Back to School

Well, it hardly seems possible that i have not posted since May but the blog doesn't lie. We had a wonderful summer but I am ready for it to be over and for life to get back to "normal". The incredibly hot temperatures have finally gone and this week the kids go back to school. It seems that even the return to school cannot be done all at once, but rather in small bites. The first and fourth graders started back on Monday. I have been working a little at a time to finish shopping for all their text books. I still need to get some of them covered. Fortunately their classes will probably do the same as in previous years and form a class Co-op. This means as parents we will choose two parents to open up an account at a local bank. Then each parent pays 15 or 20 euros into the account and the teacher uses that to purchase supplies for the class. Last year the 3rd grade teacher not only bought the pencils, pens, crayons, markers, glue, colored pencils, etc for the class but also used the money to purchase the kind of notebook she wanted the kids to use for their class notes. I know I would have spent more money running around to buy all the stuff and this way the kids have what they need when they need it. A win-win situation for all in my book.

Tuesday I took the two older kids out to shop for their supplies ... at least the notebooks and folders they want. In secondary school the teachers are not so particular about the kind of notebooks so the boys helped me pìck out the kind they wanted .... knowing that we wouldn't even be looking at the expensive ones with the pictures on the covers. I'm sorry but i can't afford to pay twice the price just to have a Disney cover. Not when I am buying 16 or 17 notebooks!

Today, Wednesday, my second born started school. He moves up to the "instituto" this year to start 7th grade. The 7th graders had to go into the school at 10am for an general assembly, find out their class lists and meet the home-room teachers and get their school "agendas" to record their assignments in.

I thought my life would finally get back to a normal school schedule tomorrow when my oldest son heads back to school for his first day. It will also be an assembly, class list, home-room teacher, agenda day. What I found out was that in order to have this first day "orientation" for the 9th and 10th graders, the 7th and 8th graders get to stay home. So, we wait till Friday for the TRUE first day of school celebration (for Mom)Ü

Feeling Patriotic

I'm feeling patriotic today so I decided to add some music to the blog for a few days. Living overseas, we miss the typical American holidays like Memorial Day but I try to do a few things to teach my kids a little about these days so that they can build some bonds to their American culture. (As TCK's -- Third Culture Kids -- )they are immersed in the spanish and european culture, but one day will most likely live in the States and I want them to understand that part of their heritage as well. They know that today Mom will be playing band music and telling stories about what Memorial Day was like for me growing up, how their relatives are celebrating today, etc etc etc. I am also feeling "doubly patriotic" since I am preparing for tomorrow. At the elementary school tomorrow they are having a "cultural day" where the classes will learn and experience things about many other cultures (there are kids from all over the world in the school). I am giving 3 30 minute "talks" to the preschoolers and then providing some kind of american food to the classrooms of my other two children. In the preschool time I am planning on talking about the 4th of July and how it is typically celebrated in the States. We are going to listen to Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever and march around the room like a band in a parade. They are also going to be making a variation on this craft I found online. Right now I am tracing a couple hundred star shapes on Red, White and Blue posterboard and will be cutting them out later today. I am looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.

A thought about Mothers

I came across this quote from Theodore Roosevelt (1908)

"it is the tasks connected with the home that are the fundamental tasks of humanity ... After all, we can get along for a time being with an inferior quality of success in other lines, political or business, or of any such kind; because if there are failings in such matters we can make them good in the next generation; but if the mother does not do her duty, there will either be no next generation, or a generation that is worse than none at all."

How am I affecting the next generation? What about you?

Menu Plan Monday April 20-27

We've been back from Spring vacation for over a week now but I haven't done very well at the task of feeding my family. I know that things go soooo much better if I have a menu plan so here goes Plan A for the week. There will undoubtedly be revisions as the week goes by but at least I have a place to start from.

Monday 4/20
Breakfast: Cereal
School Snack: homemade bran muffins
Lunch: Baked burritos with toppings
Dinner: Local pizzeria had a deal tonight of small pizzas for 1 euro. We walked over and fed the family for 8 euros including beverages. And no dirty dishes for me.

Tuesday 4/21
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School Snack: granola bars
Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches eaten in the car on our way to the mall for Ben & Jerry's free ice-cream day.
Dinner: hot dogs and macaroni and cheese

Wednesday 4/22
Breakfast: or oil bread
School Snack: homemade cookies or brownies
Lunch: chicken and broccoli, rice
Dinner: quiche

Thursday 4/23
Breakfast: Cereal and fruit
School Snack: apple slices
Lunch: Chili and cornbread
Dinner: grilled cheese sandwiches

Friday 4/24
Breakfast: PopTarts or cereal from the recent care package from the States
School Snack: Kids' choice
Lunch: homemade pizza
Dinner: ????

Saturday 4/25
Hubby and eldest son will be gone all day at a youth event in Salamanca with the car. I'll be at home with the littler ones. We'll nosh on leftovers and maybe make chicken sandwiches (from frozen chicken patties fried up and eaten on burger buns).

Sunday 4/26
Choir practice after church will get us home later than normal. We'll have meatballs and sauce heating in the crockpot and will just have to cook some spaghetti pasta once we get home.

Don't forget to head over to Laura's to see what everyone else has on the menu for this week.

focus, focus, focus

I think that I waste a lot of time by not being focussed on a specific goal. I flit from room to room and from task to task because everywhere I look I see something that "needs to be done" or (more often) that I want to do. I think if I would stop for a couple of minutes each day and refine my focus and determine my goals (and learn how to make a REASONABLE list) I would find things going much smoother and would probably see that I am making better progress on "eating the elephant". I am going to try out my new theory for the next 6 days as I prepare the house for houseguests over Easter weekend and pack the family for our vacation the week before Easter. See the timeline there? I need to have the house ready BEFORE we leave on vacation. The only way that will work is with some focus, focus, focus.
Wednesday's post showed me that I was a bit too vague in what I wanted to accomplish in those 90 minutes before picking up the kids. I was also overly optomistic in how much I could get done. Put away all the food I bought at the market, make lunch, do a massive decluttering, straighten up the house etc etc etc. Who am I kidding? I had nothing more to bring to the donation center but the 2 bags that are in the back of the car from last week. I putzed about in the kitchen for the whole time and didn't have time to drive by on the way to the school. I barely got my "small thing" done from Rachel's Home Sanctuary site.
So today I have one focus for the morning.... I must finish filing our taxes! I do not want this hanging over my head for our vacation so I have determined that today is the day it will get done. I started yesterday but had to stop when school was out and never got back to it. I have 4 hours before I have to pick up the kids and it should not take even half that long. Once that is done I will look at the time and determine my focus for the rest of the morning. Let's see if this new approach makes a difference.

back for some teeny bites

This poor blog is feeling so neglected. I've gotten hooked into facebook, updating my status regularly but I realize there are friends and family that have not (and probably never will) join facebook so I may try my hand at some quick posts here. Maybe if I pretend that I am limited in my # of characters like on my facebook status updates, I can improve my editing skills and learn how to be brief.

Today I hit the local outdoor produce market. Only planned to get two things so I didn't bring the rolling cart. Bad move ... I ended up lugging 8 bags totalling more than 25 lbs to the car. Ouch! I just couldn't resist some of the prices and I know my family will appreciate eating the healthy stuff. They are so much better than I am in their eating habits. So, sometime this week we will have zucchini soup, cream of broccoli soup (for my husband who is still needing to have soft foods), brussel sprouts, coleslaw, cucumber salad, strawberries, pears and apples. My mouth is watering already (well, all except the brussel sprouts)
I have 90 minutes till I have to go pick up the kids at school. Let's see what I can rustle up for lunch and how many bags of stuff I can declutter from the house to leave a the donation center on my way to pick them up.

Menu Plan February 9-15, 2009

I sat down with my husband this evening and he helped with the menu plan, letting me know which days he expects to be home for meals. This week is a bit unusual because we had dinner guests today, my daughter is having her first "friend" birthday party this Friday, the family birthday party will be Saturday and then Sunday we will celebrate Valentine's Day with a nice dinner after church. Here is the plan for the week:

Monday Feb 9
Breakfast: cold cereal
School Snack: peanut butter and crackers
Meal 1: Salsa chicken, rice, corn, peas with bacon, corn bread
Meal 2: buttered pasta, garlic bread

Tuesday Feb 10
Breakfast: Oatmeal
School Snack: apple slices
Meal 1: Lasagna, salad
Meal 2: grilled cheese sandwiches, raw veggies

Wednesday Feb 11
Breakfast: Toast & jam
School Snack: peanut butter cookies
Meal 1: Fried rice with bacon, peppers and eggs
Meal 2: pepperoni rolls

Thursday Feb 12
Breakfast: hot chocolate and Maria cookies
School Snack: croissant sandwiches
Meal 1: lentils and rice, salad
Meal 2: eggs on toast

Friday Feb 13
Breakfast: cereal
School Snack: Valentine Rice Krispie treats
Meal 1: Quesadillas
Meal 2: party food for my daughter's princess party. Any ideas????

Saturday Feb 14
Breakfast: French toast
Meal 1: Birthday meal chosen by Princess herself -- Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli
Meal 2: leftovers

Sunday Feb 15
Breakfast: ?
Meal 1: Ham or pot roast depending on which is a better price, mashed potatoes, peas
Meal 2: leftovers or sandwiches

Head on over to Laura's to see what others have on the menu for the week.