Alphabet Beef Vegetable Soup

I made this tonight for supper and it was DELICIOUS!!!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1 can tomato sauce
3 cups beef broth
2 cups chicken broth
4 ounces green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups peas
2 cups corn
2 cups uncooked alphabet noodles

Directions:
1. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and cook 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a slow cooker

2. Add onion and carrots to skillet and saute 3 minutes.

3. Transfer contents of skillet and slow cooker and add tomato sauce, beef broth, chicken broth and green beans. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Remove the cover and add peas, corn, and noodles. Cover and cook for an additional 45 minutes before serving.

Letter Curriculum: Week 2

I'm glad that this week is over with. It was very tiring and the letter A got boring very quickly. But, I have to do it 2 more times. We started on monday with theme words.

Along with kid songs this curriculum, she has to listen to some classical music. This week we listened to Tomaso Albinoni. Everytime I played his song, she would smile and try to dance like a ballerina. I'm glad that she liked it, and hoping that it will continue for the rest of this curriculum.

She also has a bible lesson every week. This week, it was Adam and Eve. I found a website that had bible printables for preschoolers, and I read her a little story and got this worksheet.

On Wednesday, she had her science and math lessons along with review of what she learned on Monday and Tuesday. I taught her about an albatross and a aster. She doesn't know them that well, so we are definately going to review hard on that in a few weeks. For math, she learned addition. We only did plus one and a little bit of plus 2. She will need further practice on that.

 For her social studies lesson, I decided to tell her about astronauts. She picked right up on it when I told her that they walk on the moon.

We also did her art lesson. It was making a puppet and we did a giraffe. That is her favorite type of animal and she did a little puppet show for us later that night. It was hilarious.
On Friday, we reviewed everything and I was THRILLED to be done with the letter A. Now, onto letter B. B which stands for blah...haha!!

Busy Week

This week has been BUSY!!!! Samantha started with the letter A this week, and we have been doing everything A. It's tiring and I'm glad that tomorrow is FRIDAY!! On Monday, while I was doing school with her, my dad called and told me that he was in the hospital. He does roofing work on the side, and he fell off a roof and fractured his left heel and hurt or dislocated a vertebre in his back. I started to panic and wanted to go up there, but I didn't want to take the kids. They would have freaked out seeing their papa laying in the hospital. He had surgery yesterday, and he got to go home today. I'm happy that it wasn't more serious. So, whoever is reading this, please pray that my daddy has a fast recovery and go back to work soon, but not on roofs.

Back to the homeschooling subject, Sammy has learned a new color, aquamarine which is a very pretty shade of blue, some addition problems, Adam and Eve, a composer named Tomaso Albinoni. She loves his music, she started to dance like a little ballerina. I will get more into everything on the weekly post.

We got a new board game today. It's called Hi Ho Cherry O. Sammy, Airy and Cayce are playing it right now. It says on the box that it helps with addition and subtraction skills, so **FINGERS CROSSED**

Time for me to go spend some time with the kids and hubby before bed. Night All and Happy May

Lose the Weight Challenge: Week 8

Exercise was limited this week with Sammy, Ariana and I being sick. I'm still fighting a stomach bug, but it's going away. I feel better than I did yesterday.

*Exercise: Bye bye bat wings
    - Do 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps per exercise
          1. Bicep curls
          2. Tricep kick backs
          3. Upward rows
          4. Front raises
          5. Lat. pull downs
          6. Chest fly
          7. Chest press
    - Do this 3 days a week plus cardio
*Diet: Fill up on fiber and protein
           Drink a glass of water before each meal
*Attitude: MIND OVER MATTER, deal withthe soreness

**EXTRA CREDIT**  Plan a 3 day menu with fiber and protein,low cal soups, and lots of fruit.

Previous Weight: 261.6
Current Weight: 259.6
Pounds Lost: -2

On Saturday, I was so sick, that I weighed my self and I went down to 258. I'm hoping that I will get to exercise again this week.

Letter Curriculum: Week 1

Samantha started her new curriculum on Monday. It was 2 days after her 4th birthday, so it is age appropriate. It was a simple Intro to the Alphabet week. I taught her the song on Monday, and by Wednesday, she was singing it by herself with a few mistakes, but doing great. On her birthday, she got a alphabet book from my mom, and we have been working with that all week. We did three scavenger hunts. 2 were inside and we did 1 outside yesterday. We have alphabet magets and we taped those to items that starts with that letter.

Now for some pictures. There aren't many but, I will document more in the coming weeks.

The coloring pages were the first 3 letters of her name. SAM

We were watching a alphabet video. I was singing along with it. Hey, it had a good beat, dont judge.

 

We did a letter bingo on friday night. Sammy of course got a bingo, and Ariana played along so she can start learning.

 

Cayce and I came up with the idea of making a alphabet keepsake board. I'm going to print a picture of her and put in the center of the board, and I'm going to cut out letters each week and tape them to the cardboard and some pictures that go with that letter.

 

We are also counting the number of school days we do. When she gets to 100, I told her that we would have a party. We have done 6 days of school so far. We did school yesterday with the scavenger hunt, so we counted it.

 

I took this pic on the 4th day, because at first,I was putting the numbers on the refrigerator, on top of each other and Sammy couldn't really see the other numbers. This way, we can count and she can recognize the numbers.

This week, she will be starting on the letter A. I have to go plan this week, and I will post it later.

Stomach Bug

It all started yesterday morning. I made Samantha and Ariana breakfast. Sammy didn't want to eat, so She went back into the living room. Ariana was slowly eating and drinking her water and next thing I heard, was this grotesque sound and Sammy screaming that Ariana threw up. It was all over her dress, chair, and table. I had to call Cayce home from school, and he took her to the doctor. They were there a good two hours.

While at the doctor, they thought she was dehydrated, so they gave her some water and it instantly came back up. They took an x-ray and gave her some nausea medicine, and sent her home. She is only allowed to eat some crackers, apple juice and other soft foods. She slept for a good 3 hours yesterday during her nap. She had more crackers and apple juice for dinner and she is better this morning. The only problem now is that Samantha is sick today.

She didn't want to eat anything again this morning, but crackers and water. So, that's what she had and she kept saying that her tummy hurt. I got her pillow and blanket and laid her down on the couch and Ariana laid down with her. Again, I heard the nastiest sounds ever and I knew someone just got sick. Sammy started crying and I walked into the living room and had to rush her to the bathroom. She kept dry heaving, and throwing up. It was all over her and I had to keep myself from throwing up. I tried calling Cayce and he wouldn't pick up. So, I let her finish, and gave her a bath and washed her hair and put her in some cool clothes, and put her hair back so if she got sick again, it wouldn't get into her hair. I gave her a bite of cracker and sent her back to the couch, next thing I know, she is running back to the bathroom. I gave her the same medicine that the doctor gave Ariana yesterday, and gave her some apple juice.

Cayce went back to school this morning and he had to go into work early because there are some people out SICK. I hate it when Cayce brings stuff home and gives it to us. People are all the time getting sick at his job. Now the girls are down for their naps, and we won't be seeing Cayce until tonight. Hoping that no one will get sick tomorrow because we have to do an outside scavenger hunt for Sammy's school.

It's time for me to go bye bye for today and start Samantha's school. Wish me luck.

Lose the Weight Challenge: Week 7

I didn't lose any weight this week, but I didn't gain that much either. I was doing good all week before Saturday, then I ate so much. The exercises wore me out, so I'm going to keep on moving. Thats the best thing I can do for now.

*Exercise: Booty Buster
                  1-2 sets of 10-15 reps per exercise
                          Push ups with band
                          Supermans
                          Straight leg lifts
                          Knee-ups
                          Hamstring curls
                          Fire hydrants
                          Open books
                          Clam shells
                          Front kicks
                          Isolated leg lift
                          Crunches
                          Circle crunches
                          Reverse crunches
                  Continue strength training 3 days per week, plus cardio 2-3 days
*Diet:  Avoid nutritional supplement water
            Take a multivitamin
*Attitude: Shake up your routine and stick it out & DO NOT QUIT!!!

**EXTRA CREDIT**  Find a tasty, healthy alternative to bad drink choices
                                      Plan low cal alternatives

Previous Weight: 260.8
Current Weight: 261.6
Pounds Lost: 0

It's 1 pound but I am motivated to lose it this week. Im just glad that I didn't gain back the whole 5 that I lost the previous week.