It's been a long time............

I can't believe how long it's been since the last time I posted anything. Let's just say life happened. I'm going to revamp things a bit and try to post more.

inspirational books

We've been in a rut lately,so I picked up a couple of books looking for a little homeschooling inspiration--Beyond Survival-A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring and Educating the WholeHearted Child by Sally and Clay Clarkson. They have given me a few new ideas and different ways to look at things. I also pulled out a few books from the bookshelf that I read a year or so ago for more ideas and inspiration--Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman and 1001 Great Ideas for Teaching & Raising Children with Autism or Asperger's.

New Schedule

How's everyone doing getting back into school and studies after the long Christmas break? I know we took extra time this year-not sure if that's turned out to be a good thing or not. My son has had a hard time adjusting from vacation to study time. Instead of trying to do it all each day,I've decided to try and do an alternating schedule and see how that works. We will do a few classes each day and hopefully be able to get more done in the long run. And instead of sticking with the public school schedule,we going to start year round-I've been looking for a way to do that and think I'm just going to jump in and do it. We will of course take breaks when we need them. I think this will work better for my son in the long run. I've also discovered that although he doesn't like to do crafty things,he does enjoy cutting out things and pasting them onto something. So we are trying lapbooking and I've started more notebooking activities too. Anyone have any tips on notebooking or lapbooking? Please feel free to share your ideas or favorite online links.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The Crazy Homeschoolers Next Door would like to wish all of our other Homeschooling friends a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope that 2012 is a great year for all of us. We hope to get back to our studies sometime next week.

Our New Family Member---CHEWIE

Meet CHEWIE--she is soooo cute! She really likes her exercise wheel.


Zach has been wanting to get a pet for a while. The husband and I talked about it and told him he could either get a RAT or HAMSTER. We picked up a little black and white hamster today. Her name is CHEWIE. She was snoozing in the dinner bowl at the petstore when we saw her. Zach thinks she looks kind of like a cow (spots). She's settled in very well I think. Zach has been sneaking into the sewing room to pet her while I wasn't looking LOL. We plan on putting her in his room,but don't have a stand or extra table at the moment,so she's hanging out with me and the parrot in the sewing room/my office. Tinkerbelle has had her eyes on the new arrival all day. It's been funny to watch her watching Chewie! The husband texted me from work and said he's thinking about getting himself a RAT. I told him as long as he cleans it I didn't care. I swear he's still a 9 year old trapped in a 43 year old body LOL!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Merry Christmas---and Happy Holidays from our family to all of our readers....Peace.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,ZACHARY!!!!

Zachary is 9 years old today....if you want to read about his birth story check out my other blog.....

http://sweetmissmagnoliachat.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas.......

CHEESECAKES--Sweet Potato Pie----Dressing OH MY!

My son has been waiting days for me to make the pumpkin cheesecakes (or pumpkin pies) as he calls them. He loves them and this year I made an extra one. I have 3 pumpkin cheesecakes plus an experimental apple cheesecake in the fridge.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 graham cracker crust
8oz neufchatel cheese (softened at room temp)
1/2 cup sugar
dash pumpkin pie spice
8oz cool whip (room temp)
1 cup canned pumpkin pie mix

Mix all together well and pour into pie shell. Let chill in fridge until firm.



Apple Cheesecake

1 graham cracker crust
8oz neufchatel cheese (softened at room temp)
1/2 cup sugar
dash of apple pie spice
8oz cool whip (room temp)
1 cup of apple butter

Mix all together well and pour into pie shell. Let chill in fridge until firm.


Sweet Potato Pie

1 pound sweet potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
heaping dash of cinnamon
heaping dash of nutmeg
2 unbaked pie crusts

***Heat oven to 375*F
Boil sweet potatoes (skins on) until they are "fork soft"---rinse in cold water and
remove skins--place in large mixing bowl--add in the other ingredients mixing well--pour into pie shells and bake for about 55-60mins.

***The original recipe called for other spices but I used these--the original recipe only made one pie--I guess I had heavier sweet potatoes. You can find the original recipe at ALL RECIPES.


My Family's Dressing Recipe

2 boxes jiffy cornbread muffin mix
a few boiled eggs (I used 5)
2-3 chopped apples
1 bag of dried cranberries
1 large onion diced
1-2 bunches of celery chopped (with leaves)
1 small roll of mild sausage
chicken stock (I used about 2 boxes)

***Heat oven to about 375*-400*F
boil,peel,and chop the eggs--add them into the muffin mix--add enough water to mix and bake until done---remove from oven and let cool----chop the apples,celery,and onion.--add the cranberries and apples to a large bowl--crumble in all of the baked cornbread----in large skillet saute the onion and celery until it is soft--add into the cornbread---mix it all together---in same skillet you cooked the celery/onions cook the sausage until it is done--drain well--crumble it into the cornbread---mix well----pour the dressing mixture into a baking pan and add chicken stock until it is moist---bake in oven until it is brown and bubbly (not burned)-might have to add more chicken stock to keep it from drying out.

**Usually my family adds chicken into the dressing,but this year I am trying something different. Instead of the box cornbread mixes,you can certainly use cornbread made from scratch-this is just easier for me.

Apple Butter Cake

I found this recipe on a blog that I visit quite regularly-BLESS US O LORD. It looked so good I couldn't wait to try it. It has the kitchen smelling so UNBELIEVEABLY GOOD. I can't wait to slice into it! I kind of tweaked the recipe to fit what I had on hand,but if you want to look at the original recipe,check out the blog.

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups a/p flour
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP baking powder
1/2 TSP salt
1 stick butter (softened)
1 cup sugar (splenda)
1 cup apple butter
1 TSP vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream

***Heat oven to 350*F
Spray a 9x13" baking pan (or a bundt pan like I used)---mix together the eggs,sugars,vanilla,butter and apple butter---add in the flour 1 cup at a time stirring between each cup---stir in the baking soda and the baking powder---stir in the sour cream---pour into pan and bake for about 40mins or until toothpick (or knife) comes out clean.

CRANBERRY POUND CAKE

I originally saw this recipe in TASTE OF HOME magazine (another magazine I'm crazy about). It's originally for a raisin pound cake and I've made that and it's delicious,but I decided to try it with cranberries instead. Here's a link to the original recipe RAISIN POUND CAKE at TASTE OF HOME.

Cranberry Pound Cake

1 package of yellow cake mix (I used one with SPLENDA)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup canola oil
3 eggs
heaping dash of apple pie spice
1 package of dried cranberries

***Heat oven to 350*F
In a large bowl,combine cake mix,applesauce,water,oil,eggs,and apple pie spice--stir in the cranberries---Pour batter into 2 loaf pans sprayed with non-stick spray----bake for about 45-50mins or until toothpick (or knife) comes out clean.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cake

I saw this recipe in the October 2011 issue of ALL YOU magazine (love that magazine). If you want to check it out here's a link...... PUMPKIN-CHOCOLATE CHIP RECIPE at ALL YOU.



1 Stick of butter (melted & cooled)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie mix)
1 TSP vanilla
1 TSP baking soda
1 TSP baking powder
1 TSP pumpkin pie spice (I added more)
1/2 TSP salt
1 3/4 cups a/p flour
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mini chocolate chips (i used regular size)
1 cup nuts (optional)


**heat oven to 350*F Mist a baking pan with non-stick spray

Whisk together butter,sugar,eggs,pumpkin, and vanilla---stir in baking soda and baking powder and pumpkin pie spice----stir in 1/2 of the flour and milk just until combined---stir in the rest of the flour (don't over-mix)---stir in chocolate chips and pour into baking pan and bake for about 55-60mins or until toothpick (or knife) comes out clean--

***

a week of rest.......

We are taking a week of rest from our studies to celebrate THANKSGIVING and to enjoy some quiet time. We hope all of our homeschool and blogger friends have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

IF YOU DO MATH IN YOUR JAMMIES..... You might be a HOMESCHOOLER!

And we do---quite regularly!!! We spend alot of time in our PJs when doing our home-studies. I saw these jammies a few days ago and just had to get them for my son. I thought they were so cute. I wasn't sure he would like them--a few weeks ago he stated that he was "too old" for SPONGEBOB. But actually since he said that,he has started watching again LOL. GO FIGURE! We looked for some more footed pjs in his size when we went shopping last week,but they didn't have any. Yesterday,when I went shopping,they had more so I grabbed 2 more pairs---a grey camo print and a blue pair. They are just perfect for those chilly autumn/winter days when you are staying in and studying!

I'm thankful for.......

To get my kid into the THANKFUL spirit and to kind of change up our handwriting routine this week,I had him make a list of things he was thankful for. I guess it's good that we ranked higher than tv and the dog LOL.

OCTOBER HOMESCHOOL BOOK CLUB

For our October book club,we read about DEWEY THE LIBRARY CAT. I think all of the kids really enjoyed this book--we're a group of animal lovers! We all decided that we want a cat for our library,too--ha ha just try and get that past the city council! (inside joke)

a few updates......

Over the past few weeks,Zachary has started doing studies online at TIME4Learning. It is very handy and fun. He has learned about VIKINGS and hopefully this week,we will learn a little about HALLOWEEN-not just the commercialization of it but the real history of it. Now that the temps are alot cooler,he has spent ALOT of time out on his swing. He loves to sit and swing and listen to his favorite tunes or look up new jokes to share. I don't know which is funner-the jokes or listening to him laugh and get so tickled over a joke that he can't quite get it out!

I want a Columbus Day,too!

I had the intent of using today as a catch-up/get ahead day for our homeschool studies,but the kiddo saw online that today was a holiday,and that area students were out of class. When I mentioned homework,he just about revolted stating that he wanted a Columbus Day off too! LOL We did do the basics,but he spent alot of time outside swinging and listening to his favorite music on his dad's phone.I swear my child would listen to music and swing 24hours a day if I would let him. What is your kid's favorite thing to do?

a picture says a thousand words.....

a few cuddles from Tinkie always helps with math.......




playing a "guessing game"-you had to guess what object was by asking the other players questions....

I agree........

How to get your kids to be fanatical readers--Sorry, moms and dads, but it's your job -- not the schools' -- to find books to get your kids reading and to make sure they read them. Read the full article at CNN.