2011 Churchill Family Holiday Movie Night

Here is the schedule for weeks 3, 4, and 5:

Nov. 26th: Love Actually (Widescreen Edition)

Nov. 30th: Deck the Halls

Dec. 1st: Badder Santa (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Dec. 2nd: Miracle on 34th Street

Dec. 7th: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Special Edition)

Dec. 8th: The Polar Express (Widescreen Edition)

Dec. 9th: A Christmas Story (Full-Screen Edition)

2011 Churchill Family Holiday Movie Night

Here is the schedule for weeks 1 and 2:

Nov. 9th: Home Alone

Nov. 10th: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York                                                                                             

         

Nov. 11th: Last Holiday (Widescreen Edition)     

                                                                                           

Nov. 16th: Mixed Nuts

Nov. 17th: Elf (Infinifilm Edition)

Nov. 18th: Four Christmases

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas....

I really love this time of year. The crispness in the air. The holiday music. The shopping. The cooking. The special time to treasure with family and friends. It's a busy time for me. I've already been busily cleaning, scrubbing and organizing, preparing for the Christmas season ahead. I would much rather be ahead of the game, instead of hurrying to find something on Christmas Eve. By being prepared and organized I'm able to enjoy the holidays with my family. One thing I strive for each and every year is to make the holidays as magical as I possibly can for my daughter. I enjoy being creative and finding things to do for my family. We have a few traditions we've started. Our favorite is what we like to call the Churchill Family Holiday Movie Nights. My husband and I are avid movie collectors(seriously it looks like a video store in our house. LOL), each year we write down all our holiday movies then figure out a movie "show time" based around work schedules and other events or things that we have to do. We typically watch about 3 movies a week.

Another thing I try and do is have at least one FUN event happen each week, starting the day after Thanksgiving. These things DO NOT need to cost a lot or any money at all. Just as long as you do SOMETHING as a family.
Over the next few weeks I will post traditions, schedules, tips and recipes to help your family enjoy the holidays as much as we do.

My FAMOUS Buffalo Chicken Nachos!!!

Don't you just love recipes that start because you are wanting a snack and you make something out of what you have? I developed this one when we had our friends over one night to watch movies. I have to admit it's become a favorite, especially with my husband, who loves anything that envolves anything that comes close to tasting like a hot wing. These are quick, easy, and taste delicious.


Crystal's Famous Buffalo Chicken Nachos

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast(*You can add more chicken if you like a lot of meat)
1 small can of diced green chilies
1(4 oz.) bottle of Moore's Buffalo Wing sauce(*We use the medium heat)
1 bag of Santitas tortilla chips(*those are the ones that are about $2 at Walmart)
1 small block of Velvetta cheese
Shredded cheese(*I buy the big bag just because we like A LOT of cheese)
*chicken bouillon cubes, this is not neccessary but I like boiling it with my chicken just for extra flavor
*Topping Choices-Salsa, Guacamole, black olives, diced onion, diced celery, ranch, sour cream,  fresh cilantro, jalepenos, banana peppers, refried beans, diced tomatoes, lettuce, etc....The list is endless!

1. First boil your chicken with a couple of bouillon. Boil it just until done(be sure to watch it, nothing worse than when chicken boils over on the stove.) Strain and shred once able to handle.
2. Pre-heat oven to 400 
3. Heat a skillet to medium heat(*roughly about a 5-6 on some stoves). Add a SMALL amount of butter, oil or you can just use a regular amount of cooking spray. Add the green chilies, a couple of spoonfuls of salsa and stir.
4. Next, add the shredded chicken and stir until until green chilies are mixed in well.
5. Stir in wing sauce and add a small amount of cheese. Turn heat off while you prep cookie sheet.
6. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
7. Take half the bag of chips and make a layer along the pan.
8. Grate some Velvetta(* remember a little Velvetta goes a long way) on top of chips.
9. Stir chicken mixture again and spoon most over top.
10. Sprinkle with some shredded cheese.
11. Top with remaining chips.
12. Add remaining chicken, some more shredded cheese and place into the oven until cheese is melted.
13. Lay out a towel or a couple of potholders where you plan on eating. (*we save on clean up and eat them right off that pan, it's usually cooled enough to eat off of by the time it gets to the living room)
14. Remove nachos from the overn, and top with your choice of toppings.
15. ENJOY!!

Like I said before this has become a family favorite. We even use it as a meal, because of how much there usually is once you add everything. Look forward to your feedback!
*The nachos in the picture are of course before we add all the stuff the hubby likes! :)

Buying curriculum at the Churchill house

I typically start shopping around for the next year's curriculum in April, then have them ordered by May. That way I have my daughter's plan written out but July 17th. Now I know to some people that seems a bit early to start school, but we do semi-year round homeschooling. Let me explain. My husband and I are both servers at the same resturant and we work opposite shifts/opposite days so we don't have to do daycare(saves money). I have 3 days off a week. So during the main part of the year we do homeschooling on those days. Then when winter hits, my husband and I both take a layoff. So through January through February we do school 5 days a week. We have our "holidays" and days when we just don't do school. In each subject my daughter has 180 lessons(180 days of school is required). So one way I keep up with where we are at, as long as she does all 180 lessons per subject, she has all of her required time in.

Now that I have that covered, back to the curriculum. When shopping for books and supplies for school I ALWAYS go through Amazon. I feel I get the best price and they always have what I am looking for. Sometimes I get the brand spanking new books, but usually it's the used/new books that I buy. I get a lot for my money.

Here is a list of the book series I use for each subject:

What Your Second Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Second Grade Education Revised (Core Knowledge Series)

Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers (Core Knowledge Series)

Science:

Daily Science, Grade 2

The Complete Book of Our Solar System

The Complete Book of Dinosaurs (Complete Book Series)

The Complete Book of Animals (The Complete Book Series)

Big Science Workbook

1001 Ways to Explore Science & Nature

Geography/Social Studies:

Daily Geography Practice: Grade 2

Social Studies-Tennessee: Schools and Neighbors(Houghton Mifflin)

Math:

The Complete Book of Math, Grades 1 - 2
The Complete Book of Time and Money(Carson-Dellosa)

Daily Math Practice, Grade 2

Reading:

Package of 2 Silver Burdett Ginn Readers / Make A Wish / A New Day 0663520649 / 0663520320 (World Of Reading Sterling Edition)

On the Horizon(Silver Burdett & Ginn)

Castles of Sand (Silver Burdett & Ginn)

Garden Gates, Level 6 (World of Reading)

English:

English Grade 2(Houghton Mifflin)

Daily Language Review, Grade 2
50 Month-by-Month Draw & Write Prompts: Engaging Reproducibles That Invite Young Learners To Draw & Then Write About Topics They Love.All Year Round!


Spelling:

Building Spelling Skills, Grade 2

Special Subjects
*Health Grade 2(McGraw Hill)

*Music(MacMillan)

*SRA Art Connections(McGraw-Hill)

Sign Language:
Signing Time Volume 1: My First Signs DVD
Random House Webster's Concise American Sign Language Dictionary

The Law of Attraction