Unexpected Field Trip to the Sheriff's Aviation Hangar!

Unexpected Field Trip!

So yesterday was family movie night at church. You bring your blanket and some snacks and they play a family friendly movie and have movie related games. It is so fun! The thing is we were getting in the car and I said are you sure we still want to go? Should we just stay home today?

Well I am glad that we didn’t just stay home because the COOLEST Thing to ever happen happened.

Yes that is my kids sitting in a police helicopter!

We were invited to take a tour of the  Orange County sheriff’s police hangar!! How cool is that?!

We learned about the types of clothes they wear. We learned about heat vision and night vision and what the difference is. We learned about how the body radiates heat and how heat left behind can leave traces of where a person might go!

But the best part about this trip to the police hangar was not seeing the helicopters; it is putting a face and name to the heroes of our community.  I come from a family that baked cookies for the police department at Christmas time.  I lived in a town where the fire department was opened for everyone to visit and you knew who the chief of police was.

Things are different today. Today our police officers and members of law enforcement are treated as if they are the villains. Well we are taking a stand as a family. Our kids will know that law enforcement is the good guys. We stand behind them and we support them. Now we have names to say when we pray for them at night.  Pray that they are safe as they serve and protect.  Thank you to God for putting some really awesome people on the police force in our town. And of course Thank you to Officer Bill and his co-workers for taking the time to show us around last night. It made a huge impression on our boys.

Call your local police or sheriff's office and see if your children can also meet the heroes of your town. 

Have a great day!! 

Italian Chicken in a Creamy White Wine Mushroom Sauce

So this weekend was crazy at our house. We had big plans to visit my mother in law. Well our car had other plans because the battery died and it seemed like everyone with the same car had the same issue recently because 4 of the places closest to us were sold out of the battery we needed. But it is really funny how things work because honestly we had this “forced” time where we couldn’t leave the house. We spent that time around the dinner table streaming movies on the laptop, cooking, and making our Thanksgiving invitations. So we really turned lemons into lemonade this weekend J Since we had to wait to go to the grocery store I wanted to make the best of what we had and Chicken over a Creamy White Wine Mushroom Sauce. My family loved this meal. So I wanted to share the recipe with you  because it was AMAZING!!!

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 Teaspoon of Italian Seasoning

Pinch of Onion Powder

Adobo to taste

For the Sauce:

½ Yellow Onion Diced

3 teaspoons of Diced Garlic

2 cups of Sliced Mushrooms

2 tablespoons of light Olive oil

4 tablespoons of Butter

1 Cup of Dry White Wine

1 ½ Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream

And any kind of pasta (I used spaghetti)

  

1.   Heat up a Dutch Oven or Pot with a lid and coat the bottom with the Light Olive Oil. Once the pan is hot add the onions and let the sauté until almost opaque.

2.   Add the butter until melted and then add the mushrooms and garlic. Let them brown for about 3 minutes and add the wine. Bring the wine to a boil. Let it boil for like 3 minutes with the lid on and then bring down to a simmer.

3.   Now start on the chicken. Pound out the chicken breasts so they are thin. Sprinkle with the Italian Seasoning, Adobo, and Onion Powder.

4.   Put a Pan on High heat to get the pan sizzling hot with some olive oil. Turn down to medium high and place the chicken breasts in the pan. Do not touch them!!!!!!! (I learned this on Master Chef J) Let them cook for 4mins- 5 minutes and then flip over and do it again. Also you can start your pasta now.

5.   Add the cream to your mushroom sauce in the other pan turn up the heat boil for 1 min and then let it simmer while you finish the spaghetti and cut up the chicken. Keep Stirring!

6.   Plate your delicious meal and tell me how it came out in the comments below J

Consequence Jar

  The Consequence Jar.

So I am trying to teach my kids to be accountable. But sometimes I am not so accountable myself when it comes to discipline. The word consequence has become nothing more of an empty threat around here because most of the time I am too frazzled to come up with a good consequence on the spot. So to alleviate this I created the consequence jar. I found the idea on pinterest and I came up with consequences that would fit our family and age ranges.  I want to point out the grace one. Sometime you get a free pass. God has grace for us but just because we didn’t have a consequence doesn’t mean we didn’t learn a lesson. J

• Put on your bathing suit and clean the shower.
• Write a letter of apology
• Copy a bible verse of moms choosing
• Put on your bathing suit and clean the shower
• Sweep the kitchen floor
• Wipe the cabinets in the kitchen
• Vacuum daddy’s office
• Organize the homeschool bookshelf
• Dust all the electronics
• Read a book to your baby brother
• Go to bed 30 minutes early
• No TV before bedtime read a book instead
• Be the server at dinner time.
• Clean the bathroom sink
• GRACE
• Write a letter about how much you love someone
• Sing a song with William
• 25 push ups
• Frankenstein for 7 minutes 

Our 2nd Grade Learning Space Homeschool Room

So we are officially in 2^nd Grade!!!!! Yay!!! I am so excited to start this new year off.

To wind down the last couple of weeks of summer together as a family we created a learning space. We wanted to make sure that Steven had a place to really concentrate on his work now that school would be a bit more intense.

So we decided to turn our Lanai into a homeschool room. It is a very small space so we needed to maximize our space the best we can and we only had about $120.00 to do it with.  

Here it is our new Homeschool room!! I am so proud of how it turned out. Now that we are on our second week of school I will say that it is working so much better than working in the living room. Especially since my youngest is much more mobile now.

 The chairs, table, blackboard, black lamp, paper organizers, magazine files and little clock are all from Ikea. The Bookshelf is from Target, and the rolling cart is from Jo-ann Fabrics. (Get a 40% off coupon and then buy) 

How did you set up your learning space? I would love to see some pictures! 

If you have any questions about our learning space please feel free to ask me.

Ice Water Challenge Accepted!

So I completed the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS today. On top of completing it we are also sending a donation as a family to support ALS.  I encourage all of my readers to take the challenge even if you do not have the funds to donate it helps spread awareness where there was none.

 I wanted to add the website to where you can donate. Also check to see if your employer with match your contribution! www.alsa.org    It really is a great oppourntunity to raise awareness.

So here is the video if you are interested!! Have a great day!!

My Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS