Wordless Wednesday–Fun at the park

I’m super-behind on posting pictures again. We’ve been out taking them and having fun instead :) We went to the park last week after daddy got home from work, and I got these great ones

~S

Linking up at:

Tasty Tuesday–Taco Dump Soup

Welcome to another week of Tasty Tuesday here at The Young'ns!
There’s a recipe index under the food tab above if you’re ever looking for a recipe I’ve already blogged.
Every Monday, I plan on trying a new recipe. If it goes well, that’s what I’ll be posting on Tasty Tuesday. If not, I’ll post a tried and true (i.e. something I don’t have to think about too hard) ;)

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this yet! This is a super easy and tasty recipe. There’s a reason it’s called dump soup :)

{Ingredients}

• 1 pound ground turkey (or whatever ground meat you want)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 package ranch seasoning
• 3 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes OR 2 big cans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 cup frozen corn OR 1 can kernel corn
• 1 cup salsa OR 1 can Rotel

{Directions}

1. Brown meat and onion. Drain.
2. Add seasoning packets.
3. Drain beans.
4. Add rest of ingredients: tomatoes, beans, corn, and salsa.
5. Simmer until well blended and hot, about 5 minutes.
6. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese, if desired. Also good served with a small quesadilla.

What did I tell you? Super-easy! In fact, Kahlen made most of it this time…

~S

Linking up at Beauty and Bedlam and It’s A Blog Party

Menu Plan Monday–July 9th

Getting back in the groove, I think. I actually sat down and planned out meals for the rest of the month!! Of course, they’ll probably all change, so I’m still only going to post this week’s plan :) It is nice, though, to have some idea about what I want to make in the upcoming weeks. I’m hoping that it will help me not make the same things every week. Also, I bought most of the non-perishables for the rest of the month, so that should make grocery shopping much easier.

Here’s what I’m making this week:

Mix-it up Monday (something new) ~ Dinner with family. Made Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats to share
Taco Tuesday (Mexican or Oriental) ~ Taco Dump Soup (I haven’t posted that recipe?? Must post! Maybe tomorrow…)
Wow Wednesday (Date night or something like restaurant food) ~ Out for dinner for our 11th anniversary, which is on Saturday! Thinking of going to The Melting Pot, mmm
Simple Thursday (Crockpot or less than 30 min prep) ~ Panera Style Mac’n’Cheese. New recipe, we’ll see if anyone besides me likes it. 
Favorite Friday (A family favorite) ~ Lentil Stew with Ham 
Lazy Saturday (leftover buffet) ~ YOYO (You’re On Your Own) /Leftovers
Saucy Sunday (Italian) ~ Tortellini Spinach Bake

So, what are you having for dinner this week?
Link up at Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie or leave me a comment!

I have a recipe index, just for recipes that you can find on my blog. You can also get to it by going to the food tab above.

~S

Muffin Tin Monday–Red, White, and Blue?–July 3rd

So, I realize it’s been a loooong time since we did Muffin Tin Monday, but I have a few reasons.

Meet Liam. Because adding a third kid to my pile wasn’t enough fun, I thought I’d add a fourth. Liam’s mommy works half time in the mornings, so Liam comes to play with us. He just turned two in March, and he’s going to be a big brother in November, at which point I’ll stop watching him.

Now say hi to Shane. Shane thinks that our lunch time should be his lunch time too.

Add these two characters and lunch becomes a little crazy.

Right, Muffin Tin Monday. So this morning (yes, I know it’s Tuesday), Nate was very very tired, as occasionally happens, and took a morning nap (Yep, aren’t you jealous? My three-year-old still takes two naps sometimes) AND Shane was sleeping AND Liam and Kahlen were happily zoning out to Caillou AND I was in the kitchen anyway making myself an Almond Joy Latte, so I decided that we should break out the muffin tins and see how it went. Liam tends to be, shall we say, a very picky eater, so I was hopeful that this might help. Kahlen and Nate always love MTM too. With no forethought or plan, I started making our lunch. Here’s what I ended up with:

Top: Red Noosa Raspberry Yoghurt, White Cheese Stick, Blue Fruit Leather cut into stars (ok, it was more purple…)
Bottom: Red Katsup, White Pita Chips, and Hot Dogs

I was trying to go with a red, white, and blue theme, but the blue was escaping me. The kids didn’t seem to care too much, although it did nothing to improve Liam’s intake of food. Ah well, maybe next time…

~S

Menu Plan Monday–July 2nd

I’ve been rather lazy about cooking lately, which I feel like has more to do with lack of a menu plan and less of actual laziness. I’m so used to having a plan to go off of, when I don’t have one I’m rather lost.

SO, here’s what I’m making this week:

Mix-it up Monday (something new) ~ Baked Chicken Bacon Alfredo (Wow, that was yummy!!!)
0Taco Tuesday (Mexican or Oriental) ~ Simple tacos 
Wow Wednesday (Date night or something like restaurant food) ~ BBQ of course. It’s the 4th of July, what else could we have?? 
Simple Thursday (Crockpot or less than 30 min prep) ~ Dinner at my aunt’s house. I have cousins in town :) 
Favorite Friday (A family favorite) ~ Orange Chicken Stir Fry 
Lazy Saturday (leftover buffet) ~ YOYO (You’re On Your Own) 
Saucy Sunday (Italian) ~ Make Ahead Unstuffed Shells (new recipe)

So, what are you having for dinner this week?
Link up at Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie or leave me a comment!

I have a recipe index, just for recipes that you can find on my blog. You can also get to it by going to the food tab above.

~S

Speak Up Saturday–TOS Review–Homeschool Spanish Academy

Homeschool Spanish Academy is a high quality online Spanish language institution committed to the growth of young home schooling Spanish students and to providing best-in-class solutions for any parent.

Experience and learn Spanish through interactive immersive lessons with with 1-on-1 instruction from native Spanish-speaking professional instructors, via Skype video conferencing. We have focused programs for all ages from teaching young kids to adults. Perfect for home schoolers, or as a tailor made
alternative to Rosetta Stone.

Homeschool Spanish Academy was very generous in giving us a half semester worth of classes to review their services. This means 7 25-minute sessions with a Spanish teacher live from Guatemala! We had the pleasure of being taught by Nora, one of their competent and friendly teachers.

The first thing they did was have a tech call us to get everything set up before our first scheduled class time. The lessons are completed via Skype, so the tech made sure that my computer was working correctly and helped me to set up everything.

When it was time for the lessons, I just had to open Skype, and our teacher would initiate the call. At the beginning of each lesson, the instructor asked how we were doing and made small talk for a minute before starting the lesson. She had a PDF document on her computer that she shared with us and walked through everything on the lesson. She was very patient and gave just enough prompting for Kahlen to be able to learn the material.

I was very impressed with the service, the lessons, and the instructor. Kahlen really learned the material better and was able to retain at least some of it from lesson to lesson. I also appreciated that Nora emailed me the lesson PDF after we were done so we could review them between lessons. I also liked that I got to set the time for each lesson, and it didn’t have to be the same time every week.

Kahlen was funny about the lessons. When we weren’t doing them, she would say how much she loved them. When it was almost time for her lesson, she would say that she didn’t like it. But I did figure out why…she told me that it was a lot of work for her, almost hard. So I think it was good for her. Especially during the summer, she needs a bit of “work” in her day.

She is sad, and so am I, that our lessons are over. We may decide to use this service again, but I haven’t talked to hubs about the budget for schooling yet this fall

Their pricing is very reasonable for what you get. This is the early language pricing, but they offer classes for any age (5+). You can also choose their 2-on-1 option, which you can see pricing for here.

We love this program and would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to really learn Spanish!

Sign up for a free trial class here. And like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter for $5 off!

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Happy Third Birthday, Nathanael!!

My middle child is now 3!! How did that happen?
My silly, sweet, goofy boy is a joy to me. His sense of humor is really developing as well as his cognition. He loves to sing and eat and pretend he’s going to work. He still gets frustrated easily, but he’s more able to deal with it now. He tolerates his brother and loves his sister. He can count to 20, as long as 18 and 19 aren’t needed. I love this little boy!
“Knock knock. Who’s there. No thanks, I’ll have a peanut. Hahahaha!”

Here’s the post from last year.

And here’s the post from his first year

To read the story of his birth, go here.



~S