeping instead. Oops. They are The Legal Limit by Martin Clark and Practically Perfect by Katie Fforde.

The Legal Limit is supposed to rival anything by John Grisham and if it's half as good as any of the Grisham books I've read, I'll be happy. If I get it finished before I have to return it (we are moving in 9 days!) I will post a review on next month's Nightstand.

I've read a few Katie Fforde books and she is witty and charming with her romantic comedy stories. I look forward to relaxing with a good cup of coffee and Practically Perfect.

What about you? What are you reading right now? Any recommendations for me or other readers out there? If you know of any authors similar to Janet Evanovich or Lisa Jackson, I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment or email me. Thanks a bunch! With the winter months coming up, I'll be holed up with a good book as much as possible once the temperatures start dropping!

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things I Should be Doing (instead of being on the computer.)

1. Sorting through clothes. Keep, Giveaway, Trash...6 people worth of clothes, y'all. Its going to take a while.

2. Wrapping what is left of my China and packing it before the hubs gets to it again and I end up a few pieces short. A few more times of that happening and I will be down to a lone cup and saucer.

3. Going through toy boxes and saving the good ones that get played with; giving the good, loud unplayed with toys to my nephews; giving the otherwise good/unplayed with toys to the Salvation Army; and throwing out the numerous broken or missing parts toys. My sister loves when I clean out the toy boxes. HA HA

4. Getting completely caught up on laundry. Which is pretty near impossible.

5. Scrubbing the walls and windows.

6. Cleaning out the garage. I'm sure there is a car some where that is small enough to actually fit in there. Mine would, if you cut the side mirrors off and shaved about 8 inches off the top. What happens when your vehicle doesn't fit in your garage? The garage becomes a storage room. Oh, what a mess.

7. Shampooing the carpets. I think this job is betterleft to the night before we actually leave if the results are expected to last.

9. Cleaning out all the drawers and cubbies in house. This alone will take at least two months.

10. Mowing the yard. Apparently the neighbors dislike it when your grass reaches 5 inches tall. The city code however says 12 inches is the limit. If I was a bad neighbor, I'd just let it go since we are moving in 9 (holy smokes) short days.

I could go on and on about the things I should be doing today, but I've got Twitter and Gmail and my Feed Reader waiting patiently for my attention. Oh yeah and I need to figure something otu to jazz up all this white space. I need color!

Time to get it in gear.

Well, it's finally official. We are moving and we finally know where and when. On October 3rd, we will be heading back to Missouri. Which is a good thing I guess, since both our families live there.

The kids' last day of school is October 2nd. I have so much to do before then. Pack, sort clothes, pack, contact school, find housing, pack, scrub floors, pack, scrub toilets, pack, wash walls and windows, pack, contact utility companies, reserve moving van, pack, shampoo carpets, and did I mention pack?

You'd think I'd already have everything packed and ready to go since I've known we were getting transferred for about two months now. Procrastination at it's best.

This past weekend we were in Missouri visiting family. We had a lot of fun. No pictures though. Darn it. Thursday night, the Hubs and I went out to dinner and to the casino for a while. My mom was a dear and volunteered to babysit for us. Gosh, I love that woman. We had a blast. Won a little and lost a little, but came out even in the end.

Friday, we spent some time with my Mom until she took off to southern Oklahoma for a family reunion. Then we just camped out on her couch playing video games, watching movies, and eating more junk food than any person should.

Saturday, we had a BBQ with the hubs' family. It was fun. Even though I ended up washing all the dishes afterward. WTF?!? I was a guest, it just felt wrong.

We came home early Sunday and promptly parked ourselves on the couch till bedtime. We're still recovering y'all. It was a busy weekend.

The Big Switch

In an effort to save money, I've decided to use Blogger's free hosting service for my blog instead of paying for my hosting services. Which means I will also be switching from Wordpress to Blogger. Which I don't really want to, but I already have a google account which means I already have a blogger account, so right now it makes sense. To me anyway.

So if you're a reader of The not-so Domestic Goddess, please bear with me while I figure this all out.

The first thing I'll be doing is getting all my old posts up. Hopefully.

Super Simple Kid-Pleasin' Snack

Mini Pizzas!

This is one of my kids’ favorite snacks. We call ‘em mini pizzas because well, they’re mini pizzas. As the title suggests, they are super simple to make.

Ingredients:

• Canned Biscuits (We’ve used every kind from buttermilk to homestyle to layers, and they all work equally well. Although we tend to use buttermilk the most.)
• Pizza Sauce (again, any kind will work. My favorite is Ragu.)
• Pizza toppings (pepperoni, Canadian bacon, crumbled sausage or bacon, etc.)
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to whatever the biscuit directions suggest, usually 375 degrees.

Flatten biscuits into a thin circle or oval, or whatever shape you like. We’ve done letters of the alphabet before. Creative, no?

Next, spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each biscuit. Or a thick layer, y’know if you’re into lots of sauce on your pizza.

Then add your desired toppings and place on cookie sheet or pizza pan and bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the shredded mozzarella and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese melts.

For crispier pizzas, you can place them under the broiler for a minute or so. Not too long though or your cheese will burn. And unless you’re one of my kids, you probably don’t like burnt cheese on your mini pizza.

Serve hot and enjoy!

PS My kids make these almost completely by themselves, all I do is operate the oven and do the hot pan handling.

Palin & Clinton: SNL Must-See

I doubt there are many out there who haven’t seen this clip from SNL, but just in case I’m gonna post it again. Enjoy.

Homemaker Mondays: Recipe Scrapbook

How do you store your recipes? In a file, kitchen drawer, binder, on the computer? Why not make a recipe scrapbook?

Start by coming up with a theme for your scrapbook. Some examples are: Family Favorites, Cookies, Pies, Holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving), Chicken, Hamburger, Picnic, etc. etc.

Then compile all the recipes you want to include and print them out or hand write them (neatly!) in the scrapbook, on scrapbooking paper, or a recipe card that matches your theme. There are several printable recipe cards online. You can find some here, here, and here.

Embellish the recipe pages with cooking/food related stickers, anecdotes, quotes, and even pictures of the finished dish if you have them. Be sure to use acid-free glue and materials when scrapbooking to maintain quality. Make sure the pages are dry before you assemble them into your book.

If you plan to use your recipe scrapbook while cooking, be sure to put the pages in page protectors so they won’t be ruined by splatters and spills. Assemble your finished pages into a binder or photo album and there you have it, your very own recipe scrapbook!

Click here to see examples of recipe scrapbook pages or here to print out a free recipe scrapbook kit.

This is a great craft to do with your kids! Make a Cooking with Kids scrapbook and let each child pick out a recipe to include, then take pictures of the kids cooking to include in the book. I think this will be our next big family project, once we get moved!

Head on over to 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven for more great Homemaker Mondays posts.

Freid Peanut Butter Sandwiches

A new favorite snack in our house is the fried peanut butter sandwich. They’re easy to make and delicious and somewhat healthy, if you don’t count all the butter we slather on before we fry ‘em.

All you do is make up a couple of peanut butter sandwiches then slather each side with butter and fry in a hot skillet or griddle until each side is toasted a golden brown. I told ya it was easy.

You can add sliced bananas or even jelly if you’d like. Just be careful not to put so much on that it squishes out the sides while frying.

These are so easy, my kids do most of the work.

Slice up some apples, cut up a few carrots and celery sticks and you could even make a meal out of ‘em. Yum.

Classics Bookclub: Pride and Prejudice

5 Minutes for Books hosts a classic bookclub the first Tuesday every month. This month we’re discussing Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I read this book years ago as a school assignment. Back then I read it so fast I couldn’t remember parts of it. I just wanted to get through it and get my paper turned in.

This time around, I slowed it down a notch or two and took the time to enjoy the story.

I love Austen’s wit and sense of humor. The style of writing was different than what I usually read. I’m a suspense/mystery kind of girl in my everyday reading, but once I got used to Austen’s style, I was hooked.

I’ve seen the movie version with Keira Knightley and loved it. I hear that the A&E mini series collection is even better. So I will have to check it out sometime.

As you can tell, I’m not a very good book reviewer. I’m afraid to say too much and give the story away but then I’m afraid I won’t say enough and no one will want to read the book. Understand? No? Well, that’s okay, because I rarely understand me either.

Back to P&P…Overall, I enjoyed the book. I can see why it’s a classic and even though it started out slow for me, due to the style, it really grew on me and I ended up loving it. I highly recommend it!

If you’re a big fan of the classics, head on over to 5 Minutes for Books and check out the Classics Bookclub. Our next book is Jane Eyre and we’d love to have you join us.