Northwest to get SNOW this weekend. (and Freebie)

photo credit: http://www.picturesofwinter.net/snow_pictures.html

The forecast this weekend calls for snow in the northwest.  This can be a wake up call to all of us all over the country, even if we don't get much snow.  There are many things we can do to prepare for winter and each region has its own set of issues for each season.

For those of us who do find that powdery white stuff on the ground from time to time or for much of the winter there are a great many things on our To Do list before the storms hit.


To Do:
1.  Pick up all toys and tools in the yard and straighten up the leaves and twigs that fall from the trees.  Twigs, logs, tools and toys can be a trip hazard after a snow.  You can't see what you are stepping on and can turn an ankle or fall.  Plus you won't be able to find tools that you may need if it is covered with snow.   Put tools and toys away in the shed or under the house or deck.

2.  Cover lawn furniture and the wood pile with a tarp so snow won't ruin the finish on the furniture or wet the wood when it begins to melt.

3.  Stack firewood and have a place for it to stay dry in winter storms and rain.

4.  Finish winterizing the garden.  Cover wintering over plants with straw, till in fertilizer or plant cover plants for tilling under in spring.

5.  Make sure you have enough food storage and water for at least a week that you can cook with out electricity. (I like to have more but that is me!)

6.  Make sure that you have your generator in good working order if you have one.  Start it from time to time to make sure that it is running correctly.  Top off oil and gasoline so it it ready to use.  If you have a snow blower, snow mobile, etc.  Prepare these for winter use also.

7.  Prepare for an alternative source of heat and cooking in case storms take out electricity.  This is very important so you won't worry or have to rush.

8.  Check battery supply, alternative lighting supply, and other gasses like propane, kerosene  or any other fluids that you use if power goes out.

9.  Unpack winter blankets, flannel sheets, and freshen them up for use (I like to put them in the dryer for a quick turn with a dryer sheet).

10.  Unpack snow gear such as hats, gloves, snow pants, boots, winter coats, etc.  Try them on all members of family to make sure they fit and are wearable for this season.  Make a list of items you need and check local thrift stores for these items first before buying new. (never hurts to save a bit of money).

I hope this list helps you.  I have printed this list out in a form so you can print it off and check off the items, make a shopping list, and add additional items to your list.  I keep a copy of this in my household notebook and use it over and over each year.

Grab this file here.















Have a great day!

Weekly Menu Planning (and Freebie)

With all the changes that has happened in our household the past month one thing that we have had to be extra careful of is our money.  We don't have a lot of it right now and we have been going through some transitions with that.

One thing that we haven't been doing much is going out to eat.  The kids have felt the brunt of this.  In the past we have gone out to eat at least once a week if not more often.  Now we eat every meal at home.  We have to plan when we go out that we won't be out during a meal time where we will be tempted to eat out.  This also means that we must plan our meals more carefully so that I have all the ingredients I need to cook supper.  I also have to be ever present to make sure that I take out anything that needs thawing in the morning so it is ready to cook in the afternoon.

This afternoon I decided to whip up a form that I can fill out for a weekly meal plan.  I have covered this subject before but tonight I thought I would share my form with you all.  It is yours for free to print as many as you want.  What I love about this form is that it has room to write your menu items for all three meals a day and you have a column for your shopping list.  You can create your menu and add any items you need to your shopping list immediately.  When you are done you can simply cut or tear off the shopping list and head off to the store.

I have two links for you.  The first is the Weekly Menu Plan with all three meals and the shopping list.  The second is the Weekly Menu Plan with a "snack" line for each day.  I also plan a snack.  It just makes it easy for us to know what is available to eat for snacks.  If you are like me, then there are teenagers in the house who seem to be ravenous all day long!



Weekly Menu Plan

Weekly Menu Plan w/ Snack

These files are in .ODT form, this is an Open Office file.  I don't have MS Word on my computer but you can convert these over to a Word doc pretty easily I think.  Let me know if you have any problems with the files.

Enjoy and I hope that you will get good use out of them.  I pray that they save you money, time and effort in your busy days.

Homeschooling 101, part 2 (and Freebie)

This is a 2 part article on my homeschooling panic and return to reality.  To read part 1 find it here.

In my struggle to figure out what I was doing wrong I went back to my sources.  Clearly other people were not having the same troubles as me.  Why was I struggling so?

I went back to the internet to look at other families and what they were doing and what I was doing wrong.  I searched for a plan book that would help me organize my thoughts and my ideas.  I found a few things, but nothing that I loved.

I decided on these things.  I went from year calendars to month calendars and then all the way down to weekly schedules.

This one is from donnayoung.org

Find these awesome month calendars at freehomeschooldeals.com

I also printed out Book Lists.

I can't wait to fill them in with all the books we have read.  I plan to have the kids each fill one out with the books they read through the year and then I will fill one in with all the books we read together as a family.

You can find the Book List forms at freehomeschooldeals.com.









Then I moved on to a Semester Planner.  I like that each semester is on one sheet of paper.  You can see that I have already begun filling it in.

Now I am beginning to see where we are going this year academically.












I made my own weekly scheduling pages since I didn't find any that I loved.  I used Open Office to create this and I have the file right here for you if you want to use it too.


I made the pages colorful by adding color to the text.


Now I am finally beginning to see where we are going and what we are doing each day.  I may not plan every week and I won't be planning our math for the older kids as their math program goes along in lessons and they do a lesson a day pretty much.  I don't have to plan for that.


It may also be a good idea to use these as an historical record of what we did each day.  I will be adding the books we read, the topics we study, the activities we do and the field trips we go on.

I am finding that most homeschool families teach a skill to mastery.  My kids didn't always master all the math, spelling, and reading skills they needed and I will be spending some good time with them on these skills so they master them.  I truly believe that this sets homeschooled kids apart from public schooled kids.  It is the level of mastery.

In the process I realized that the state only requires me to provide math and reading scores.  Realized probably isn't the word, remembered is more like what I am trying to say here.  I remembered.  Then I rationalized.  "If I am only to turn in reading and math scores and that is all we get done this year then I am okay by the eyes of the state."  If we get other stuff done too then I am better than the minimum, right?  We will read and we will do math.  We will learn lots more stuff in the process too.  We will read these books I have spent a TON of money on and we will learn from them too. Bonus right???

A bit more organization for us are these great buckets.  Each child has their own bucket with their name on it.  They keep all their notebooks, workbooks, and projects in it.  Inside they also keep their pencil and crayon case.  Everything is in the bucket.






These are our flash cards.  Most came from Target and are so useful for memory practice.