Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

Linking up at We are THAT Family: Works for me Wednesday!

I don't know why I never thought of making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers! It was so much cheaper than buying each kid a $9  house from Walmart!

 


We used store bought icing to glue them together and we let it set up overnight.

    


Toppings!

   


More toppings!

 


My handsome husband Kyle! He made the royal icing with egg whites and powdered sugar.

  


Mine! The kids all made fun of my snowmans nose : (

 


Jacksons (my 5 year old) reindeer...so cute.

 


Tylers (my 12 year old)...love the covered walkway.

 



Colby's (my 10 year old)

 


Aidan's (6 years old)

    

Jackson added Santa to his reindeer!



The kids had a lot of fun!


  

What we've been up to lately...



Colby got a black eye bumping heads with Aidan...





Practicing his F's in sugar





Waiting for the CHESS Thanksgiving Picnic to start...




Blessing the food...





Some campus ladies making coffee filter wreaths at our apartment.





Chapel at night...





Homeschool weeks 7 and 8 (I think)

I thought I had taken more pictures this week but I guess not! I'm gonna try and do better!

Tortilla recipe

Tyler making his tortillas...
Colby making his tortillas...

Mmm...so good!

Fiesta!

This past week was fall break at my husbands school so we took a break too. I used the free time to do 3 weeks worth of lesson plans so hopefully that makes these next couple of weeks a little easier on me! Now I just need to do that with my menu plans!

Homeschooling week 6

First of all I have to share this cute little wreath I make for

a woman in my Ministry Wives class. She had a little baby girl named Isabella!

Here is Kyle teaching the boys what happens when you mix colors together...

Making cookies to bring to neighbors on the 1st day of fall...

Science Lab...learning the laws of mass and force (I think)...

Planning my homeschool week...

I just got done planning the boys school week. Ugh...

Its always so hard to plan it out but so much easier during the week to have it all done!

I am doing the workboxes with Aidan and Jackson, using this worksheet to plan them out for the week. I was including snacks as a fun treat but I found that they were rushing through all their folders to get to it so I decided to let them know they could just have snack when they were done with school.

Here is Aidan's workbox schedule for Monday:

• 1- Animal book p. 32
• 2- Read What is an Adjective?(from library)
• 3-Review addition flashcards he made last week
• 4-Discuss meaning of plural (adding -es) using examples on whiteboard
• 5- Read Human Body book
• 6-Explode the Code p.33-34
• 7- Write in journal
• 8- FUN- Thumbprint art

Jacksons Workbox:

• 1- Bible reading
• 2- Glue string on S sheet
• 3- Learn at Home p. 62
• 4- Read "Colors" book (from library)
• 5- Discuss body parts that come in pairs
• 6- Read Websters Reading handbook on short E
• 7-Use counting bears to practice adding 1
• 8- FUN- Thumbprint art

For Tyler and Colby we are still doing Exploring Countries and Cultures and we will be learning about Mexico this week. We are also going to be:

• learning the hymn How Great Thou Art
• learning about Van Gogh
• reading Oliver Twist

I'll be posting some pictures of our week "in Mexico" later on the week!

Homeschooling week 4

Here are a few things Jackson did from his workbox:

We worked on our CVC binder, learning words that end in -ap, -ad, -at, -an, and -am.

We read "If you give a moose a muffin" and then did muffin math...

Learning about part of our family tree...

Organinzing the Rhodes side of our family...

Decorating the letter C with a carrot and paint!

Aidan did some math with a Fruit Loop graph...

and for fun (and logic!) a cereal box puzzle.

Tylers Science work...

Having a great time doing their DIVE cd!

Colby's "indoor" nature walk, using a great book I found on clearance

at Borders about American trees...

Some of Colby's science papers...

Tomorrow we are going on a field trip to see where the Battle of New Orleans was fought! Ought to be interesting, I am having to go with all the kids alone!

Monday Meanderings...

I will be linking up with Sarah for Monday Meanderings!

Bible Study:
Just got a new book by Lisa Welchel called "Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study" and I am really liking it so far!

Memory Verse:
Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may bring grace to those who hear."

Husband Encouragement:
I read Blessings To Do at Homegrown Mom and I really identified with how she felt and I want to specifically bless my husband this week!

Train them up:
I am doing a trial run with workboxes for my younger 2 this week. If it works out well I will make some for the older 2 next week.

Personal Goals:
Keep walking 4 days a week, try to find some good thrift stores around the city.

New habit of the month:
Aside from getting dressed in the mornings as soon as I get up...try a clothes washing schedule! Like maybe Tuesday, Thursday...

Must do:
-Restock workboxes daily
-Mentally prepare myself to take all 4 boys on a field trip by myself on Thursday
-Finish reading my book chapters for Ministers Wife class Tuesday

Zone:
-Clean out van!
-Organize middle bedroom to make room for books brought over from our house

Menu:
Monday- Meatball Subs
Tuesday- Pancakes and bacon
Wednesday- Eat at church
Thursday- Pulled pork sandwiches
Friday- Spaghetti and french bread
Saturday- Smothered Chicken
Sunday- Chili cheese potato wedges

Fun Stuff:
Go to Student Wives Fellowship Thursday night...the field trip will hopefully be fun for the kids!

3 things I am Thankful for:
1. Sweet Tea
2. A loving husband
3. Air conditioning

Monday Meanderings...

I joined up with Sarah @ In Light of the Truth to do Monday Meanderings!

Bible Study:
I have been reading throught the New Testament, I am in Colossians right now...

Memory Verse:
I don't have one...although I would like to! Hmm...

Husband Encouragement:
Do more of "his chores" (taking our trash...etc) around the apartment so he doesn't have to...start over on the 30 Day Husband Encourangement Challenge... let him nap when he gets home from work

Train them up:
Pray with them daily, having patience with them is the hardest part of my day...so working really hard on being patient and loving and not using harsh words or tones! Its no wonder they talk to each other the way they do...they hear it from me all the time!

Personal Goals:
Walk for 30 minutes Monday-Thursday evenings with a new neighbor! Read my bible daily, have patience!!!

New habit of the month:
Getting dressed in the morning before school. We just moved into a new apt building and everyone around us homeschools. So there is no telling when someone might show up!

Must do:
Get the kids on time to their homeschool classes, go to the public library to get books on hold, go to seminary library to return books and give the librarian her mail (we live in her old apt!), go to used homeschool store in Slidell, clean house before the in-laws visit his weekend!

Zone:
Pretty much the whole apartment, since we are having visitors this weekend!

Menu:
Monday- Kaiser roll sandwiches
Tuesday- Pulled pork sandwiches
Wednesday- Eat at church
Thursday- Ham and Cheese calzones
Friday- Chicken Empanadas

Fun things:
We are saving up all our fun for the weekend (see my last post for all the weekend activities!)

3 things I am thankful for today:
My husbands job, The Swap Shop, new friends!

Busy week

This past week has been quite busy! I think I had something to do every night. Monday we all went to the CHESS (Christian Home Educators Support System) picnic, Tuesday I had a Ministry Wives class, Wednesday we went and ate dinner at church, Thursday I had a Student Wives fellowship, and Friday we had a BBQ with our apartment complex. Good thing there was nothing planned today, it hasn't stopped raining!

I finally made it to the main library here all the way in downtown only to find out there is only "pay to park" all around it! Really? Who is going to pay to park at the public library? I was so annoyed! I requested the books I wanted from that branch to be sent to a more local (and probably more more scary!) location.

Our first week of homeschooling went well. The boys are really liking My Father's World. Here are a few pictures from this week...

Their vocabulary words for this week:

Tyler working on his continents:

The kids will start their co-op classes this week. Everyone is taking P.E. on Mondays and Fridays, and Tyler and Colby are taking Choir and Science Lab. Then at the end of the week Kyles family will be here! Here is what the kids want to accomplish while their grandparents are visiting:

-Get fudge from the The Fudgery at the Riverwalk

-Ride the streetcars

-Go to Cafe Du Monde and eat beignets

-Go to WWII Musuem

-Go to the Aquarium

-Go to the Zoo

-Go to Superior Grill

and go to a Zephyrs game...all in one weekend!