Simply Alicia

Tot School and Weekly Meals

2012-01-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

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:

Saturday:

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

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

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-16T18:08:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-06T12:11:00.001-08:00

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

2012-01-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-12-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

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. :)

DIY Bowling Set

2011-12-19T14:01:00.001-08:00

I have wanted to make a DIY bowling set for Makenzie for quite some time. I finally got my hands on enough empty coffee creamer bottles that I decided to make it as a Christmas gift for her. I got inspiration from several different blogs and ended up with this.

It's so easy and so cheap and I'm hoping that Makenzie will have lots of fun with it!

What do you need?

10 clean empty plastic containers, if you're just now washing them it's okay if they're a little wet.
glue gun
10 different acrylic paints (I just bought the cheap $.79 paints from Michaels) just get solid colors glitter or pearlescent leaves a horrible streaking and uneven coverage.
nail polish remover and cotton balls

How do you do it?

First you'll take the labels off of the bottles.

Put a different color paint in each botte, you may have to play with the amount, start with less, add more if needed. If your paint is fairly thin then you're good to go, if it's a little thicker add up to 1/2 tsp of water. If you're not sure move on to the next step and adjust if needed.

Put the lid on well and shake it up, lightly hitting the sides so that the color disperses over the whole bottle. If you're not making this as a gift, this is a step that the kids would love to do. Drain excess paint.

Take off the lids and let the bottles dry at least overnight, some may take longer depending on how much paint was left in the bottle.

When bottles are dry, replace the lids. Use nail polish remover and cotton ball get to get the ugly "use by date" off. (don't mind my nasty, unmanicured fingernails)

Then use a hot glue gun to glue the lids tight so tiny hands can't open them.

I chose to include a larger ball since Makenzie is still young and needs some work on her gross motor skills but if you have older kids you would want to include a smaller ball.

Voila! I already had the ball and the containers and I had a coupon for Michales so the cost to make this was less than $7, plus I have lots of paint left over for other projects. Yay!!! Now to see if she thinks it's as great as I do. :)

Christmas Toys

2011-12-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

This past week I've been observing the toys Makenzie plays with so I know which toys I can put away to make room for the new toys coming soon to a crowded house near you. Heh. I'm always trying to research toys on the internet and talking to other parents to see what their kids played with. If you're still looking for gifts to get your little one, here are some of the toys Makenzie has loved this past year.

LeapFrog's My Pals Violet or Scout. Makenzie got this last Christmas and liked it but she continues to love it more and more. A few of her little friends have one and they love theirs as well. It's personalized to say the child's name and sing songs to the child. So cool!

Laugh & Learn Fun With Friends Musical Table - Fisher Price Toys - Laugh & Learn. Makenzie doesn't play with this a ton now but it does still get some play time. She got this as an early Christmas present last year and played with it ALL the time. It's great because the legs are made to come off so that the tabletop can sit on the floor so babies who aren't standing yet can still play with it. It's been a hit with many kids that have come over. (Look at my tiny baby!)

LeapFrog's Shapes & Sharing Picnic Basket. My brother bought this for Makenzie. She has always liked it but recently really started to play with it. It has shape sorting and fun songs and of course the element of pretend play which Makenzie is totally into now. She brings us food over and over again. She sets up the whole picnic, puts it away and sets it up again. Love this toy!

Little Tykes Cozy Coupe. What kid doesn't love this?

Books. Makenzie LOVES books, as do I. Some of her favorites this year were:

Tails by Matthew Van Fleet

Heads by Matthew Van Fleet

Brown Bear, Brown Bear & Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle

Way Down Deep In the Deep Blue Sea by Jan Peck

Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz

Tomorrow I'll share some of the things she's going to be getting this year along with a fun DIY Christmas present.

The Day We Bought a Gate

2011-12-11T22:40:00.001-08:00

While Makenzie was a VERY difficult baby she is pretty easy toddler. For sure she has meltdowns and throws fits but she is typically well mannered, loving and hilarious! Last Thursday she threw us for a loop!

I went into her bedroom around 12:15am, as I do every night to check on her, pray over her and cover her up if I feel like it's too cold. This night, I covered her up and immediately she was awake. Great...

I tried to lay her back down and tell her it's still "nigh-night time" but it was a no-go. I picked her up and cuddled her for a little bit and then tried to put her back in her bed again, which has always worked, but she literally freaked out, more than I have ever seen before, screaming and desperate. By this time, it's like 12:40 and all I want to do is go to sleep so I decide that I will take her into our bed, coax her to bed and put her in her back in her crib. Mind you, she LOVES her crib and anytime I've ever tried to put her in our bed she says, "No, Kenzie bed." So I figured this night would be no different. She was wide awake, so around 1:15 I decide to try her in her bed again. I put her in her bed, she fought it but I laid her down, patted her back and coaxed her to sleep. I creeped into our bed, got comfortable and suddenly I hear Makenzie screaming "Mommy!" and freaking out like some stranger is in her room and taking her. Seriously we've never heard her scream like that before.

So I get out of bed, only to hear her close by. I look down our hallway and see her standing at the top of the stairs! Within the, maybe, 30 seconds it took for me to get out of bed and get to her room (which is right across from ours), she had gotten out of her crib and was down the hall standing at the top of the stairs yelling, "Mommy!" I freaked out! I yelled, "Makenzie, stop!" ran and grabbed her. This startled Dirk and he came running out and I told him what happened. I was shaking, she was sobbing uncontrollably and Dirk was like a deer in the headlights. I was scared not only because she was at the top of the stairs which we had no gate on, but also because I had no idea how she was out of her crib. To this day I have no idea how she got out of her crib so quickly in the desperate manner she was in. Seriously, I. DO. NOT. KNOW. She has never even showed interest in getting out of her crib and hasn't since. Dirk and I have tried to talk over every possibility but nothing makes sense, unless she literally jumped out of her bed and the Lord saved her from injury. I don't even know.

Needless to say, we bought a baby gate the next day.

Now I'm just praying that she's not starting to have nightmares. Yesterday she woke up suddenly from her nap screaming and sobbing and yelling, "Daddy!" in the same desperate manner that she was the other night. She has never had any issues like this before. Even when she does awake she usually just plays in her crib for awhile and sings or talks. I researched night terrors and nightmares and it definitely sounds like nightmares as she is distraught and remembers whatever it is that has startled her awake. I tried to ask her why she was screaming but she wasn't able to tell me. Toddlers aren't able to differentiate reality from dreams so I guess that makes things even more scary. I'm just praying that this isn't going to be a reoccurring thing. It's so sad.

Our Christmas Card

2011-12-09T15:39:00.001-08:00

Seriously, I love Shutterfly. We just ordered our Christmas cards and I think they turned out so cute! Big props to my hubby who rushed home from work to take some quick pics so I could get in on Shutterfly's great deal!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Truth in the Tinsel: Days 3 and 4

2011-12-04T22:50:00.001-08:00

The crafts for days 3 & 4 didn't allow for a lot of involvement from Makenzie basically I put glue on and she glued whatever needed to be glued. Despite her lack of involvement, the conversation was great and she's really getting it!

First was Zechariah. We learned that Zechariah didn't believe what the angel Gabriel said when he told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would have a son so God shut his mouth so he wasn't able to talk. Makenzie says, "Zechariah, no talking." The bubble over the mouth really helped her to understand that.

The next day was the angel. We read about the angel Gabriel again but this time he came to Mary to tell her that she was going to bear a child and He would be the messiah.

These crafts are really helping Makenzie to see the concepts I'm teaching in a concrete way. I'm so thankful for this book!

Menu Planning and Chicken Parm Recipe

2011-12-04T14:24:00.001-08:00

Well, we are going to be gone a lot this coming week so our menu is scant. I didn't post last week for the same reason but I ended up trying a recipe that we really like so I thought I'd share. It is a chicken parmesan bake that I found on Pinterest.

Chicken parm is one of the first dishes I ever made for Dirk and has since become his favorite, in fact I searched my blog and found that I have never posted my recipe here so I must do that soon! Anyway, this recipe doesn't compare to our typical chicken parm but it is SO easy to make, very few ingreditents and there's very little clean-up, can't beat that for a busy December night. I served it with zucchini but it would be super yummy with a fresh salad. There are a few things that I would change in the recipe which are expressed in the recipe below.

Chicken Parm Casserole
adapted from: Foodwishes Blog

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
hot red pepper flakes, to taste (I omitted these)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to 1/2 to 1/4 inch
pinch salt
2 cups marinara (don't measure just eyeball it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (you can use dried if you'd like, just sprinkle on top)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella (I eyeball this because we like lots of cheese)
4 oz. parmesan, shredded
1 5-oz pkg garlic croutons

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In the bottom of a baking dish (whichever size will fit your chicken) spread olive oil, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes. Season your chicken breasts with a little salt. Place chicken breasts on top of the olive oil mixture.

Pour and spread approx. 2 cups of marinara (Don't bust out a measuring cup, just make sure that the chicken breasts are covered with marinara). Sprinkle the chopped basil on top of the marinara. Sprinkle approx. 4 oz. grated mozz. and approx. 2 oz. grated parm. on top of the marinara. Put the garlic croutons on top of that. Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top of the croutons. Pop in the oven for about 35 minutes or until your chicken is at 160 degrees. Enjoy!

So what's on the menu this week?

Sunday:

Italian Subs (recipe to come)
Chips
Fruit

Monday:

Tuesday:

Lemon Chicken Breasts (new recipe from Barefoot Contessa)
Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms (new recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
Smashed Red Potatoes

So the rest of the week we have something going on so no need to plan dinner. Yay!

Truth in the Tinsel - Day Two

2011-12-02T12:48:00.001-08:00

Today went much better than yesterday did. We read part of the scripture assigned and talked about how Jesus is the King forever.

Truth in the Tinsel - Day One

2011-12-01T10:25:00.001-08:00

So we did our first day of Truth in the Tinsel. I was so excited to start but Makenzie is in a bad mood today. Usually she will sit and listen to me read and will sit nicely and do any craft I give her. Not today, she cried when I wanted to read to her and she had a fit trying to do the craft. She was not cooperating like she usually does. We did get to read after much coaxing and about half way through the craft she had a meltdown. She's just not in a good mood today. Here's her finished craft. There are holes but that's what we could get done today. :)

I introduced the concept by holding the candle away from the tree and telling her that before Jesus came the world was dark. Then I put it on the tree and let the lights light it up and said with Jesus there is light. So today we are learning, "Without Jesus it was dark, with Jesus it is light." She's getting it so far. I'm hoping that tomorrow will go much better than today did!!!

Truth in the Tinsel

2011-11-28T10:36:00.001-08:00

For the past month I have been searching for an advent calendar. A true advent calendar, not just a countdown to Christmas but a countdown that has the meaning of Christmas interwoven with it. I struggled to find something, until this weekend when Carissa from my favorite blog 1+1+1=1 posted a teaser pic on her Facebook page. She posted about something called "Truth in the Tinsel". I was immediately intrigued. I did a little more research and after talking it over with Dirk, we decided that this is what we are going to do this year and I'm SO excited!

So essentially, Truth in the Tinsel is an ebook that a mom, Amanda, put together to countdown to Christmas. Each day you are given a short passage of scripture to read, and a fun craft to go with it, along with other fun things like clues that can be used for guessing the project for older kids. The target age is preschool but the mom who created this has been using this with her daughter since she was a year old so it can be modified. Although some of the crafts might be too difficult for Makenzie, it appears as though it will be something that I can modify for her. The best part is that the ebook is only $4.99 and most of the supplies are things that you probably already have at home. I am so so excited to start this.

I love how Carissa from 1+1+1=1 has hers set up in brown paper bags. I think I'm going to do something similar. There are only a few days before the first of December so I need to get on it. If you are looking for something to do with your kids I highly suggest it!

Menu Planning 11/20 - 11/26

2011-11-20T15:34:00.001-08:00

How last week's menu went:

This week was a weird one. Kenzie got sick in the car on the way to MyGym on Tuesday morning so from there on it was a crazy week. Then on Friday I had a headache that turned into a gnarly migraine by that night and didn't go away until Saturday afternoon. We ordered pizza on Tuesday and had grilled hamburgers on Saturday so the menu didn't get followed as planned.

Favorite meal from last week:
Chicken Tortilla Casserole (no picture). I've made this several times before but it was always too spicy. This time I omitted the chipotle peppers and used 1/4 cup of salsa instead. The roasted corn helped to add to the charred taste to the casserole. It was really yummy. All three of us gobbled it up quick and it was easy clean-up which is always a plus!

This Week's Menu Plan

Sunday:

Special Treat: Miguels! Going shopping at the mall so we'll eat there.

Monday:

Chili (carried over from last week)
Bread

Tuesday:

Chicken Gyros (new recipe from Annie's Eats)
Homemade Pitas
Greek Quinoa (probably use a variation of this recipe but add cucumber)

Wednesday:

Taco Salad

Thursday:

Thanksgiving!

Friday:

Family Dinner

Saturday:

Roast Chicken with Carmelized Shallots (another favorite from Annie's Eats, can you tell I love that blog???)
Broccoli
Mashed Potatoes

I am linked up to I'm an Organizing Junkie, great blog if you haven't checked it out yet!

A Mom's Purpose

2011-11-16T11:52:00.001-08:00

About 2 months ago we started doing family devotions at the dinner table. Although Makenzie isn't always a fan of sitting still after we're done eating, she sits through them and actually takes in what Dirk is reading. This led Makenzie to ask for devotions every time we eat and to pray for anything that she is about to eat. Whether it's a meal or a goldfish cracker, we thank the Lord for it.

For our evening devotions Dirk reads from "Our Daily Bread" which is something that his grandfather did at the dinner table and so Dirk carries on the tradition. After breakfast or lunch I read one of Makenzie's Bible story books.

Our favorite is The Jesus Storybook Bible.

But we also read The Beginners Toddler Bible

My First Story Bible

Really Woolly Bedtime Prayers

and of course the Bible itself.

This week while reading "A Mom After God's Own Heart" for a Mommy Study that I'm co-leading with a friend, I read Deuteronomy 6:5-9:

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

I have read these verses many times and have heard it quoted even more than that, but this time the Lord really spoke to me. One of my biggest struggles in being a stay-at-home-mom is losing sight of the purpose. Coming from a position where I was constantly getting feedback and progressing and finding successes and making a difference in lives of many children, I find myself wondering if I am doing things right. I feel like every week I'm doing the same tasks, only to redo them the following week. Am I doing my job? Am I making a difference for Lord? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Of course Makenzie is healthy and happy and thriving which is, in a sense a measure of success, but wouldn't she still be healthy, happy and thriving if I weren't at home with her?

These verse in Deuteronomy give me a new sense of purpose, a renewed sense of why I'm staying home and what my goal is. The measure of success is: Am I allowing God to be in me every second of every day? Am I compromising in any way? Am I teaching Makenzie the things of the Lord at every opportunity and holding myself in a way that shows that God's Word is in my heart? Am I living in such a way that there is room only for God?

My goal is to live a life of purpose, where every single thing I do has purpose. That doesn't mean that I have to be filling up my every minute but it does mean that if I'm watching TV there is a purpose for it, such as to relax and unwind or to relax to prepare for the rest of the day. It's about making everything a choice and doing nothing mindlessly. My goal is to DILIGENTLY teach the things of the Lord to Makenzie. To talk of the things of the Lord ALL day long. To remember them and to meditate on them.

I have had a personal conviction the past few months to listen to very limited amounts of non-Christian music, if any at all. I'm not saying that's for everyone but for me, as I listen to Makenzie sing the words to ANY song that we play, god put on my heart that I should be filling her mind with the things of the Lord not ideas without godly purpose. I understand that not every person would agree but this is a choice that I have made because of the burden God has put on my heart. In the end, my ultimate desire is to be a woman of God, a woman of purpose and to raise children of purpose. When I'm feeling discouraged or purposeless I will return to this verse and meditate on it. Evaluating whether or not I am truly living for the Lord.

Menu Planning 11/13 - 11/19

2011-11-13T22:13:00.001-08:00

Most of the meals I made this week were new recipes and we were pleasantly surprised by them. I will probably make the Asian Turkey Meatballs again but with less ginger.

The chimichurri pork chops were really yummy, made them with mashed potatoes instead of garlic rice pilaf because I realized that would be way too much garlic in one meal.

So what's on the menu for this week?
Sunday:

Dallas Family Tacos

Monday:

Chicken Costolleta
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans

Tuesday:

Honey Sauced Chicken
Brown Rice
Broccoli

Wednesday:

Chicken Tortilla Casserole (Annie's Eats)
Roasted Corn

Thursday:

Family Dinner

Friday:

Balsamic Roasted Chicken

Saturday:

Chili

I am linked up to I'm an Organizing Junkie, great blog if you haven't checked it out yet!

Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

2011-11-07T22:09:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, when the weather was still a million degrees, I came across Rachel Ray's recipe for Mexican Chicken Lime Soup. One of my favorite things about fall and winter are the cozy dishes like homemade chicken pot pie, and chili (anyone have a chili recipe they love?) and stew and soup. Dirk doesn't love any of the aforementioned but he will tolerate them on occasion because he knows that I love them. When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it because I can usually entice Dirk to eat anything that has limes in it.

After looking over the ingredients list, I realized I was going to make quite a few changes to the recipe both for cost purposes and our personal preferences. We don't do spicy and I didn't want to buy a can of chipotle chiles to barely use any. I already had the Pace Salsa Verde on hand from making these very yummy baked taquitos. The smokiness from the smoked paprika in the salsa was a good replacement for the chipotle chiles with little to no heat added. I highly suggest that you buy the salsa and make the taquitos another night, they're so easy and SO yummy!!!

The best part of this meal is that it is versatile, you can add whatever frozen veggies you have on hand although our mixture was so yummy!

Mexican Chicken Lime Soup
inspired by Rachel Ray
Yields 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup Pace Salsa Verde (see above notes for another, super yummy, use for this salsa)
6 cups chicken broth
Trader Joe's fire-roasted corn (or any bag of frozen corn), I just "eyeballed" it, about half a bag
1 regular sized can black beans
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
Salt and Pepper
1 hass avocado, thinly sliced lengthwise into 12 pieces (or 2 avocados sliced thicker...we love avocados!)
Crushed tortilla chips
shredded cheddar cheese, mexican blend or cotija cheese (optional)

Directions:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, lower the heat to medium and cook until the onion begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Remove the sauteed garlic and onion onto a plate. Increase the heat to high, add the chicken and cook, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and onion, salsa verde and chicken broth. Once it's all mixed together add in the frozen corn and black beans. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, skimming any foam. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.

Place 2 avocado slices in each of 6 soup bowls and pour in the soup. Top with the tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Budget Cuts...Menu Planning

2011-11-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

Our grocery bill was beginning to get ridiculous and we are on family budget cuts so something needed to be done. Last month we were spending about $130 a week on groceries, that was just for food. Everyone kept telling me how their grocery bill has also gone up so I just accepted it, but after looking at our recent spending we decided that we needed to cut our grocery bill. I am happy to say, that for the past three weeks, our highest grocery bill was $103 the other two weeks were in the high 80s. Our grocery bill includes breakfast, lunch and snack for 7 days and typically dinner for 6 days.

So how did I cut it down? Truth is I'm cutting coupons but I rarely use them. I have been paying attention to our local grocery ads, and have realized that my first problem was shopping at the wrong grocery store. I always had manufacturer coupons from Ralphs that were tailored to my past purchases so I figured I'd be saving the most there but I have learned that Vons has the best sales on meat and produce which are our two biggest expenses. I pretty much only buy things on sale and have been saving about 30% each week, with very minimal coupons. I am also happy to say that while our meals are much less "fancy" we are still eating very few processed foods and getting our veggies and fruits in. We are learning that we don't buy fruits, veggies or meat because they sound good, but rather because they are on sale.

I know I had mentioned that I was going to do a recipe link up but in looking around the internet, there are already a ton of link ups out there and being honest with you, and myself, I'm not going to be able to commit to doing something every single week without fail. It's just not realistic for me right now. With that said, my plan is to share our menu for the coming up week as frequently as possible and give an update from the previous weeks menu. I have really loved reading these posts on other blogs and have start pinning some recipes from them.

Okay, so here's our menu for this week:

Sunday:

Mexican Chicken Soup (recipe to follow tomorrow)

Monday:

Pork Chops with Chimichurri Sauce (Food Network)
Garlic Rice Pilaf (one of my favorite side dishes, from Annie's Eats)
Green Beans

Tuesday:

Apple Cider Chicken (Food Network)
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli

Wednesday:

Asian Turkey Meatballs w/ Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce (The Girl Who Ate Everything)
Brown Rice

Thursday:

Family Dinner

Friday:

Pizza

Saturday:

Friend's wedding

I am linked up to I'm an Organizing Junkie, great blog if you haven't checked it out yet!

Potty Training Update

2011-11-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Potty training is going great! I decided not to do any of the "shotgun" potty training methods, mainly because we didn't have three days in a row that we could dedicate to potty training until December.

Day One: For most of the day, I kept her in just a long sleeve shirt and socks, no pants and no panties. I put her on the potty every half hour and gave her lots of liquids. We didn't have any pee pee accidents. I did catch her right as she started to poo (luckily with panties on) and quickly got her on the potty but it was a little too late. She wore a pull-up for nap and woke up dry. We had her MyGym party that night so I put her in a diaper around 5 when we left.

Day Two: I couldn't handle just sitting in the living room potty training any longer so we went upstairs so that I could clean. She did okay but got caught up playing and peed on the floor. The good news was that she told me right away, "uh-oh!" so it was obvious that she understood that she had peed. Other than that we had a good potty day.

Day Three: We didn't do any potty training. We went to church, came home, had lunch, she napped for three hours!!!! and then we had dinner and a movie night with my family so there wasn't any time for potty training. I was worried this would set her back but it didn't.

Day Four: We were back to hard core potty training. She told me five times she had to potty, one of which was a poo! I was so excited, as was she BUT as soon as she saw it in the potty she was totally disgusted and was not happy about it. We didn't have any accidents. :)

So far I have learned that:
1. M&Ms and stickers are great incentives, especially when your child has never had a piece of candy in her life. She picks a sticker and gets one M&M every time she goes in the potty.

2. I may feel like a crazy person, but every time she goes in the toilet it's like a big party. She loves it and totally joins in.

3. It's fun for her to tell others what she's doing and letting them celebrate with her. For example, when we see my mom I say, "Makenzie, tell Grammy what you did in the potty today." and Kenzie says with bright eyes, "Poo poo in the toilet!" and then my mom gets all excited. It makes Makenzie proud again of her accomplishments and keeps the enthusiasm up.

4. Potty training is not convenient. You have to stop whatever your doing when you hear the word, "potty!" even if that means that you have to jump out of the shower, mid shower, dripping wet to help your kid on the potty. Heh.

5. Consistency is key, but if an occasional diaper or pull-up gets wet, it's not the end of the world.

We definitely don't have it down pat, but we're getting there. Makenzie definitely understands what the urge to potty is and I think that's more than half the battle. I'll keep you updated as time goes on.