Weekly Menu.

Last week was a good meal week :-)  Lots of ham and chicken cooked a variety of ways . . .but my grocery bill was low!

Can you believe that it is already February? Where did January go?  Usually January tends to drag a little after the busy holidays but not this year.  I think it is because I was still sick half-way into the month so I only really remember the last two weeks :-)

So what is the plan for the coming week?  Check it out!

Tuesday - Beef Tips and Noodles with Salad.  I had this planned for a week ago but we ended up not eating it so I figured this was a good time to make it!

Wednesday - Going out to dinner with friends!

Thursday - Taco Soup  - another meal I had planned for a week or so ago and then didn't make for some reason.

Friday - Frozen Pizza for everyone - I'm heading to a ladies night out with snacks and fun stuff; leaving the boys at home

Saturday - Mac and cheese for the kids; We will order in and watch a movie - we usually do this on Friday but since I am going to a movie night with ladies from the church, we'll do this tonight.

Sunday - Roast, Noodles, Carrots and rolls

Monday - Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti and garlic bread.  This is another recipe from a few weeks ago. It is a true "hit" with the family since the boys love spaghetti!! 

Sounds good to me! 

Food Friday - Orange Julius

Orange Julius
adapted from my Mother-In-Law's recipe

  This drink (shown in the blender) is a family tradition in my husband's family for Christmas morning.  We make it a few times a year for special occasions and it is so yummy!  I'd make it more but I really like keeping it as a "special" treat. 

1 6oz can frozen orange juice concentrate

1 cup milk

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

10-12 ice cubes crushed

Combine all ingredients in blender, cover and blend till smooth, about 30 seconds.  Serve immediately

February Craft Goals

I've decided that at  the end of each month, I want to look back through the last 4 "Too Cute" posts and pick out the  things I feel that I can actually complete and post them here - at the end of the month I'll update my progress by linking back to the posts of the completed projects.

So these are the items I picked out:

I had good intentions to do this craft but when I priced a square canvas in the size I wanted plus the letters - well, I decided I didn't love it that much and did make this craft.

I want to make these to hang by our growth chart- they seem pretty easy and inexpensive.

 My St Patrick's Wreath fell apart last year so I think I'd like to just make this one and use it for any month I don't have one . . .or at least for March.
This was completed and I shared the post back in March :-) 
 

 This is more just something I want to read and implement as I feel fit.
I've read some of this and am still digesting it - the calendar shown is no longer available so I'm kinda waiting for a new version to come out to see if I can use this idea more. 
 

 I'd like to get that Vinyl saying printed to put on the fridge above where I hang the kids artwork.
This is ordered and up on my fridge - I get lots of comments on it :-) 
 

 I will not complete this idea this month but I want to start it - I want to add an alphabet to our classroom wall as we study our letters - I'd like to complete A, B, C, D, and E.  Then continue to do them as we study that letter.
Letters A-D are on the wall and E-G are spray painted waiting for their modge podge :-) 
 

 This one will depend on price - if those items are too munch money, I'll have to wait.
After reading the instructions and supplies on this one better I decided I didn't really want to make this!! So, cancel this idea :-) 
 

I'd like to attempt to make one of these for each of the boys "friends".  Then go from there.
My mom offered to make these but I just never got the pattern.  I'm thinking this one is not going to get done.
 

 Another simple project - just need to buy the pieces and let the boys play.
I nixed this one. I actually have an idea to do this OUTSIDE on our fence this summer. I'll save it for that instead.

 I NEED to do this under my sink - those tiles are so cheap - this shouldn't be hard.
I still NEED to do this - I just need to get to the home store and buy my tiles.  I promise to share as soon as I'm done!
  

Tool pouches - I'd like to get these made for the boys Easter Baskets.  I even have an old pair of jeans I saved "just in case" so I just need the ribbon.
Guess what I found at Target?? TOOL BELTS!  YES!  And they come with tools - I had planned to get them at Easter but they were sold out - I'll check the next time I'm there and pick them up :-) 

First up is to make my supply list and then to get to town to pick up anything I need.  Now, I know I will not necessarily get everything done in February.  But by putting these on this post, I can carry them over so I don't forget about them :-)

Happy Crafting!

Papa's Special Gift

Once again, now that Christmas is done and gone, I can post about the crafts that I made for special gifts. 

One day, while wasting time enjoying Pinterest, I came across this Post that was an awesome poem about walking with Grandma and I knew that I wanted to use it as Papa's special Christmas gift.

I like to walk with Papa . . .

He takes his time you see

His steps are little just like mine;

He stops and waits for me.

He lets me ask him questions

He lets me hold his hand.

He makes me feel 10 feet tall

And I think that he is grand.

He says there’s no one like me

And gold is what I’m worth.

When I get to walk with Papa

I’m the luckiest kid on earth

Adapted from a poem by: Patsy Gaut

Isn't that awesome? I thought about a lot of ways to display this and finally settled on a very simple idea using a frame with three 4x6 openings.  Check it out: 

Isn't that so cute?  I thought about doing hand prints, creating a shadow box, and doing footprints but in the end I love the photos.  The benefit to this is that the photos can be updated every year, if he so chooses or he can leave it just like this as a reminder of how the boys are now - when they love their Papa more than anyone.

This concept would make a great birthday or Father's Day gift too.  I think if your kids were up to it - having them walk across a paper the size of your frame with painted feet would be cute.  Then print the poem on vellum paper so you could see through it and adhere it on top before framing it.  
 

Too Cute To Toot!

Lets start with this idea from jenni bowlin studio inspiration.  I love this ABC wall and would like to figure out where to put something like this in my house!

This DIY magazine holder is neat and also very classy looking.  I'm thinking that it would make my desk area look much neater. Check it all out over at This Old House.

J & A and Company 
shares a great post on how to "be there" as a mom.  I read through it quickly and it really has some smart points.  Now I want to re-read it and absorb what I read . . .. great ideas.

Check out these adorable stuffed animal sleeping bags from Hazelnut Girl.  My boys LOVE their stuffed animals so I know they would enjoy having a special place for them to sleep.

One last idea for this week and this one is from Paper Wings.
I'm always looking for a creative "wreath" idea for my door.  This one is fantastic . . ..and I want to make one!! 

 

January Preschool

We are getting back into the swing of things around here with preschool but we still had special "guests" two days so didn't get as much done as I had planned.

 We worked on some basic things from 1+1+1=1 with the letter "B".  We are working on number recognition for numbers 1-13.  Both boys knows 1-10 without a problem but 11, 12, and 13 are all new.  Plus we have sight words - "Away" and "They". 

Our afternoon fun was lots of Legos and lots of building!!

The boys each received a little laptop for Christmas and Josh has finally figured out how to play the games on his.  He really enjoys it and, his favorite game is a game with a clock.  He know will look at a clock and tell me what "time" it is - he says two times like, "It is 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock mom".  When it is really 3:05 (where are the hands pointing at that time .. . to the three and the one on the clock!)  I love that he is making that connection even though it isn't 100% right yet.

 The boys have really started to love our play dough.  They played with it for hours on two different days.  I also got out the cookie cutters to use after they made a letter "B" :-)

 We also practiced shape recognition - the boys did these pretty quickly which was a nice thing.  At least they know their shapes :-)

 We started school one morning with lots of puzzles.  We then went on a color hunt and did some counting practice.  All using toys they had out and were playing with in order to transition more easily into our table work.

 Josh really worked hard on this day - first looking for the letter "B" in a story and then practicing writing "B" - he traced everyone of them perfectly. 

FINALLY, the boys got to play in the snow.  It was bitter cold at the beginning of the week so they couldn't go out but on Thursday, even though it was only 15 degrees, the sun was shining and there was no wind so I bundled them up and sent them outside.  They played for over an hour before coming in with ice cold cheeks (but the rest of their little selves were nice and warm thanks to Nana picking out fantastic winter stuff!!)

We really did have a great week and I'm looking forward to an even better week next week. We have "guests" just on Monday then it is back to normal.  I have turned Friday into my planning day and we don't really do any lessons.  If I don't prep everything for the week before (cut everything out, prep art projects etc) then those items end up not getting done.  If we have time (and I have the ambition) then I figure we can play a game or do something else fun.  I think the boys also like to just play on Fridays without having to stop to do class.

The Last Christmas Party

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas with my husband's family.  Originally, everyone was set to gather back on a Saturday in December at the Nursing Home where Darryl's grandma lives, as we do every year.  Well, as you may recall, I was extremely ill which meant we had to cancel. (Taking sickness to a nursing home is not such a great idea!).  On Saturday everyone gathered at my Mother-in-laws house for a great dinner and gifts for the boys. 

 My Mother-in-law and her husband live on a lake - this is the view out their living room "wall of windows".  I just love it. 

 Charlie (aka Grandpa) does a lot of amazing things with wood carving and wood burning.  The boys were all working on a puzzle that he had made.

 Nate was really into working on it - this was the second time putting the puzzle together with Grandpa.

 Josh asked me to take his photo - love that smile!!

 This photo is so much fun!  Notice Tommy the cat on the couch?  We cat sit him a few times a year and love him!! The binoculars are from the toy bin (since only one side works) and Josh loved them.  We showed him how to look through them the wrong way because they he could actually see things.

 Then it was time for gifts.  Nate wouldn't open any gift until we took his photo.  It made me laugh because at our previous Christmas "days", Josh was the one that would make Nate wait until he took his picture.  I guess now, Nate expects it every time.

 I guess this one should have been posted above :-) 

 Josh waiting for his picture to be taken before opening his gift.  It was kinda funny because the first time he did this, he smiled for me, then my MIL said, "This way Josh" and took his photo.  Then Darryl and Charlie each said "look this way" and he did but they just said hello.  The next time, first he looked at me and smiled, then one at time he looked at my MIL, Darryl and Charlie and each time said, "Now you and you and you" hahahaha. 

My MIL made a fantastic meal with Chicken (raised by my sister-in-law), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and stuffing plus more :-) 

It was such a fun, relaxing day with the family.