The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ July 26

For Today... July 26th

Outside my window... BEAUTIFUL! Sunny, with a blue sky! Looks GREAT outside today!

I am thinking... About sending a note via Facebook to my nephew because I have not talked to him in a while.

From the learning rooms... We will be starting just a little today! I'm excited! Arlee and Frosty will be starting their first of four novels today. Arlee will be reading The Outsiders, and Frost will be reading The Cricket in Time Square. I'm going to to to set up a routine of certain things that I will go over with Zach daily. Like read thru the alphabet with sounds, counting to 100, counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, math facts, sight words, and reading from a book. Then we might do some Math worksheets, or jump on Study Island {offered thru our virtual school}. With Liam, I have a learning bag from the library to work with him on. We are mostly working on colors right now. He knows the basic Red, Blue, Green...but we are working on others like purple, yellow, black, brown, etc. I would also like for everyone to watch the ABC's Signing Time today. And work our way thru Arlee, Frosty's, and Zachary's daily 3 a day {read to self, read to someone else, listen to reading}.

I am thankful for... Well, since we are getting started with our school today, I would like to mention how thankful I am for the opportunity to home school them!!

From the kitchen... I'm hoping to get some bread started today for the week. I also had a friend of Husband's and IL's give me some zucchinis...so I would like to get some zucchini bread made today, as well.

I am wearing... Capris and shirt...like usual. {I didn't even have to change this from last week! LOL...it's what I am usually wearing!}

I am reading... Really nothing at the moment...I am anxiously waiting for Arlee to get started and finish up with The Outsiders! It was one of my favs to read growing up! I'm looking forward to reading it again! It won't take her long to get thru it. After spending the last week or so working her way thru the Harry Potter series {she's on book 6}, this book is nothing! She'll probably tear thru it all in one afternoon!

I am hoping... To work on the front of our house this week. We ran out of time on Friday, and Saturday was just way to wet! SO maybe over the course of this week we can get it spruced up!

I am creating... A pot of coffee here in just a minute! LOL!...does that count??

I am hearing... The kids watching the Disney Channel. I think it's like Lilo and Stitch.

Around the house... Well, like I mentioned above, I'm hoping to spruce up the outside this week. Also, we finally got paint for the back room!! So, {hopefully} we will get some painting done either this week or this upcoming weekend! YIPEE...I'm so happy!!

One of my favorite things... One of my NEW favorite things is my new earrings!! Yesterday, I noticed that Danny's earring just didn't have much of any luster left. So when we were out and about at the store, we bought a pack of earrings...basically just for the ONE for him! But, I get all the rest that came with it! YEAH ME! They ended up being hypo allergenic...and I don't know if that is why, but when I put them in my 2nd holes I forget they are there! Which is a lovely thing! All my other earrings, for the past few years, when I put them in my 2nd holes, they will just bug the crap out of me!! They itch and feel weird and all. So, I was VERY happy last night when I didn't have any of those problems!!

A few plans for the rest of the week... Just work around the house sprucing it up. Tomorrow is Kids' Day at our County Fair...we talked about going, but don't know for sure if we will go or not after Danny gets home from work. Danny and Cooper has their last obedience class on Thursday, and Arlee has her guitar lesson on Thursday as well. Friday Arlee has a dr appointment. And, we will have to get things together for Frosty because he will leave for overnight Boy Scout Camp next Monday morning.

Here is a picture I wanted to share with you..

Here is Liam when we went up to the park a week or so ago. He's soo cute!

LOL....I remember that on this day, everytime Zach would come down the slide his hair would stand on end because of the static! It was SOOOO funny, but I didn't get a picture of that one! But, I think I have an old one of that happening to Liam...and I think it was at this same park....

Oh yes...here it is....LOL

Look at how short his hair is there!!! WOW! Here's one from just a few weeks ago to compare better! Funny, because back last summer, when the top pic was taken, we thought his hair was long then!

*I just noticed...he's even wearing the same shirt! LOL!

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Upside Down Baked Pancake & Just Catching Up

I don't remember if I shared this one back at Christmas time or not. This was one of Liam's favorite gifts! LoL! A battery powered toothbrush! In between every present after opening this one, he had to stop and go "brush his teeth"...just like in the pic above! He's so cute!

Friday evening, we all ran up to Wal Mart to pick up a few things we needed around here. While we were there, we came across a nice grill that Danny really liked. He very much needed a new one. So, since we were already piled up with stuff, I suggested he come back the next day to buy it. That way he can have the whole van to haul it in! And so he did!

Last night he grilled out for the first time on his new grill. We marinated some yummy steaks! OOOOOOOH, they were SO GOOD! Along with the steak, I had some green beans in the crock pot for most of the day with some bacon & onions! I even made a delicious chocolate cake. I had some strawberry glaze up in my cabinet, and I cut up some strawberries, mixed them together and put it all on top of the cake! I snuck a little piece...and it was AWESOME!!

I also wanted to share another recipe I tried out. Upside Down Oven Pancake. EVERYONE liked this one! Danny liked it because it wasn't too sweet, but had just a hint of sweetness to it.

First off, I had to make some syrup!

After melting the butter in the dish, I added some bacon...

Then the crushed pineapple...

Mixed up the pancake mix, added to the top...

Then baked it!

While I was waiting to it to bake, I got a little creative. I decided to fan out some strawberries, and find my powdered sugar to sift some on top! I even sliced some bananas to add on the side as well!

Well, that's really all I have time for today. It's Sunday, again, obviously, and so Danny is back to work. Catch up day here for me.

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Sunday!

Oh, and BTW...here is the recipe for the...

Upside-Down Oven Pancake Prep: 15 min, Cook: 20 min.

• 1 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 6 ounces Canadian bacon, sliced
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar, packed
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk baking mix
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400°F. Melt butter in a 9 inch round oven-proof skillet in oven until melted. Arrange bacon slices, overlapping slightly, on butter. Spoon pineapple evenly over bacon. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Combine baking mix, milk and egg in a bowl. Beat vigorously 30 seconds (batter will be slightly lumpy). Carefully spread over pineapple. Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Run knife around edge to loosen. Immediately invert onto serving platter. Serve with maple syrup.

This recipe serves 4 people. Due to the nature of this recipe, it adjusts the number of servings in multiples of 4 only.

Per serving: calories 575, fat 15.6g, 24% calories from fat, cholesterol 80mg, protein 15.0g, carbohydrates 96.3g, fiber 1.4g, sugar 67.1g, sodium 1213mg, diet points 13.0.

Dietary Exchanges: Milk: 0.1, Vegetable: 0.0, Fruit: 0.3, Bread: 1.9, Lean meat: 1.4, Fat: 1.8, Sugar: 3.5, Very lean meat protein: 0.0

Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

Tried another recipe yesterday morning. Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal. This is the first time I have ever "baked" oatmeal. I thought it turned out pretty yummy, Arlee & Frosty both really liked it {even got 2nds}, Zach and Liam ate a little but wasn't too much impressed, and Danny thought it was kinda bland. SO there are our reviews.

~ Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal ~

Here's mine...

and in the bowl. I added a small sprinkle of choco chips, as well...

This will be a short entry today. It's Thursday, Danny's last day of work for the week, so I would like to get as much cleaning done as I can...1st because I want it to look 1/2 way decent when he gets home, and 2nd because I am not one to do a whole lot of cleaning while he's home!

I have LOTS to do...much more that what I could ever get done today. But, I'm going to give it my best shot to get as much done as I can in the time I have left today!

And, with that, I bid you all farewell...for I am off to the land of dishes, laundry, & messies! I will write again as soon as I can! If you don't hear from me in some time...please send a search party!

Have a great day all! And, enjoy the upcoming holiday weekend! Be safe, and have fun!

Oven Omelet & Looking Into Asperger Syndrome

I decided on having breakfast for dinner last night. I really wanted to try out another one of the recipes on The Five J's blog. {I'm so happy I came upon this blog! If I have not mentioned it lately!}

Cooking is such a magical art isn't it? How you can turn a bunch of ingredients, like in the picture above, into a filling delicious meal for a family! It is just amazing!

First off, I had to get my buns started...

Put it in the bread maker for it to "do it's thing" while I got some other things ready to go.

Like I shredded the cheese...

...and cubed the ham...

I also went ahead and sliced the sausage and got that ready to cook...

About an hour later, the dough was ready to come out of the bread machine...

After letting the dough rest for a few minutes...it was time to get my buns into shape...

I sat these on my preheating oven to rise while I put together the Oven Omelet.

Here is mine BEFORE it went into the oven with the buns...

When the buns were done, I buttered them. Then started to put the rest of the breakfast/dinner together. I heated up some hash brown patties and some applesauce.

Danny, Arlee, Frosty, and I really liked the Oven Omelet. The two younger boys are a little pickier, so they were not too crazy about it....but that really was not too big of a surprise.

Last night, late last night, I was IMing back and forth with another mom on Cafe Mom. I mentioned about what the Dr had said about Zach possibly having Autism. I talked just a little about him, and she thought that maybe it sounded to her more like Asperger Syndrome.

So, just like any other respectable Digital Mom would do, I hit the internet this morning looking it up to find out more. I came across many different websites, naturally, with lists of symptoms...and I do think that they describe Zachary much better!

I have only begun looking into this, and am very anxious for when we can go back to the Dr and discuss this more with him.

If anyone reading this has any helpful links for me about Asperger, parenting a Asperger child, and/or home schooling a Asperger child, I would VERY MUCH APPRECIATE them!

Well, that's all I have time for today. Have a great day All!