My kid is smarter than me...

My kid is smarter than me... Okay, to be honest, there are so many situations in which this statement applies that I've lost count of them.
But, tonight, I was shocked by my four year old's brilliance.

Here's what happened:
We were watching a movie on Netflix, when my husband decided to get a snack. He got up to pause the movie...

Pause

This usually requires exiting full screen and then clicking on the pause symbol on the screen.

But, no...

It is so much simpler than that (not that these steps are difficult)

Jacob, age 4, says to his dad, "No, Daddy, you don't have to use the mouse. You just press this." And, he proceeds to push the space bar. This pauses the show.

Daddy looks at the screen, then at Jacob, then at me.

"Do it again" he says.

Jacob presses the space bar again and the show plays.

"Again"

Paused

Now, I'm sure that there are many of you who already know this.
I did not know this.
My husband did not know this.
My four year old knew this.

I feel a little bit like I'm old and useless, and perhaps I should just roll over and die now. But, mostly, I'm just totally excited at how brilliant my kid is. And, I just learned a new trick too.

The hardest part of homeschooling...

The hardest part of homeschooling is everything is your fault.

I spent the early morning hours creating "report cards" for my children. I did this for their benefit, since they like positive feedback, and they are all geniuses... and also for Daddy, as he likes to see their progress.

I started out by searching for a template; something that looked sort of official.

There is a simple one here

I ended up using this one because I like MS publisher and knew I would be able to make changes and adapt it to my needs.

So, that part was easy. Then, I needed to fill in the grades for each subject. Some were easy; my boys are awesome at math, and always working ahead, so A's across the board. But, then, there's penmanship... a definite struggle. But, how can I label my child, "unsatisfactory"? I chose "needs improvement", which is true, but seems less harsh.

I realized as I filled out these charts that my children really are Excellent in some areas; like "helping others" but they all have shortcomings; my oldest has wretched spelling. I suppose this is because they are human, born into sin, and therefore lacking perfection.

If I was just the parent, I could blame their shortcomings on the poor educational system; blame it on the teacher. If I was just the teacher, then I could blame it on poor parenting. But, when I am brutally honest about their academic accomplishments, I can chalk up their failings to poor parenting (I don't make them work hard enough) or poor teaching ( I don't push them hard enough), either way it's my fault.

The most difficult part of homeschooling, for me, is knowing that it's all my fault.

Now, don't feel too sorry for me though. I have come to realize over the years that God gives us all different abilities. I do not bemoan the fact that my child can't spell because I know that if she needed to be the spelling bee champion, then God would have given her the gift of excellent spelling skills. I also know that my husband's penmanship is not much better than my son's and he gets along in life just fine; and so will they.
It isn't the end of the world if I can't honestly say that each of my children is Excellent in every category, and even if I sometimes have to say that they "need improvement".  In fact, these observations can lead us as parents to see the areas where our children need help, and the areas where they are gifted and we should push them forward toward even more challenging work, and possibly even encourage career opportunities in those areas.

Moving: Packing the knives

I'm moving.
The moving truck will be here in 23 days.

This will be the third move in three years.

I've found the best way to pack my sharp knives is to have a paper wrapper over them. 

I could buy some here, but I'm really cheap (at least that's what I've been told; I prefer to think of myself as practical, and that means I don't spend money needlessly). So, I made my own.

I've been buying the Sunday paper for the coupons lately, so I have lots of newspaper hanging around.

I wrap the paper around the end of the knife, and leave the handle out. I wrap it tightly, tape it in place, and lay it into the packing box flat.

I put the knives at the top of a box of other kitchen items. This way I will see them as soon as I open the box, and will not accidentally stick my hand into a box and get cut.
If you don't like using newspaper for packing because of the ink, you can get end rolls of blank newspaper for a few dollars at your local newspaper office. They usually have plenty of these, and they are much cheaper than buying packaging paper.

Freezer Meals, Simple and Practical

Here's what we had for dinner tonight. Chicken Pot Pie.

There are lots of ways to do freezer meals. You can spend a whole day making 30 different meals; you can make a 30 batches of one meal and trade with 29 friends. The trading is actually great fun if someone else organizes it. 

I keep it simple. When I have an abundance of something; like leftover chicken in this case; I pick a recipe to use it up, and I make as much as I can with the ingredients that I have. We eat it for dinner, and whatever is left gets divided into freezer bags, labeled and put in the freezer. 

For a tip on how to fit the most meals in your freezer, see this post.

As to the labeling; and organizing - this is important because if you do not keep your freezer meals organized, you will end up forgetting what you have and wasting food. I keep a simple chart taped to the wall next to my stove. I write the name of the recipe, the date I put it in the freezer and any special instructions. I put the same information on the bag label. 

When I use something out of the freezer, I cross it off the list. Easy Peasy.

I mostly use these meals on busy days, but I also check the list periodically to see if there is anything that has been in there for awhile and needs to be eaten up.

As to this recipe, I made up the chicken pot pie filling only, and froze that.

Tonight, I heated it up and poured it over biscuits. You can also put it in a pie crust and bake it. OR you can pour it over sliced bread.

NOTE: I often alter recipes based on what I have available. For example, I used canned mixed vegetables, not frozen. You can use a cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup for your gravy or use broth and thicken it with corn starch or flour. If you are new to cooking from scratch and inventing your own recipes; here is a good substitution chart. I have a printed and laminated one from Betty Crocker that I use as a bookmark in my cookbook. I refer to it often. I'm not saving much if I have to run to the store for one ingredient.

Save time, money and space with Hamburger

I have many job titles; including mom, wife, teacher, chauffeur, and chef. But, generally, I would describe my primary job as "home economist". This means it's my job to make sure that my household spends less money than my husband makes.

So, I am always searching for tips and tricks and ways to save money, stretch money and even make a little money. When we first were married, I read "The Tightwad Gazette"  and that really got me started on a life of frugality. I think it is the best gift for a newly married couple or for a baby shower - totally practical and useful and life changing and far longer lasting than any cute little baby dress or toaster. And, yes some people think I'm crazy when I give this gift. But, I'm okay with that. The benefits that I know the book will bring to the family (assuming they read it) are well worth the reputation as OneCrazyLady.

Anyway, to the point of this post - which by the way is not to promote Amy's book. I want to talk about one way that I save time, money and space when it comes to feeding my family.
1) I buy hamburger in bulk when it is on sale.
2) Then, I cook it. All of it. At once. This will save me countless hours cooking a pound or two at a time for each meal.

UPDATE (02/21/2014): The photo shows my meat cooking up in a frying pan, but now I buy it in 10 lb packages and cook it in a stock pot all at once. I add a little water to keep it from sticking to the bottom, drain it through a colander when cooked and check the temperature (160 is the safe temp. for cooked hamburger). It's quick and easy.

3) I drain the fat. Getting rid of this fat means the meat is better for you, and it will take up less space than if you had frozen it raw.
4)I let it cool a bit, then I put it into Ziploc bags. I use gallon bags; we are a family of 8 and one bag will give us about 2 meals, plus leftovers when thawed.
5) I lay these flat in my chest freezer.
6) After they are frozen stiff, they stack very nicely, like books in my upright.

Tip: I put the hamburger in the bags, then use a rolling pin to make it flat. Some of the items pictured are actually freezer meals that I made in advance and froze the same way. But, you can see how nicely they stack. I have 8 meals on one shelf in the freezer of a side by side unit, and room for more.
7) After filling up the freezer bags, I take whatever cooked meat is left, put it into a Tupperware or similar container for my refrigerator to be used that night. Get deals on freezer bags here.