Tot School and Weekly Meals

Of course, right as I was starting something new, I got sick and then Makenzie got sick. We started our Bb Tot School but only really did it for one day, with sporadic activities here and there so I'm going to wait to share until next week. Life happens...

Favorite Meal from Last Week:

Our favorite meal from last week was still the Chicken Fettuccine with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Grapes. This time I used a blue cheese that was better quality (and cheaper) from Trader Joe's. It added more depth to the sauce than the blue cheese I had bought at Vons last time. It was so so yummy. I think I could eat it every day.

What's for dinner this week?
Sunday:

• Chipotle

Monday:

• Lasagna Soup (a new recipe I found on Pinterest)
• Garlic Bread

Tuesday:

• Poor Man's Madeira
• Browned Butter Broccoli
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday:

• Asian Turkey Meatballs
• Brown Rice
• Green Beans

Thursday:

• Family Night

Friday:

• Baked Chicken with Spinach, Pears and Blue Cheese
• Quinoa

Saturday:

• Chicken bowls (gonna come up with it as I go...)

Tot School Tuesday - The Letter A and Days 1-3 of Creation

We're back to doing Tot School! Yay!!! As I mentioned last week we are using the Tot School Printables and I am making some of my own curriculum for Bible study. I'm still working out kinks with the Bible study portion so we only read three portions and did crafts for two but it's a start. :) We are in a new schedule now so I'm trying to figure out how many days we will be doing Tot School. Initially I thought we'd do five but now I'm not so sure. Bear with me as I work it all out.

Makenzie is 22.5 months

Letter Study: A

Bible Study: Creation

Bible verse: Song for Saplings-Psalm 17:8

Creation Day One:

After reading Genesis 1:1-5 we did a craft showing that God created day and night. Makenzie loved this craft and understood the concept after completing it. I didn't get any process shots because I was trying to make sure that the paint stayed on the table.

After we complete our 7 days of creation of I'll share how to create each of the creation crafts. 

Creation Day 2: We just read Genesis 1:6-8. I had a craft planned and we may go back and do it but it just wasn't going to work for us this week. 

Creation Day 3: We read Genesis 1:9-13. Then we went for a walk around our neighborhood and picked weeds and grasses from the empty lot as we learned about God creating plants, trees and land.

I put glue all over a piece of paper and let Makenzie make a collage out of the items we found. This was a great time to continue to talk to her about what God made and to question her about what she had learned so far.

When working with the letter A we started by singing "A-Apple; Psalm 17:8" on the Songs for Saplings, this is Makenzie's Bible verse for the week. By the end of the week she has memorized the verse, "Keep me as the apple of your eye. Psalm 17:8" as "Apple Eye" Psalm teen 8. Haha. I know that her vocabulary is still limited but I'm so thankful for this CD and the fact that she is memorizing scripture and we are able to talk about what the scripture means. Then we worked on the printables. I was blown away with how quickly Makenzie caught on and how quickly we moved through the printables. We didn't do all of the printables this week because Makenzie already fully recognizes the letter A in random places and fonts. The letters A and M are by far her "favorites."

We started by dot painting the letter A (while in her pajamas, heh). She isn't big into taking directions right now so I was worried that she would flip out and want to do her own thing but she watched as I modeled and followed suit. As she stamped I would say the letter and it's sound and soon she was saying it on her own. 

Next we drew a line from the upper case A to the lower case a. This was the one I really thought was going to take a few weeks to get. You can see initially she was dotting the page with the marker as she did with the dot painter then she decided to scribble on it. Once she finally slowed down and let me model for her, she got it and followed the lines. (I just got a laminator so I will be laminating this page so that she can use overhead markers on it and they can be reused throughout the week)

We also did a shape recognition page, which I didn't take any pics of. She was able to recognize and color the basic shapes (circle, triangle, square, star, heart and crescent) but still needs to work on rectangle, hexagon, oval and diamond.

Finally, she worked on a stamping page where she stamped As with a red stamp pad. This didn't keep her attention very long but I know that each activity will fluctuate from week to week. 

Here were some other fun learning opportunities this week:

We went on a family hike with our good friend Kyle. We had a lot of fun and we were able to again discuss God's beautiful creation.

Daddy taught her how to cut the Melissa and Doug cutting fruit.

And eventually she started doing it herself...

and then I let her cut her own banana for her snack...

Lately Makenzie has showed an interest in unloading the dishwasher. We were letting her put the cutting boards away but now she has the job of unloading the silverware, after I take the knives out of course. At first this was exciting for her but now it all depends on her mood. I am treating it as a chore though which means that it's something that needs to be done, by her. She's shed a few tears and thrown a few fits but we're working through it.

Here's what the silverware drawer looks like after she helps.

Well I think that sums up our week of Tot School. It was nice being back in the swing of things and I'm looking forward to getting everything fine tuned.

Don't forget to check out the 1+1+1=1 blog for more great ideas. I linked up with her weekly Tot School post.

Menu Planning 1/15 - 1/21

I didn't share my menu last week but we had some super yummy meals. First of all the Chicken Fettuccine with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Grapes from two weeks ago was amazing so we put it on the menu again this week. Seriously, you HAVE to try it. It sounds fancy, it tastes fancy but it was very easy and fairly inexpensive, especially if you get your cheeses at Trader Joes. Saturday we had French Dips from Our Best Bites and they were so easy (made in the crockpot) and so tasty.

This Week's Menu Plan

Sunday:

• Chicken Fettucine with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Grapes from Ezra Pound Cake  

Monday:

• Pork Chops With Smashed Potatoes and Chimichurri Sauce

Tuesday:

• Beef and Broccli with Brown Rice (new recipe)

Wednesday:

• Baked Chicken Taquitos & beans (from our Church website)

Thursday:

• Family night

Friday:

• Stromboli and Salad

Saturday:

• Girl's Night Out with Mommy Group

I'm linked up to I'm an Organizing Junkie's weekly Menu Plan Monday.

Back to (Tot) School

Although I haven't done any specific Tot School posts for awhile we have been doing activities at home. December was mostly "Truth in the Tinsel" which we loved, by the way. Before that we were doing Tot School activities, just not as planned and I wasn't blogging about them. I have taken some time to totally rework our Tot School and I'm super excited about it.

Doing Truth in the Tinsel with Makenzie opened my eyes to something I could have never imagined. Doing the crafts totally helped Makenzie to understand and remember what we had read in the Bible. She is still able to tell you that Zechariah was not able to talk, and that Jesus is the light and Jesus is the King. Not only that, but while the crafts were out, she would take the crafts to whoever was over at our house and show it to them and tell them the short phrase she learned from it like, "Zechariah no talking" or "Jesus is King." So I am taking this idea and running with it.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Bible stories are great but God has really been pressing on my heart to read the Bible to Makenzie. So each morning we will begin with reading a few verses from the NIrV Bible (New International Readers Version, which is at approx. a 3rd grade reading level) and doing a craft that goes with what we read. For the first seven days we will be reading and learning about the 7 days of creation as read in Genesis 1. I have it all planned out and I am so excited to share it with you.

In the afternoon I will be implementing the Tot School Printables from 1+1+1=1. We will begin with the letter A and move on from there, focusing on a new letter each week. I also purchased, at the suggestion of the 1+1+1=1 blog, "Songs for Saplings" which are songs focused on a memory verse for each letter of the Alphabet. The verses are short and the songs are repetitive so I'm hoping Makenzie will really take to them.

The teacher in me is SO excited to start this. I'm giddy like it's the first day of school tomorrow!

Buy Some

Makenzie is becoming quite the bossy little girl. Which really is a great quality but we are working on teaching her the best way to utilize her bossiness and being polite while doing so. Her newest thing is "Buy Some."

This is how it usually goes:
Makenzie: strawberries!
Mommy: Makenzie, how do you ask for strawberries?
Makenzie: Strawberries, please Mommy.
Mommy: Sorry Kenzie we are all out of strawberries.
Makenzie: Buy some.

Now this isn't usually a nice "buy some" it's more like, "What do you mean we don't have strawberries? Get to the store and buy some!"

Here's a video but she's a lot more kind in this situation than she usually is.

A New Year

I don't like New Year's Resolutions. I am not a good goal setter because I am often an overachiever. I set goals that sound great, only to not keep them and then feel like a total failure and totally discouraged. That's how I was with scheduling at home. 

As a teacher I had very specific allotted amounts of time for everything. 60 minutes for Reading, 30 minutes for Word Work, 45 minutes for Math, etc. Everything was very specific, I wrote my schedule down on the board each day along with the allotted times and we pretty much followed it verbatim. I tried this at home and it was of course a massive failure. 

A few months ago I sat down and made an ordered list of tasks I wanted to accomplish for that day. There were no times set and it all revolved around what I typically had planned for that day. It worked great! My floors got mopped three weeks in a row, which NEVER happens. 

There are so many times that I feel overwhelmed by all that I need to do. I have a hard time breaking it down and I can get anxious and stressed over the tasks at hand. Having this list helps to ease my mind. I know what I need to get done today and if there is something really messy, I know that there is a day during the week that I have set aside time to do this task and so it doesn't nag at me all day. 

I had to rework my lists today as our schedule is changing...again. So I thought I'd let you see a sneak peek of how I do it. This is the notebook that I keep all my scheduling, lists and dinner plans in. The picture above is just a rough draft, don't mind the sloppiness. Basically I've just written out all that I want to accomplish that day, in order. Some things remain on the list every day, like "Clean-Up Dinner & Living Room." Other things are tasks specific for that day, like "floors" and "kitchen (which means that I'm deep cleaning the kitchen)"

I have talked to mommies who want to schedule but are in the same predicament that I was in, a failed schedule leaves you feeling frustrated and completely unmotivates you. I have found this list to be the exact opposite. I am motivated by it and if I don't happen to complete something on the list I can rest in the fact that it's back on the schedule for next week. Also, my Saturdays and Sundays are very loosely planned which leaves time for family activities and finishing up any tasks that need to be completed. Saturday mornings are for relaxing and doing any chores that I didn't do but feel must be done, the rest of the day is open. Sundays we go to church and then Makenzie goes down for a nap while I clip coupons, make my meal plans, my grocery list and go grocery shopping. This has worked great for me! Do you have a system for organizing your day? I'd love to hear all about it!

My Favorite Memories of 2011

We were so blessed this year. I am beyond thankful for the blessing that I've had to be able to stay home with Makenzie for another year. We are all healthy and the Lord has blessed us beyond what I could have ever imagined. I am so thankful for our little family, as well as our parents and siblings who are such a blessing to us. I am also thankful for the friendships that have been strengthened and for rekindling a new friendship this year with our friends from Seattle, we were so blessed by them and cannot wait to carry on many more years of friendship (we are so looking forward to vacation with them this year!)

Makenzie has grown so much this year and has learned so much! I thank the Lord for His many blessings.

Here are some of my favorite memories from 2011:

The day Makenzie turned a year old.

Makenzie's first birthday party. Such a fun day!

Easter

Makenzie's Baby Dedication 

Our 4 year anniversary trip to Santa Barbara

Beach Trips

Disneyland

Sea World

Trips to the Splash Pad

Dirk's Surprise Birthday in Newport Stand-Up Paddle Boarding with some of his friends

Makenzie's first trip to the zoo

Tot School

  

Pumpkin Patch

Halloween

Potty Training

Decorating for Christmas

 

 

Our annual visit to see the Christmas lights

 

Our final visit to Sea World

Menu Planning 12/27 to 12/31

I haven't posted my menu plan the past couple of weeks because we have hardly eaten at home. This week isn't entirely different but I have a few recipes I'm excited to try so I'm posting what little we are eating at home.

This Week's Menu Plan

Monday:
Recovery from Christmas


Tuesday:

• Much needed date night

Wednesday:

• Chicken Fettucine with Blue Cheese, Walnuts and Grapes from Ezra Pound Cake (new recipe)

Thursday:

• Benchiladas from Annie's Eats

Friday:

• Oven Baked Frito Pie from Sweet Treats and More (this is a new spin on an old favorite for us)

Saturday:

• New Year's Eve Party. Not exactly sure what I'm making but I know it will include these Baked Jalepeno Poppers. My brother made them for my other brother's engagement party and they were SO yummy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas friends! I hope you all had a very blessed day. We were so abundantly blessed this year. It is so much fun to have a child who is starting to get the excitement of Christmas. Just too much fun!!! I have a lot of pics to share but here's one of my favorites that Dirk's awesome step-mom took. Love the look on Makenzie's face as she's answering the phone on her brand new kitchen.

Photo by DeeDee Dallas

Crib to Bed, Bed to Crib

So earlier this week, Makenzie fell out of her crib again. This time though, I was peeking through the crack in her door watching her because she was upset. I watched her literally throw herself out of the crib. She didn't climb, she was desperate and she threw herself out of the crib. I ran into her room but of course it wasn't fast enough to catch her. She got quite a little rug burn on her head but she was okay. Of course that was the end of that. She's obviously having sleep anxiety and there was no way that I was going to let her stay in her crib.

The next day, Dirk converted her 4-in-1 crib to a toddler bed and she and I went shopping for new sheets, hoping that this would entice her to sleep in her bed. She picked out a fuzzy Rapunzel blanket and carried it all over the store.

We read books in her new bed and acted like it was the best thing that ever existed. Well she wasn't convinced. She loved sitting in it but when it came to sleep, it did not go over well. When she finally fell asleep for her nap she woke up 30 minutes later in a panic. The first night, once she finally fell asleep, she woke up at 1:00 screaming and in a panic, standing in the middle of her room. The sleepy me, grabbed her and put her in bed with us, which I know was a bad choice but I wasn't thinking right. The next day, naptime went the same way and she woke up in a panic at 4:00 in the morning. This time I laid on her floor with my pillow and a blanket and she went back to sleep. I got no sleep and she kept waking up and not putting herself back to bed.

Although I was planning on sticking with it, we decided that she's just not emotionally ready for a bed yet. She's already having sleep anxiety and then add in a new sleep situation, it's just not working. So, Dirk had the great idea to put the crib back up and then keep the mattress on the floor.

It's been the perfect situation. She's still crying a bit to go to sleep but she's not desperately crying and she puts herself to sleep and stays asleep. Praise the Lord! She has been so moody and so trying these past few days. If Dirk wasn't here to help, I think I'd be out of my mind. Just another bump in this journey called parenthood. :)