School Room Makeover Pt. 2

Sooooo, I'm sitting in my "new" school room/playroom!  The boys did great assembling the bookshelves without any help (except Mom reminding them that there IS a front and back to the shelves).  It's sturdy and doing exactly what a bookshelf should!  Good job guys!  I spent most the day yesterday organizing this room and putting up Christmas decorations.  Our Thanksgiving is today because Daddy had to work all day yesterday (he ended up getting out early and surprising us all! Yay!!).  So I am typing to you while Christmas music plays and the turkey is cooking.  We'll have around 17 people over in our little house today and I LOVE it!  It's getting easier each year as  a routine takes hold but I still did quite a bit of hollering at people today.  Next year I may kick them all downstairs and threaten their lives if they come in my kitchen or mess up the upstairs!  Not sure that's the attitude I'm suppose to be sporting though!

Anyways!! Back to our makeover here.  My Dad did find a great counter top for us and he and Caleb attached some pipes they painted black for legs and it's perfect.  I found an old picture that use to be in my eating area that fits above it and looks nice.  I had just enough space for everything really.  Want to see??

Not too bad huh?  We are keeping just one chair in here for schoolwork but if the kids want to do a puzzle or craft together we can easily fit two.  Under the counter are puzzles and some computer "stuff".  Crafts, paper, board puzzles and markers all fit nicely on the black bookshelf and the wood one stayed about the same with books.  In the future my Mom gave me the idea to make a long shelf across the top of the two bookshelves and maybe even one more over that if needed.  The drawers you see to the left now house the kids school books and papers and a drawer for Daddy holds all of the bills, envelopes, stamps and such.  The drawers use to hold some of the boys clothes. I used the dresser that was in here instead and freed up 6 tall drawers instead of that huuuuge dresser that filled almost the whole wall.

The girls side did basically stay the same except I closed up their Rose Petal Cottage.  If I leave it open it takes up a ton of space and they hardly ever use it.  Now when we open it it's a big deal and they play and play and then we put it away again.

I really like it.  It feels like a great place to be instead of coming in and feeling overwhelmed.  We'll see next week when we kick back into school if we use it much or not.  Even if we don't use it for school I like that we now have a home for the laptop that usually is floating around the house and a place for crafts and coloring without Addison eating the crayons or finished art project!

What do ya think?

School Room Makeover Pt. 1

School Room Makeover

So we have a "school room"... kind of!  We actually do most of our schooling in the front room or around our kitchen table but we have an extra room that is a playroom/school room.  It basically holds lots of "stuff"- arts and crafts, puzzles, books, paper, markers, books, books and more books.  It's kind of a mess most of the time!

See what I mean?  The dresser is piled high and the stuff on the floor is simply because there is no other place for it.  The 3 stack bin holds the boy's school work but it is always over flowing.  We need to rethink and reorganize.  As I mentioned this doubles as a playroom for the girls.  They don't play in here a ton but I'd like them to.  It's not much fun playing in a mess.

This is the girl's side of the room

This part probably won't change a lot.  The green top is an old toy box full of dress-up clothes.

The goal, make it neater, cleaner, easier to get at things and maybe even some room to do quiet schoolwork or arts and crafts in here away from toddler fingers.  So I'm hatching a two part plan...

#1

New shelves provided by Grandma and Grandpa to Mommy for my birthday (yes I really do like to organize so much I asked for shelves for my birthday and was thrilled!).  The two older boys (12 and 10) are putting it together as I type.  Here's hoping it holds things and is one solid piece when they're done!

#2 GRANDPA!!
My Dad always has odds and ends lying around from some sale or auction he's been at.  You never know the treasures you'll find in Papa's garage!  I'm hoping he can find something to make into a desk or work counter for us.

I know it won't look like a magazine.  The bookshelf already in there is a wood finish and the new one is black and who knows what color the work counter will be!  But hopefully somehow we can make it into a space to enjoy instead of a make shift storage room!

I'll post our "new" room soon... hopefully!


School Room Makeover Pt. 2

A Thanksgiving Favorite

With Thanksgiving almost here I thought I'd share one of our favorite recipes.  We've been making this for a good 5-6 years.  I found it in a magazine and loved the idea I could make it ahead of all the hustle and bustle of Thanksgiving Day.  The best part is you can make rolls for dinner but use some of the dough to make cinnamon rolls or sticky buns for breakfast that morning.  For a smaller family you may want to cut the recipe in half.

Sweet Potato Refrigerator Rolls
makes 4-5 dozen (2 1/2 inch) rolls
You can make this dough up to 3 days in advance and store in the refrigerator with plastic wrap. 

3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup milk
3/4 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt, divided
2 (1/4 oz) envelopes active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 large eggs
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (2 small or 1 large)
1/2 cup cold water
7 cups all purpose flour

1. Heat 3/4 cup butter and milk in a large saucepan over medium-high heat to just below boiling point.  Add 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp salt and stir until sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

2. Combine yeast, 1tsp sugar and 1/2 cup warm water; let stand 5 minutes.

3. Beat eggs, potatoes, and remaining 1/2 tsp salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth and well blended; beat in 1/2 cup cold water.

4. Stir together cooled milk mixture, egg mixture and yeast mixture in a large bowl.  Gradually add 3 cups flour and continue beating with mixer (you may have to beat the rest of the flour with a wooden spoon).  Stir in 3 1/2 to 4 cups more flour or enough to form a soft dough, scraping down sides of bowl several times. (Dough will be very sticky.)  Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl; cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 3 days.

To make rolls punch down dough and roll out a portion to 3/8-1/2" thick; cut with a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter (I use a coffee cup) and place on a grease cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.  Brush rolls with melted butter.  The recipe tells you to fold them in half and press gently at the center... not sure why but I just leave them as is.  Cover loosely and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 30-40 mins).  Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.... yummy!

If you want to make cinnamon rolls simply roll out some dough in a big rectangle about 1/2" thick.  Spread with melted butter and cinnamon and sugar.  Roll width wise so you have a long log and then slice into circles (It's easiest to "cut" using dental floss- take a long piece, slide it under the dough and come up where you want to cut. Simply make an x and pull tight and it will nicely slice a circle without squashing your dough.)  Place on a greased cookie sheet or in a greased pie pan.  Let it rise a bit and then bake at 350-375 degrees for 10-20 minutes until golden.  This isn't a "recipe"  I just make it so I don't know the exact time!  I just bake it until it's done.  Top with icing of your choice.  Cream cheese frosting or powdered sugar with a bit of melted butter, a few drops of milk and a splash of vanilla extract is good.

You can also use the dough in your favorite sticky bun recipe.  It's very versatile.  It's a sweet dough but does NOT taste like sweet potatoes.

Check out this blog Raising Olives for other peoples favorite Thanksgiving recipes and some fun traditions.

Enjoy!

Fridays at Our House

Fridays at our house run on a whole different routine and schedule.  Each little thing happened one at a time and now it's full of traditions that make the day relaxing, fun and get us prepared for the weekend ahead. 

First off, Friday is a lighter day of school for us.  The older boys have math tests on Friday and no language arts.  We pull out the blank world map and they try their hand at mapping the places we've been learning about that week (Africa right now).  This week Caleb impressed me by mapping Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Cabinda, Republic of Congo, Democratic Rebublic of Congo, Canary Islands, Western Sahara and a few others.  I was very impressed.  Elijah still heads to South America everytime he looks for Africa!  We're working on it!  We review our memory box and practice any longer memory work- right now they are each memorizing a poem.  We finish up our core work from Sonlight and then I try to find something funny or interesting to read about.  Today we read some funny and inspirational stories out of Readers Digest and for some reason Caleb asked if there were any countries with kings and queens still.  I'm not sure how, but it ended up with a youtube search and watching people make the guards at the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace laugh!  As much as I'd love to blame the boys it's usually me coming up with some weird completely off subject idea... oh well!  We also play catch-up on Fridays.  Whether school or chores, we try to have things tidy and complete for the weekend. Notice I say TRY!  Doesn't always happen, but it's the goal. 

No shopping or cooking ahead this week.  Daddy is working.  Carter still cleaned out the fridge though and found a carrot in the back that could've been science for the day, but after showing it off we chose to dump it and pretend it didn't happen.

According to the kids, the best part of Friday is the evening.  Anyone who knows us, knows our boys love Star Wars.  Well for the past year or so Cartoon Network has a Star Wars the Clone Wars cartoon series.  Every Friday there is a new 30 minute episode and they won't miss it for the world.  We pop popcorn, invite friends and gather around tv and  put up with enjoy the cartoon together.  Since Daddy had to work it was straight to bed after Star Wars. But MY favorite part of Fridays, it leads to...

Pop-tart Saturday!!  Woo Hoo!  Friday nights the kids grab the pop-tarts from the "store" room and put them up on the counter.  We started this tradtion before Addie was born and Paul and I anxiously await when we can enjoy the full tradition again.  The deal is, wake up when you want but DON'T WAKE UP MOM AND DAD!  Help a sibling if they need it.  Get pop-tarts for breakfast and stay super quiet!  It was a wonderful sleep-in morning... then we had a baby again ;0)  Obviously we bargain/beg agree to take turns getting up with Addison.  Over the years the guilt of pop-tarts got to me and we replaced them with an organic brand made with real ingredients but still very sweet and full of unneccessary calories.

All in all, these little traditions have made our Fridays (and Saturday mornings) a day to look forward to! What are your weekly "traditions"?

Our Funny Story

A Day Homeschooling

Ever wonder what a day homeschooling looks like?  Here it is in pictures!

Lots of reading... and if you're lucky you can find a quiet spot.

Phonics at the kitchen table.

Math help from Dad.

And of course very scholarly toddlers.

A day in our life :0)