Playing with our food

Waffle + banannas = Yummy fun!

(Maybe we'll do chocolate syrup and a cherry next time...Mmm)

Preschool skills

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it. ~Author Unknown


I'm finding out that gardening parallels alot of things in life.  Baking yields the same glorious results from the combination of sewing ingredients and patience you get wonderful results that you can take pride in because of your hard work. You may not necessarily enjoy every aspect, cleaning the kitchen afterwards... weeding... but the end result is what gets you thru it and makes it worthwhile. 

Now even school work too can be better enjoyed when the subject matter excites you and the end result is something you'll have longer than any flower or baked goodie; a life skill.

School work too can be like the hard work of pulling the weeds, especially in middle/high school with such large work loads, but only if you focus on the task at hand and not at the end result.  Hopefully instilling fun into the work when they are young will help a little in the long run :)

Thus, my dear Gavin enters the age of needing focused learning instead of just associated learning.  His teacher says he needs to work on his hand strength for writing and cutting skills.  I've noticed he needs help with fine motor skills, since the age of 2 really, and I guess instead of always saying 'It'll come in time' and working on things here and there, there's no time like the present to help speed the process a little more :)

*Starting with a layed back approach is best and let them cut scrap paper to their little hearts content.  Learning finger placement and how to open and close the scissors is key in this process.

*Next, move on to cutting lines.  You can draw out simple lines on paper to start but, to give them the desire and 'want' it may help to add pictures to the paper they are cutting. 

You can draw things or use a Word document page with dashes as I did and add some clipart, very simple!  You can even make it themed; animals to their habitat, foliage to the correct season, etc.

The best part is that these cutting line pages can be used for tracing excercises too!  You can also switch it up and make it a matching game.  The possibilites are endless!

*Then you can help further this skill by having them create a photo collage by cutting out their favorite photos from a magazine.  Again, this can be themed by cutting out certian colors, animals, or foods.  They will be so proud to see the masterpiece that they cut out themselves and look forward to it everytime until the skill is mastered!

Magnetic Tree Frogs

Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart. ~Russell Page

Ah yes, now this week is my kind of weather!  And it must be great for the tree frogs as well because it's this time of year that we see an influx of them attached to our windows.  Just yesterday the boys and I were watching one of the cute little fellas leave us a present as he was suction cupped to our back door, so I decided to put a magnet Science idea to use that I came across a few weeks ago. 

We talked about magnets and tested out what was 'magnetic' and was wasn't.  Then we made our own special 'Magnetic Tree Frog'

Paint a small paper plate green

Add spots if you'd like; hole punchers work great for small circles too

Our next step was to clean up the almost 100 cut holes that fell to the floor because it was hard for them to stop at just a few; saving them to use for other projects of course :)

Add the eyes and legs and you have a great little tree frog.  You can add a second plate stapled to the bottom and paint blue and add orange/red hands to complete the tropical tree frog look, but my boys just wanted red toes, have fun and make it your own!

I then hot glued a piece of magnet to end of a pipe cleaner.  I just cut some pieces from those free magnets you get on the front of telephone books, nothing fancy.  Then hot glue the other end of the pipe cleaner to the inside of the top plate.

My little guys were occupied for a while collecting flies for the frogs... paperclips :)

These would even be a great game to use at a birthday party to see which frog could catch the most flies!

Pre-K 4's for Gavin today!

Now it's Gavin's turn for Pre-K to start!  So proud of my big 4yr old!  No tears for anyone today, including me! 

Someone was raring to go this morning!  So much for my shy little guy!

Drop off couldn't have gone smoother today!  Both were super excited and eager to get going with their class!



I couldn't say the same so I made sure to keep busy while they were gone- doing laundry, paying bills, making phone calls I otherwise couldn't with my 2 loud speakers that are usually in the background.  I thought had done it, gone a couple of hours without both of them on my heals and my heart wasn't aching... that is until I stopped at the post office and the teller asked, 'No kids today?'  That was all I needed to hear, I missed them now... bad, standing there all by myself, not playing I Spy games while we wait in line, or having them to help ring the bell at the counter.  I actually felt guilty they weren't with me. 

Thankfully it was my last stop and I only had 15minutes of that feeling until I had to pick the 1st one up from school.  That was a test for sure, and I know now I have to keep busy, and to avoid places with familiar faces for the next week, like the Bank too, that might do me in if they offer a lollipop and no kids are there to receive one! 

But of course it's always worse for Mom than it is for the kids, their smiling faces and glorious stories of new experiences and friends always make growing-up a wonderful thing!  I can only savor these days and try not to look ahead to the future school and college yrs too much, it's a learning experience for me too and I'm glad we're all in it together!



Carter's Big Day!

Wednesday was a big day for Carter... his 1st day at preschool! He was so excited the day before and morning of and even a great sport about wearing the new uniform! I could see a little nerves were mixed into his smile in the morning, this was a new adventure and I'm sure he didn't know what to expect. But in the back of his little mind he had to know that it would be a fun because everyday Gavin went to school last year Carter kept saying he wanted it to be his turn, well, now it is!

As soon as he went into the school he greeted his teachers with arms extended for a big hug, told them 'Good Morning' like telling a good friend you hadn't seen in a while, and then stood in line and gave me one of the biggest smiles... he was soooo ready for this!


He was a pro at staying in line, singing their 'wheels on the bus' song they sang on their way to the classroom and even blowing a kiss to Jesus when they passed the cross in the hallway. I saw such a big guy walking away from me that day, it made me cry just like seeing Gavin on his 1st day, but this time it was for all different reasons. Gavin cried and they had to carry him or help hold his hand the 1st week of school until he knew the routine, where Carter was ready and willing and couldn't wait from day 1.

Such a proud little guy!

As with Gavin I had a freebie book bag from my Mother-in-Law that I was going to use for Carter but had to at least spruce up something. Carter also chose a 'cookie doggie' to put on his name label inside his bag.

And being our second yr at this wonderful school and having the same wonderful teachers I just had to give them a 1st day of school gift. I saw this saying somewhere and after jotting it down on Word and adding a photo clip, opted to have Carter help me make it for his teachers.

I also had a template for a mini popcorn box I printed out and had Carter help me color two. Then after taping up the seams, tying on the notes, and adding some mini cookies, there was a great little gift they were sure to enjoy!

If I had more time I would have made the cookies myself but I did have some refrigerated cookies on hand that I got for less than a dollar, boy I love utilizing coupons and Safeway sales together, we've spent tons less on so much this year! And I found if you cut the little circles into 4's and baked them for a shorter amount of time that they made the perfect size cookies for the little holder.

Now we'll see what's in-store for Gavin after Labor Day with his new school! All this fun excitement all over again...I can't wait!!!

School's on the horizon

Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox



We've been playing school this week in preparation of Carter's 1st time at preschool next week so I had to post some shots of the kiddos in action; and now that I look back I'm glad I got a picture of them in their pj's and rain boots the other day, I didn't realize at the time how cute they were!


I had divided our paper into 4's and got them trying to paint different patterns in each square. They were excellent listeners and really did imitate what I showed them; love that the fridge is now my teaching board!

Oh, the concentration they both had!

On the lines of painting and drawing, this is Carter's picture he drew all by himself last week, of course I helped him with his name, it' a rock monster from the Vegietales movie :)

They were even taking turns being a teacher, teaching each other letters and numbers all on their own after we reviewed some flash cards

We ended the week with a trip to Target to get the list of school supplies needed for Carter's classroom and came across a neat ice cube tray. The bottom of each cube has a silicone spot so you can push out the cube, ingenious! I decided to try out juice pops 1st just to see if it indeed was easy to pop out.

Love the tip of covering the tray with plastic wrap so the toothpicks stand straight, wish my Mom and I knew this when I was younger and making our own frozen treats :)

They came right out!

It worked great! Can't wait to try our using it as a mold to make candies next! Next it's off to get Gavin ready for when his preschool starts after Labor Day! They are so excited to make new friends, and I have say I'm excited about the same, it's always great to connect with other parents, meet at parks for the kids to play after school, and know there are life long relationships being built!

So grateful I can be home to enjoy all of these precious times! One day they'll be a distant memory but right now they're so much fun to partake in!

Blueberry Betty

It started with the purchase of a blueberry bush last week, then a great Safeway sale this week- 2 lbs of blueberries for $5, and then an online search for a new blueberry recipe to try out.

I came across many torte's, pies and jams but the recipe title 'Blueberry Betty' caught my attention, mainly because Betty was my Grandmother's name on my Father's side. Now granted as I sit here and think about it, I never thought of her when I saw 'Betty Crocker' or 'Brown Betty' recipes so I don't know why it stood out but it did so I had to make it.

If she were still here I would have loved to ask her if she ever had people call her Betty Crocker or if she tried any Brown Betty recipes since they indeed titled her name, but alas, she met the Lord a few years ago, but I'm sure she would have loved to try out this recipe!


*I didn't have leftover french toast so I opted to alter the recipe and it still turned out great! I dipped the bread in french toast batter (mine includes: eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar & cinnamon), layed bread on top of cooked blueberries, poured remaining batter over layers, and still sprinkled with powdered sugar and nutmeg.


Blueberry Betty


This uses leftover French toast. Make your French toast with challah for a special dish.

• 3 cups blueberries
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• French toast
• Powdered sugar
• Grated nutmeg (freshly grated is best!)

Method

Cook blueberries, sugar, salt and lemon juice for 10 minutes.

Pour into shallow baking dish and arrange slices of French toast on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and nutmeg.

Bake in preheated 425°F oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with cream if desired.

Serves 6.



I'm sure next time I'll defiantly use the recommended challah bread- that stuff makes anything taste good! But this go-round was pretty darn good, Big Grandma would defiantly approve!