Running on Tile with Socks - A Cautionary Tale

Experience is a hard teacher. And so it is for Mr. Lego.

He was running in his sock feet on the linoleum tile floor in the playroom when his feet slipped out from under him. He came down squarely on his elbow and now it's fractured. The urgent care doctor put him in a temporary cast and sling to keep it immobilized. We go to the ortho on Monday to see if any other treatment is required. The fracture did not appear to be bad, but we'd rather be safe than sorry.

The kids have repeatedly been warned about the dangers of running on the tile with socks on. Now they know why.


He's not in as much pain as he was yesterday, and he's able to play the Wii one-handed. His sister has been quite helpful, offering to get him drinks and toys. It's been kind of cute to watch that part of it.

When asked if he understood now why he shouldn't run in socks on slippery floors, he replied, "I think so." Hmmm. I guess that's better than a "no."

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

I love being able to throw ingredients in the crockpot and walk away while they cook. And it doesn't get any easier than this recipe.

Here's what you need:

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
2 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn
1 pkg taco seasoning

Place all ingredients in the crockpot and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Garnish with sour cream and cheese if desired. Delicious!


Note: if your children don't like the texture of tomatoes in their soup, switch out the diced tomatoes with another can of tomato sauce.

Pizza Sloppy Joes

I've already told you that sloppy joes aren't my favorite sandwiches because of the soggy buns. This is a variation of sloppy joes that uses pizza as its inspiration. And they're really quite tasty. Especially if you toast your buns!

This is a fabulous recipe to serve to hungry teenagers, too. We've hosted our youth group from church and served these "burgers" to the delight of all. Of course, we quadrupled the recipe a couple of times. Is that octupled?

Anyway, here's what you need:

1 lb ground beef or turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
2 teas Italian seasoning
1/2 teas garlic powder
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, brown the meat with the veggies. Drain. Stir in the pepperoni, sauce and seasonings. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add all but 1/4 cup of the cheese.


Serve on toasted buns. Top each sandwich with reserved cheese.


Charles says this is like eating a supreme pizza on a bun. Feel free to add mushrooms or olives if you like.

For more yummy recipes, visit Blessed with Grace's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Freezer instructions : Double the recipe so you can eat one batch now and one later. Or put both in the freezer. Allow the mixture to cool completely. Transfer to freezer bags or containers and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. To serve, thaw in the fridge, then place in a saucepan and heat on the stove.

Not Back to School Blog Hop

Heart of the Matter Online is hosting a blog hop this month, Not Back to School. This week is dedicated to curriculum. I think it's fun to poke around and see what other homeschoolers are using for their kiddos. Plus, it's always great to meet other moms like me and share some encouragement along the way.

My kids are only a grade apart, so we're doing several subjects together. Both of them will be using:

Bible: Word of Life Children's Club curriculum, Proverbs study
History: Mystery of History, Volume 1
Science: Exploring Creation with Astronomy and Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space
Language Arts: First Language Lessons, Level 3
Art: Art & the Bible for Children
Spelling: Sequential Spelling, Level 1
Reading: various read-alouds to go along with other subjects

Mr. Lego will be using BJUP's 4th grade math and the Princess with be using 3rd grade.

I also put together unit studies and lapbooks throughout the year. They will both keep a science notebook, which they love to do. And we will start a timeline to go along with our MOH studies.

I'm hoping to start next week, depending on hubby's travel schedule and other events. I'm really excited about this year, more so than the previous 3 years. Both children know how to read well and I'm looking forward to them becoming more independent.

Menu Plan August 1-5

Can you believe the first week of August is here already? It's only 145 days until Christmas! Where has the summer gone?

This week I'm falling back on some old stand-bys. Easy is what I like, so easy I'm going to do. How about you?

Here's the plan:

Sunday
Out with friends

Monday
Sloppy joes, fries

Tuesday
Lentil rice burritos, refried beans

Wednesday
Potato soup, homemade bread

Thursday
Cheeseburger rice, green beans

Friday
Chicken fingers, mashed potatoes

Saturday
Grilled burgers, corn, salad

For more great menu plans, visit Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. You'll find tons of inspiration from busy moms like you.

From the Inside Out

I've joined the children's ministry at our church and we're gearing up to start a new year. In the process, the leaders are receiving some training and evaluating our own spiritual lives so we can better minister to these kids. I'm seeing areas that I need to change and ways I can draw closer to God.

When I was growing up, my church put a great deal of emphasis on the outward appearance. Girls didn't wear pants, boys had to have short hair, no shorts for either group. And so I watched as people who conformed outwardly were patted on the back by the church leadership, knowing that they were as rebellious as the non-conformists. I also watched many people who wanted to serve the Lord turned away because they didn't hold the same dress standards. Spirituality was measured by how one looked and dressed, not by a person's love for Jesus. It was discouraging for many young believers, to say the least.

I'm determined that in my own children, I will do my best to foster a love for God, knowing that is the first and great commandment. Do I want them to abide by our family's rules? Yes. But I want them to do it because they love the Lord and want to honor Him, not because they want to "perform" for us. I want them to look and act like Christians, of course. But more important than their outward appearance, I want God to have their hearts. The rest will fall into place as the Holy Spirit leads them.

And so I want to carry that over to our children's ministry. We're going to emphasize heart knowledge and not just head knowledge of Jesus. We're going to teach the young ladies to be modest and feminine. We're going to help the boys become gentlemen. We want them all to live their lives to the glory of God. But we're going to do it from the inside out.

Mixbook.com Works for Me!

I love to scrapbook. I really do. But it takes a great deal of time, creativity (which I lack), and supplies. After our family's first trip to Disney World in 2007, it took me nearly two years to create two books. I barely finished in time for our trip in October of last year.

So I decided this time I'd use an online photo book maker like Shutterfly or Snapfish. But as I looked over their background options, I wasn't really happy with what I saw. I wanted a more "scrapbooky" look.

And I found it with Mixbook.com. They have several themes and layouts to choose from. I love that I can fit multiple pictures on a page, something that would be hard to do the old-fashioned way with paper and pictures.



Mixbook offers digital elements to enhance your pages, too. This gives them a more scrapbooky feel.


Don't you just love my new word - scrapbooky?

Anyway, the Disney book I created was 20 pages, about the same amount I'd use in a scrapbook album. I chose an 8x8 format, but there are other sizes such as 12x12 and 8 1/2 x11. My book cost about $30 with shipping, which is cheaper than I could buy an album, papers, and embellishments for the same size book. I saved hours and hours in putting it together. And the memories contained in the Mixbook are no less memorable because I didn't scrap them myself.

Will I give up paper scrapbooking all together? Probably not until I use up my stash of supplies. In the meantime, Mixbook.com works for me!

For more helpful tips, visit We are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday.