FINALLY!!!

Guess what this stack is!?!?!?

Finally.

I spent a bit of time Sunday night going through the books

and making some plans.

The good news is with Abeka

they have the different subjects

broken up into the same number

of lessons in each grade.

So:

2nd grade Math - 170 lessons

2nd grade Language - 170 lessons

2nd grade Phonics - 170 lessons

That is GREAT!

Unless you start one subject earlier.

We started Math before 

we started the rest.

So we will not be following the 

1 lesson per day plan.  

But none of this is going as 

"planned" so far...

so why start now??

Hopefully we can keep this 

quick pace going.

I am also organizing another part of our life.

Dinner!

We have kinda been stuck in a rut.

I was turned on to 

TheScramble.com

Unfortunately, I am not sure

I could follow the weekly recommendations.

I have some kinda picky eaters in this house

(and I might or might not be one of them -

depending on what is put in front of me)

But I got a lot of GREAT ideas from their archives.

I took a lot of time gathering recipes,

then picking about 10 to cook over the next 2 weeks.

Then creating a shopping list.

Then the 6 of us went grocery shopping.

MERCY!

Tonight we had 

Fiesta Chicken & Rice

with

Mexican Roasted Green Beans

It was a keeper!!

(it is not as plain as it looks - promise)

I can't wait to try the other ones on the menu for

the next 2 weeks.

- Coconut Ginger Chicken w/Sesame Broccoli

- Black Bean Burgers w/ Cilantro Lime Corn

- Panko Crusted Pork Chops w/blue cheese & cranberry salad

-Korean skirt steak (not sure of the side)

- Quickie Asian Beef & Veggie StirFry

- Risotto with Sausage & Mushrooms w/ roasted cauliflower

-Spinach, Bacon & Bean Quesadillas 

- Mumbai Meatballs with Yogurt dip & salad

After we did our lessons this morning,

we went to a Valentine's Party with

fellow homeschoolers.

There were about 50 kids there.

And we did a Valentine's Exchange.

Each of the kids took Valentines to 

give out...(except Tony)

So, yes, that is 150 Valentines!

Ay!!

Saturday night we assembled 

and addressed

150 Valentines

as a family!

But we got it done.

I also volunteered to bake cookies

for the party.

I got the place and bake kind,

but 8 dozen cookies

is 

8 dozen cookies.

Thankfully, 

none of them came home.

One of the great things was seeing 

how all of the families 

totally chipped in.

The set up and clean up ran

like a well oiled machine!!

It was nice seeing the boys step in

and help out too,
without me having to ask.

Just a gentle reminder

that we are doing something right.

We had such a good time at the party...

that it spilled over to one of the local parks.

Everyone had a good time there too.

Little T made a girl friend!

And because of the weather lately...

everyone was COVERED in mud.

Oh well.

Forgotten Detail from Road Trip...

So after our Texas shaped waffles...we piled back in the suburban and headed south again...

-New info starts here-

We got about 9 minutes down the road before someone had to potty...

imagine that!

Luckily we thought ahead and put a little potty

in the car for Alexis so we didn't have to stop every time she thought she had to pee.

Needless to say - it wasn't her we were stopping for.

We stopped at a rest stop just out side of Temple, TX

and it was a VERY nice and well built

rest stop complete with a nice playground.

So even though we had only been in the car

for 9 minutes...

we took a 30 min break!

But 

all 4 of the kids (and the Nana) 

enjoyed it!

Road Trip!!!

What does a suburban look like stuffed to the RIM with necessities for a move 

half way across the country?? 

A 22 hour venture??

And yep - we got it closed!  And could even partially see out the back!!

So we finally got on the road around 2pm on Wednesday, Oct 12th.  

We made it as far as Asheville the first night.

We stopped before we were really ready, 

but I am kinda glad we did, 

cause I-40 through the mountains

was both beautiful and white knuckling!

There aren't too many vehicles on the road that intimidate me

in that big ole beast...

 BUT

being squeezed between a 6' tall concrete wall and a semi...

I am intimidated!  

BUT - we did get a few good pics on the way...

Day 2:

We made it all the way through Tennessee but it was 

dreary and rainy and we didn't stop...we made it all the way to

Little Rock, Arkansas.

I loved seeing all the green along the highway in Tennessee.

Here is the only picture worthy of posting of our venture through 

Tennessee...

(This should be a advertisement for Britax! - ha!)

After a day in the car, we decided to stop in Dallas

and do some sightseeing...

So because I love my oldest son,

who has been brainwashed by his father...

We visited Cowboys Stadium!

And even got to walk on the field!!

Needless to say - it was pretty overwhelming!

We can't wait to go back and take Daddy...

I actually got to call him while standing on the star...

Pretty neat experience!

We also went to a park nearby and

burned off some energy.

 (Who knew you could fit two little ones in the same swing?)

We got back on the road headed south toward San Antonio

on Friday evening about 7pm, we still had about 5 hours 

ahead of us - but we were ready to get there...

however, we had not idea what exactly

we would be arriving to...

no bed for A nor Nana,

was there coffee in the house?

breakfast?

So instead of sticking it out 

and making it all the way into San Antonio

we stopped in Temple, Texas...

where is Temple, Texas?  About 3 hours north of

San Antonio!  

And how did we definitely know we were

in Texas?

The Texas shaped waffle iron at our hotel,

of course!

So after our Texas shaped waffles...

we piled back in the suburban and 

headed south again...

We finally arrived, 

almost exactly 4 days

after we started...

Saturday, October 16th

right around noon.

(noon CST made it 1pm EST)

And in case anyone needed reminding

why we made this venture...

He's worth it!