To you moms of young toddlers, enjoy the little silly things they do, enjoy the thousand questions, enjoy that they almost always want to be right where you are, and enjoy any snuggles you can get. That will not last forever. Yes, the older ones still do those things occasionally, but, not often, though I try to savor it when it does.

Certainly, I am glad they don’t stay toddlers forever, even though they are adorable, because they are also so demanding. It’s nice that my older boys can do so much for themselves, and we can interact on a more mature level. I am looking forward to seeing my boys grow into young men, and enjoying their company in a different way. But there’s nothing like that toddler voice and face and sloppy kisses…

It was not a difficult decision to bring them home. While other mothers breathe a sigh of relief when their kiddos head back to school, it was nothing of the sort for us. Every single morning was a battle to get one out of bed, and to get both dressed, eat their breakfast, and out the door without a huge shouting match. There were a few hours of peace and quiet at home with just me and Parker, and John when he wasn’t working or sleeping off a night shift, and those were nice. But then once school was out, it was an hour or two of getting Pierce to do his homework, and dealing with a grumpy, exhausted Will. It more than negated the peacefulness of the day while they were at school.

And, most of all, they were so unhappy. Now, Will had a wonderful teacher last year, and really enjoyed his class, because she made things fun, and enjoyed learning herself. It didn’t hurt that his cousin (they are 2 months apart, and are almost like twins) was in his class with him. But just the nature of teaching and learning and curriculum in public school is a beat-down. Third grade begins the all-out focus on standardized testing, and every day is based around learning how best to take and succeed at the test. EVERY DAY.

Seriously, I could say so, so much about all of this, but so many other people have said so much more eloquently than I could, so I won’t. We just know that our boys are where they need to be right now–at home.

And what are we doing “school”? Not much, and we like it that way! John works with them some on math, and has them copy down a Bible verse (a short one, to work on their handwriting). I do housework with them, and ride bikes with them, and sit outside while they ride down the street, or play basketball, or dig in the dirt, or swing Parker in his swing.  We go to the library often and pick out a wide variety of books. I am implementing a short devotion in the morning (seriously, 10 minutes or less). And that’s about it. Oh, and we do art stuff sometimes.

Will it always be just like this? I doubt it. But they needed some time to decompress, to get the bad taste out of their mouth of being forced to learn what some smarty-pants somewhere said was important and was necessary for them to “make it” in life. I doubt we will ever use a formal curriculum. We will read often to learn about our interests. We will go fun and thought-provoking places. We will visit with interesting people. We will explore nature. Sometimes we will just chill at home and watch tv and play games on the computer. But we will always be learning, in our time, in our way.

What prompted this post tonight was my realization that pretty much anything I know today did not come from my formal schooling, until college level. I have told people frequently that though I graduated summa cum laude from high school (a U.S. top 150 public high school), I honestly don’t know how I did, because I couldn’t really think of anything I took away from it. That’s not true. I learned about the Aryans (the original ones, who settled in India and intermarried with the Indians), and I learned about economics–as much as my brain could understand it (because we had a fun and unconventional teacher). I’m not exaggerating there. The things I know and use today, I learned myself, because I wanted to learn it. I was helped by people who mentored me, in a sense–people who were there to share their knowledge and help me further my understanding and answer questions. But mostly, the baking and gardening and cleaning and parenting and sewing and crafting and home repair, and whatever else I do on a day-to-day basis, I learned because I read, and I researched, and I asked questions, and I DID. I might as well give my kids the opportunity to have time to do that for themselves, instead of wasting so much of their day “learning” facts out-of-context of real life, then being too exhausted to spend their free time learning what they want to learn.

Just my thoughts here. Obviously my approach to home learning is different than many others’, and that’s ok! We all have to figure out what is best for our kids, and our families. The left-brained, organized, step-by-step learner/teacher would likely flounder in such an environment. Thankfully, in our family, we are more (or very!) right-brained, creative, whole-to-part (we don’t learn in steps, we just take what we need and figure it out) learners, and this kind of unschooling is working great for us, at least for now!

But I digress. Here is the original recipe to which I was referring. They look so yummy. But I had no peanut butter chips. I would’ve made it without them, and it still would’ve been yummy. But, my eldest is a sugar fiend, and literally sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night to snatch the bag of chocolate chips and finish them off. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. Oh, AND THERE WERE TWO BAGS. And they are both gone.

Soooo, I had to improvise. In my refrigerator was some chocolate cookie dough, so I scooped it into my mini muffin tin and baked the dough for about 10 minutes at 375°. I like my cookies really gooey, but I actually think these would’ve been better had they been cooked for about 2 more minutes. I let them cool for about 10 minutes, during which time the middles fell into a nice crevice, just waiting to be filled…

I then warmed 2 tablespoons of peanut butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds, and mixed it with 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar (I don’t measure very often). I heated it for 10 more seconds to soften it, then spread some on each cookie muffin, just enough to fill in the crevice on top. And then I ate them. Well, not all of them, because I made a dozen.

Enjoy!

So I told some friends on Facebook that I would share my meal plan, along with links to those you can find online, and if anyone is interested in recipes for those with no link, I will post those too.

Monday: Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Tuesday: Homemade Pizza and Breadsticks using this as the dough

Wednesday: Date Night!

Thursday: Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Friday: Baked Potato Soup     This recipe looks good, and doesn’t have gross stuff added in like celery. *shudder*

Saturday: Cowboy Quesadillas  These seem like a nice change from our normal, plain (but good, of course) cheese and chicken version.

Sunday: Pot Roast for lunch (have to plan a good lunch or the kids revolt since they really want to have fast food)            Chicken and Dumplings for dinner

Monday (23rd): BBQ Biscuits  I love these, they are super easy, and always a hit with my picky kids I will post the recipe soon.

Tuesday (24th): Chicken Spaghetti    But no little pimentos because that would make my boys flip out–or Anna, you could share your recipe with me…

Wednesday (25th): Date night!

Thursday (26th): Pasta with meat sauce and homemade bread (see bread dough recipe link above)

Friday (27th): Beef Empanadas  I haven’t found the right recipe yet, and a friend is supposed to share it with me, but I am still planning on making these

As for sides, I usually just serve a side salad, or steamed broccoli or green beans. Very simple. I am planning on making this fresh corn casserole one night, maybe to go with the BBQ Biscuits, but I need to find the corn on sale first.

I came up with this plan last Friday night, made out my grocery list according to what I did not have, and shopped on Saturday. I bought all my groceries for these meals, plus stuff for breakfast and lunches, for $150. That is a HUGE difference in what I had been spending bi-weekly on groceries, and it was all from about an hour of planning. The return on investment for the one hour is definitely worth it. I was easily spending double that amount biweekly, plus we were eating out too often because I didn’t have a solid plan in place. I am excited about what a difference this will make for us, and I know John is excited that I finally am saving us more money and cooking more!

If you don’t meal plan, I really think you should try it for a couple of weeks, and see if it doesn’t help you out too!

Zeus the Weimaraner is particularly fond of the space, as it provides ample room for ball fetching. He can drive even the sanest person mad with his insistence on returning the ball for another throw. However, he is so clingy by nature that wearing him out with fetch provides some temporary relief as he crashes for a while out of sheer, happy exhaustion. The dachshunds, Dietrich and Fred, enjoy strolling the perimeter, noses down to the ground, or occasionally stopping to lift them high in the air to catch a wafting scent. They love the mild weather as much as we do.

I even come out at night, after exercising, to enjoy the balmy breeze and relaxing. We have plans for smores with friends this week, before the temps turn colder for Thanksgiving. I do actually like to wrap up in a warm blanket and stargaze on cold nights, but it is definitely more comfortable when it’s in the 60′s instead of the 30′s.

Speaking of exercising, I have challenged myself to do something active every day, even if it’s only yoga for 15 minutes. I realized that I had become too complacent and was gaining weight, all because I preferred to sit on my butt and watch tv or play on the computer. But I knew I really would feel better if I did some kind of exercising, and it’s true. I feel more relaxed, I feel better about my body, and it helps my aches and pains too. It really is just a matter of getting up and doing it, just a little at a time if that’s all you feel you can do.

And that brings me to Dr. Pepper, of course, as it is always a struggle and definitely a cause of my excess weight. I’ve decided to relax a little about going off it. Not because I’ve decided it’s healthy or it’s no big deal, just that it’s going to take time to wean off, and I feel like exercising will help me with it.

So that’s where I am right now. I’m getting the house ready to host Thanksgiving, finishing up Christmas shopping, and spending time with 3 silly boys. I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, and are already enjoying the weather and preparing for a meaningful Christmas!

So, yeah, I still nurse my baby. He might be a toddler to you, but he’s my baby. And we’ll wean some day…when we get to it.

That’s John with his brother (whose mouth, for some reason, looks weird in this pic) and sisters. Doesn’t Amy look gorgeous? She’s got flowers in her hair too, in the back. Too pretty. The wedding was at the Memphis Botanic Garden, and, true to Memphis, John said it was hot and steamy! Here’s the happy couple, Jan Michael and Amy:

John’s brother, Jake, and his wife, Marci, have 2 boys. So that’s 5 grandsons, and no granddaughters! Apparently, the boys had quite the time together. I really hate that I missed seeing them all together!

Aren’t they all so cute?

Here’s Pierce and Will, looking all sweet:

And, notsomuch:

I really love that one. Very true to life.

Amy’s colors were purple and green, which is so pretty for an outdoor summer wedding. Their dad works for Charms. Yes, that Charms: Blow-pops, Tootsie Rolls, Charms squares. So, Amy’s favors were, of course, candy! Purple and green gumballs, grape and green apple Frooties (fruit-flavored Tootsie rolls), and custom-made lollipops with lime oil and, well, I don’t know what’s in the purple ones, but I’m assuming they’re grape! Anyway, very cute. So, now, let me take you to the “What’s Wrong with this Picture” part of my post:

These boxes are on my counter. These are not small boxes. And do you know what is inside of them??? Let me show you.

That’s the big box. Those come up almost to the top of it. Those are suckers and Frooties. But wait, there’s more!!

Yes, that’s the “smaller” box (it’s not that small, considering…), filled with gumballs!

I have kids, people!!! I can’t have all this candy in my house–they’ll just eat it all, and be crazy while doing it, and rot out their new permanent, adult, have-to-last-for-the-rest-of-their-lives teeth!!!!

That’s just wrong.

Target has all of these beautiful items with designs by Liberty of London, which always has the most beautiful floral patterns you can imagine. I’ve been watching for the items to go on clearance. Well, they’ve been on clearance for a few weeks, but I’ve been waiting for the 75% off clearance!! I saw these lampshades over a month ago and was so struck by them, but I don’t pay $20 for stuff like that, even if it is gorgeous! So today, as I was perusing the clearance endcaps, there was this beauty, for $4.50. I wasn’t entirely sure which lamp I would use it on, but I knew it was coming home with me. Then I noticed the inside of the peacock feathers had brown, and I have this beautiful brown lamp ($5 at the thrift store…I waited months for it to go down!), and it was perfect! I brought it out of my room and into my den, and it brightens up the corner by the sofa now. Happiness.

By the way, today was a tough day, and I thought about DP a lot. A lot. I never drank any. I didn’t let myself get close enough to somewhere where I could get some. But I wanted it a lot. It makes me realize how much I used it as a stress reliever, and how I need to come up with better ways to deal with my stress!

Moving along, I am sitting up letting some homemade granola bake before I can go to bed. This is the easiest granola ever. It’s from Crystal Paine, or Money Saving Mom, as some of you might know her. The recipe is on another useful website, The Finer Things in Life. The recipe is called “Crystal’s Lazy Granola”. It’s delicious as written, or I’ve tried a different version tonight that I think will be just as yummy! Instead of 1/2 brown sugar, 1/2 honey, I used 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 molasses (the “brown” in brown sugar, and a sticky element to replace the honey, though I’m not entirely sure it’s necessary to have something sticky, so I’m going to have to test that out), and then I added these: Brothers-All-Natural Goofy Strawberry and Banana Fruit Crisps. They are freeze-dried strawberries and bananas (each 12 g package is equal to one banana and 4 strawberries), with nothing added, including sugar! Just fruit! I got 2 packs (for $1 apiece at Walmart!) and mixed both into this recipe (since it’s big). I haven’t tasted the finished product yet, but I tasted it before it baked, and it was yummo! I was a little concerned the molasses would be too strong, but I think it’s going to be just right.

It’s a good thing I can make this recipe quickly, easily, and cheaply, because my boys can go through the whole batch in a day. There’s 7 cups of oats in it!!! Boys and their appetites. Yes, I am aware that can have a double entendre, but we’ll leave it at that. So make some of this granola for your family. You can do it in less than 20  minutes before you go to bed, and you leave it in the turned-off oven overnight for it to crisp (it only bakes 10 minutes with the oven on). Awesome!