My Preschooler Is Bossy and Our Summer Lesson Plans

I have three-year-old going on thirteen.  Or at least she tells us every second, of every minute, of every hour that she is in fact a big girl now.  This is proven, she says, because she can brush her own teeth and do her own hair and she looks like a princess.  Goodness gracious!

One night this week we were all outside working in our yard.  As hubby and I are mulching, princess starts bossing us around.  Jared (hubby) says, "Maggie, you're going to make a great CEO one day."  With hands on her hips and full of sarcasm she respond, "You sure about that daddy?  Are you really sure?!"  Seriously people, I can't make this stuff up.  She's a smart little cookie and she knows it, so I'm going to try and harness her big girl attitude into some productive learning this summer.  She wants to be a big girl?  Then bring it on sister!

It's perfect timing to see if the munchkins living in my house and I can work together productively, and without too much injury.  I've been researching homeschool education, mostly because I think God is pushing me to (research that is, not so sure about the actual homeschooling just yet).  Week one is in the books and I have to admit, it went pretty smoothly...better actually.  Both Maggie and I seemed to enjoy it.  We'll see how we are come August.

Here's what we've planned for the summer.

I asked Maggie what her goals were for the summer.  I had to explain what goals meant but she got it and after thinking all of 10 seconds answered:

1. Learn to write my alphabet
2. Learn to tie my shoes
3. Learn to swim in the deep end without floaties

#1 I can handle.  #2 and #3 terrify me a little bit.

Activity Calendar
I'm a wee bit type A.  I keep a chalkboard calendar in our laundry room, a printed planner, an Outlook calendar and and iPhone calendar.  I like calendars.  So does Maggie.  She asks every morning what we're doing and where we are going so I created her a calendar (naturally).

This is just an inexpensive magnetic 7-day calendar from Target.  I made magnets using graphics and words for each activity she may have that week.  I also made smaller weather magnets.  Free graphics can be found online with a simple Google search of what you're looking for.  Each Sunday evening at bed time we check the week's weather and she puts the corresponding magnet next to each day. Then I tell her what activities she has and she fills the calendar.  This gives her that little bit on independence she's craving.


Bob Books
We've started reading Bob Books - Alphabet and Pre-Reading Skills.  This is mostly review for her because she knows her shapes and the alphabet, but she's not quite ready to read. She says she loooooves the books so I'll take that as a big thumbs up.

Bob Books - Alphabet

Bob Books - Pre-Reading Skills

Pre-K Homeschool Curriculum - Letters, Writing, and Math
The best $15 you'll ever spend on your kids education is ConfessionsofaHomeschooler.com's Pre-K "Letter of the Week" printables.

We just finished with the letter 'A' this week and Maggie loved all the activities and games.  It's not just learning her letters but it's also writing, logic, math, sorting, puzzles, etc.  Each week Maggie chooses the letter she wants to work on and at the end of the week she puts a sticker on the letter we completed - I found a letter chart in a pre-K workbook we had and hung it on the fridge.

She said she wanted to do B next week because, duh, it comes after A.  Until she realized that "popcorn" starts with P and if we did P she could have popcorn.  Then she also figured out playdough starts with P and we could make playdough.  So now we're doing P.  I told you -- smart cookie!

Tying
This is 100% her idea and not mine.  Teaching my 3 year-old to tie a ribbon and shoes sounds like as much fun as, well, nothing.  It sounds horrible.  But she asked so I'm going to do my best.  Pray for me.
I've found some great resources though and one I particularly like is this shoebox idea.

Camps - Science, Art, and Swim Lessons
Because I'm pretty sure I nearly failed every science class I ever took, I've enrolled her in this awesome class called "Meet the Quirkles."  The material is available to anyone, any where but we're really lucky to live just a town away from it's creator, Terri Johnson, who teaches Meet the Quirkles at her business Fiction, Facts, & Fun.

She'll also do a one-week painting camp and take weekly swim lessons because (a) painting is her favorite thing and (b) learning to swim is necessary, essential and critical.

Wish me luck friends!  Either this is going to go really well, or she's going to stay in the shallow end all summer, wear velcro shoes and go back to school with her little g's still looking like balloons.

Blessings always,

Almond Flour Banana Bread

I will not diet.  Will not.  I refuse. Anyone else with me?  I just don't get dieting.  Why do something for the short term, rather than make changes for your lifetime?  Sure I could stand to loose a few pounds, and if I stopped all this baking that would probably happen, but I would be one very cranky, not much fun lady.  You would not want to be my friend if I stopped baking. Instead, several years ago I started paying just a little more attention to the food I make and eat.

It started with a very small, simple change -- I started reading food labels.  Anything with corn syrup didn't go in my shopping cart.  If sugar or salt was in the first few ingredients, we didn't buy it. That was it.  Over the next few years, especially when we started having kids, I made more changes -- a little organic here, a little more protein there.  Then I moved next to this gal name Jen. Jen is nearly the polar opposite of me and that's why I love her so.  She started introducing me to ingredients like coconut oil and spelt flour, and that started more small changes in how I cook and bake.

Just the other day I had a big "ah ha" moment.  Ever have those? I literally stopped in my tracks at the grocery store -- nearly everything in my cart came from the produce or refrigerator sections.  The only isle I had gone down was to buy almond flour and xanthum gum. Say what?!?  In that moment I realized I had really changed how my family ate.  And that gave me joy.  

Here's a new banana bread recipe that my family, and all our friends who stop by to have some, love.  Bake it. Love it.  But don't expect your normal banana bread.  It's a little gooey in the center and has crusty edges.  The recipe posted below was adapted from the orignal recipe posted here: http://www.thewannabechef.net/2012/06/04/almond-flour-banana-bread/ 

Makes 1 Loaf

• 2 C Almond Flour
• 3/4 C Sucanat
• 3/4 t Cinnamon
• 1/2 t Nutmeg
• 3/4 t Baking Powder
• 1/2 t Kosher Salt
• 4 Organic Eggs
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
• 2 T Raw Honey
• 3 Mashed Over-ripe Bananas
• 1 t Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 C Walnuts
• 1/2 C Dark Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl combine the almond flour, Sucanat, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl mash the bananas.  Add the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla.  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, just until combined.  

Fold in the walnuts.
Pour 1/3 of the batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle in 1/3 of the chocolate chips. Repeat until all batter and chips are in the pan.  Sprinkle additional walnuts on top.

Bake for 1 hour, give or take a couple minutes -- do the toothpick test.

Let the loaf cool completely before removing it from the pan.

Ingredients:

Almond Flour - Almond flour is high in protein  low in carbs and low in sugar, and a great wheat-free alternative for baking. To be it's decadent and by itself smells and taste like a good cake or tarte. 

Sucanat - This is a brand of very minimally processed cane sugar.  Unlike refined sugar, Sucanat maintains most of the molasses from the originally sugar cane.  It's the same calorie count as granulated sugar but it has good vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

If you're like me you may be anxious for fall to sweep in and cool down these temperatures.  Bring on the pumpkin pickin' and apple pie makin'.  I am ready for fall.  Autumn doesn't officially start until September 22nd and the forecast still shows temps in the 90s but here's a little pumpkin recipe when the fall mood hits you and you just need that pumpkin flavor.

This muffin recipe is very light and moist.  The whole wheat, honey, raisins and walnuts makes it a great snack or breakfast I feel good about giving my family.  Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

• heaping 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (or up to 2) teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, depending on how spicy you like it
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Cover raisins with hot water for several minutes.  Drain and dry on a paper towel.

In a large bowl sift together flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, powder, soda and salt.  Make a well in the center and put in the eggs, pumpkin puree, oil and honey.  Mix just until the dry ingredients are absorbed. 

Stir in raisins and walnuts.  Spoon batter into muffin tin, greased or lined with paper liners.  Bake for 20 minutes and cool in the pan.  Better yet, slice one open, smear on butter and enjoy while warm.  Yum!

*recipe adapted from a combination of various recipes found on All Recipes and Epicurious...and taste testing of course.

A {Lady} Bug Hunt

Maggie requested a ladybug party for her third birthday so we made a few ladybugs...and caterpillars, and butterflies, and spiders and turned it into a big bug hunt and pizza making party.  Turns out kids can get excited about hunting anything!  Throw a couple hundred plastic bugs in the yard, give each kid a container and yell "Go!".  They love it.

Here are a few detail pics of how we turned our backyard into a bug hunt.

Making Ladybugs for her Party. Crafting with Maggie is my favorite part of putting her party together.

Caterpillar Cupcakes with Dirt Cupcakes and Worms.
{sources} grass and caterpillar cupcake holders from world market; I always use Magnolia Bakery  of NY's vanilla cupcake recipe

Bug Hunt Signs

Tables are decorated with rolls of moss from Hobby Lobby, the ladybugs Maggie made and bug  nets from Target $1 isle.  Blue and polka-dot plates from Oriental Trading Company.

Caterpillars crawl through mounds of strawberries for a sweet and healthy treat.
{to make} Place 10 - 12 green grapes on long skewers and cut off the sharp end; use vanilla icing to glue chocolate chips on as eyes

Maggie's Ladybugs
{to make} use 2' round hole punch and black card stock to make the dots and glue to red buckets; paint a round styrofoam ball black and add black pipe cleaners for antennas; hot glue goggly eyes

Each kids received their own bug bucket filled with grass to catch the little critters.
{source} containers from Oriental Trading and labels made at home using a Bugs Life font from FrontSpace.

Bug Bites goodie bags filled with gummy butterflies and worms.
{source} Nuts.com for candy

In an attempt to keep track of each kids' drink we provided straws with name tags.  No germ sharing going on here!

Eachk kiddo got a mini pizza crust and a butterfly bag filled with pizza toppings to make their own pizza.  Then we grilled them (the pizzas, not the kids) while the bug hunt was going on.

My uber talented husband created this photo board.  The pics of the kids with their faces as the bugs heads are so cute! Great memories for Maggie's photo album.

I totally stole this idea from Pottery Barn Kids -- check here for detail on how to make your own floating caterpillar.
Let's be serious -- their's is way better than mine but I'm okay with that.

Tailgating Party - 417 Home Magazine Shoot

Earlier this summer I got to realize one of my dreams...well, not so much a dream as a "that might be fun to do one day" type of thing.  I got to style a photo shoot for a magazine.  417 Home Magazine is the local home/design publication in southwest Missouri.  In their fall edition, out this week, they feature a few different examples of fall and winter celebrations from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  My celebration was a good ole' tailgate party.  We only had a few days to put it all together but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  Here's a little peak:

Game Time - A Tailgating Party

from 417 Home Magazine

Boys Clothes - Not Bad Afterall

When we found out we were having a boy I was so excited.  So was Jared.  But I knew shopping for him wouldn't be nearly as much fun as shopping for a girl.  At least I'd save some money! It seemed to me that infant and toddler boy clothes just aren't cute.  Everything I saw had cartoon characters on it or was covered in feminine embroidery -- not for me.  How wrong I was!  We've received some really awesome outfits as gifts, which has led me to be a fan of some great brands.

After three years with an adventurous daughter I've decided it's better to invest in a few quality pieces than a whole bunch of cheap pieces, that everything eventually goes on sale, and Old Navy is still the best place for plain colored shirts and pajamas.

Here are the cool boys clothing brands I've discovered (in case you're also searching for onesies without teddy bears or trains).

Hatley

Thatcher was gifted this cute onesie this week from my dad and stepmom. Love it!

I also received an outfit for Maggie when she was a baby.  Their clothes are so soft and cute.

Naartjie Kids

The rugby one pieces are awesome and I'm definiately ordering a thermal onesie (or two) for the fall..  The clothes are light weight and super soft. 

Ralph Lauren Baby

Great preppy one pieces!  We've been really fortunate (blessed, blessed, blessed) to receive a lot of hand-me-downs from my dear friend, Courtney.  Lucky for me her boys wore a lot of RL!

Mini Boden
I really like Mini Boden for both girls and boys.  It can be a bit pricy but they always send a discount code with their catalogs and the clothes are high quality and stand up to many wearings and washings.  You can't go wrong with Mini Boden.

The Good Ones is a new line for boys created by my favorite girls' line, Matilda Jane.  I haven't ordered anything from it yet but I really like the look of a lot of it, and I trust the brand. Let me know if you try it out.

Happy shopping for those handsome little guys.

Recipe Reviews: Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

I'm always looking for news ways to make easy weeknight meals.  Dishes must either (a) be quick and easy to prep during nap time and stored in fridge until dinner or (b) be super quick and easy to make at dinner time.  The best dishes are ones that bake in an oven for at least 30 minutes.  Here's how dinner time goes for me:


- preheat oven and take pre-prepped meal from fridge
- get baby undressed and ready for bath
- put meal in oven and set timer
- while meal is cooking give baby bath and put to bed (this takes about 30 minutes)
- once baby's asleep the rest of us sit down to dinner

Both of these recipes are easy to prep ahead.

Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken Breasts

I love this recipe.  The chicken is flavorful and moist.  She calls for boneless, skin on  chicken but I used split chicken breasts bone-in and skin-on. The lemon, garlic and thyme is a good combination but be sure to use more salt and pepper than you think you need, and broil the tops at the end of cooking.

Vegetable Tian from For the Love of Cooking blog.

 

This would have been really good, if I had remembered to add the Parmesan. Oops! I'll try this again some time.  It's a beautiful way to serve vegetables.  Here's a tip: cut your tomatoes thick, your potatoes thin and the squash in between.

Overall, a pretty decent dinner for a Monday night and our week got off to a healthy start.

 

Whenever I'm trying new recipes I make sure the next meal is an old favorite, just in case the new recipes were a flop.  So tonight we're having another Ina Garten recipe -- Weeknight Bolognese.  Everyone in my house devours it, just be careful of the red pepper! (I use whole wheat organic pasta shells, in case you're wondering how to substitute the white pasta).