Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Million Tree Challenge

In honor of National Tree Day, the city of London gave away free trees today at several locations around town. We went to Masonville mall before gymnastics to select our tree. 

Bennett and I couldn't agree on the perfect tree, so the lady let us have TWO! I chose a lovely Tulip Poplar for our front yard. Bennett liked the looks of a Sycamore because it was "the tallest of them all!!"

The idea is that we get to plant these trees wherever we want in an effort to increase the tree population in this, The Forest City. 

I am pretty sure we will plant the Tulip Poplar in the front yard and use it to create a large flower bed out there. We still need to decide on a location for the Sycamore. They are both likely to get quite large, so they will be excellent shade trees. We were told that they will also both be good for climbing. That's a serious plus!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Montessori at Home

One of the reasons we fell in love with the Montessori "way" is related to homework. Students in his particular school are not likely to have *assigned* homework until the sixth grade. And that typically takes the form of long term project work. 

As I understand it, in lower elementary, the kids only have to take work home if they haven't been able to finish in their work sessions during the day. 

Until that time, his teachers have told us that the only home work he should be doing is home work. Like cooking with me, which will help him understand various points of math and number sense. He should learn how to make his bed and do so every day (we're BOTH working on that one). 

They also suggest that he help me clean. We've done laundry together. He wants to be in charge of folding wash cloths. He has also enjoyed helping me Swiffer, vacuum and sweep. 

Today, his self-selected homework was to carve a block of wood. He started with a butter knife. Then, HIS screwdriver. Finally, he wanted to drill. Together we used Brian's Drimmel after discussing the safety rules ad nauseum. 

And now we're climbing at the park where he's practicing his negotiating skills. (Not my favourite part of the "lesson".)

Saturday, September 21, 2013

I've been linked!!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered that another blogger linked to my blog and gave credit as a source of inspiration for her Quiet Boxes. How neat!

I guess I'd better keep up with this thing a little more frequently now. That's certainly a happy challenge to have.

Meal Planning


I was inspired the other day when I read a blog post by a high school friend. She was sharing her menu planning for the week and asking for inspiration, as she felt she was in a bit of a rut. I realized I was kind of in a similar rut. Although we as a family have adventurous tastebuds, I find that it's very easy to get comfortable making the same foods each week. I begin to lack motivation to make new items, but also, get so very bored with the same old same old, that we start to have sandwiches A LOT.

As I responded to this friend about her meal rut, I was reminded that back before Bennett was born, I had found myself in a similar rut and created a fun way to get out of it. One day at work, I simply started a running list of all the main dishes that Brian and I like to eat, with the caveat that it's something I know how to cook/prepare. I think we were also in a money saving point in our lives as well, so I was also trying to avoid the going out, which also becomes easier when I'm not planning our meals ahead of time. 

I wrote down a similar list this time. I found that it was quite a bit longer than before. 
 Since the creation of that list, I've added even more things to the list of "Food We Like". So, the possibilities are endless, right? 

The next step was to create a monthly Menu Calendar. So sophisticated, y'all. I wrote it in the same notebook with a pen. Before, when I was working, I took time on my lunch break to make a calendar on the computer and be fancy with the entries. This time, we're working for speed.


So, there you have it: Five and a half weeks of meals. You'll note that there are only three meals planned as "OUT", those are the nights that Brian and I get to have a Date Night because Oma has Bennett on Thursday afternoons. In an effort to cut down on spending, we'll cook every other date night week, even if it is just sandwiches! Also, the repeat of "Pasta" every Sunday is because Brian takes pasta to work for lunch. I make a huge pot each Sunday evening and we divvy up what's left. 

On the far right column, I made a list of special groceries I'll need to purchase each week based on that week's dinner items. I've also imported these plans onto my Google Calendar with a reminder in place, in case I need to take meat out of the freezer. 

Another thing to note is that I have since made some changes to this calendar, based on social events I'd forgotten about, etc. Also, some of the plans will be modified for me as I'm trying to cut down on my carbs, and will be beefed up for Brian who is trying to gain weight to support his weight training. 

For fun, I'll try to write a post about one meal a week with photos. I wish I'd taken a pic of tonight's dinner. We all had "egg sandwiches", but they were three variations on a theme. Bennett had an "egg in a basket" with a fancy gingerbread boy hole, Brian had two egg, bacon and ketchup sandwiches on traditional english muffins and I had an egg and bacon wrap with 1/4 of an avocado sliced up inside a whole wheat tortilla. If you can believe it, the tortilla had nearly 10 g of carbohydrates LESS than the english muffin. It was also a very lovely meal with the yellow, brown and bright green. I got lucky and picked perfectly ripe avocados at the grocery store today.


Friday, September 13, 2013

Funny-ism

This evening, on our way home from dinner with Brian, Bennett and I passed a Bell communications van. He asked who the man was and I said, "A Bell employee."

"Mama! What's an employee?" He asks. Always with the questions!

So I respond, "an employee is someone who works for a company or business. You know, daddy is an employee of Western University."

And I kid you not. Without missing a beat he says, "and you're an employee of ME!"

Cute pic of him drawing at dinner tonight. He wasn't scribbling! Drawing. 


Monday, September 9, 2013

Ants

Bennett is learning the itchy consequence of digging in an ant hill. It doesn't seem to bother him! Just tickly, he says. 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Rainy Day

Bennett and I spent the day together while Brian worked on his grant revisions that are due next week. 

After running several errands, we went to a spot called Tin Cup to play mini golf! Even though it was raining, we had a great time.