Tot School

M&M is currently 37.5 months old

As I was printing out a counting template that I found at Rockermom's blog, M&M came in, saw it and immediately wanted to use it. I was personally going to laminate it first, but who am I to miss a chance to work on numbers. I told her go to her playroom and find one of something. She came back with a princess crown. Then a pair of gloves for two and so on. I helped her a little bit in getting the same thing for each number.

We did counted some more with ocean-themed beads...

and the rest of the things in these containers
M&M played with the lentil tray for a little bit while I did some stuff in the playroom.

I've been meaning to make some popsicles for a while now like I've seen all over mommy blogworld. Before I made these I had seen somewhere to put the popsicle sticks into slices of banana so they would stay upright. Well.....it was a good idea, but it didn't work for us. The choice of juice for M&M was orange juice so we tried that. It wasn't the best popsicle I've ever had, but M&M liked it.

I have a lot of ideas stocked up on different ways to paint. I was waiting to use them for our P week, but as I started planning it I realized that it would be too much so I decided to do some of them this week. While I was getting the rest of the supplies M&M sorted out all of the paints.

We started off with bubblewrap painting. I first saw this on the Childcareland website. We also did cookie cutter name stamping, also on the Childcareland website. That's about all we got through though because M&M didn't want to do anymore. Oh well, I'll save the rest for another time.
I've seen the idea for Ice Treasures on several blogs including here and here. I did mine in three layers so that there would be things throughout the whole ice block. I put this out on the backporch and asked M&M what she thought we should use to get the things out. I gave her the spray bottle with hot water in it, but that wasn't fast enough for her. Then she tried with her fingernails, a piece of paper and a hammer. Eventually we got cups of hot water and poured it on. that worked for a while, but M&M got bored with it. I think this would be a lot of fun with someone else. We ended up leaving it in the sun and when we came back they were all free!



M&M asked to fish for letters so we did this activity again. I don't think I ever gave the link to where I found these fish, so here it is.




We tried ice cube painting these week as well. I found this idea on Chasing Cheerios. When we made them M&M put plenty of food coloring in them so we didn't have a problem getting the color to show up on the paper. I think it turned out really pretty actually. We still have some left over so we can do it again. Just refreeze it! Oh, like in the link I used cut up straws to put in them so we would have something to hold on to while painting.

Picnic Table Talk-Physical Activity

This weeks topic at ABC and 123 is about physical activity. M&M has so much pent up energy that she has to do something physical everyday or else she will scream and cry to get out the energy that she needs to at the end of the day. During the spring we went outside to our backyard a lot, but now that it's soooo hot and muggy I just can't stand to be outside for very long before I'm drenched in sweat. M&M doesn't like to be out there for very long either. It really just drains you.

I think the most important part of getting children to do physical activity is doing it yourself to set an example. Now, as I say this I have to admit that I have not been very good at it. Being in some sort of pain whether it be related to pregnancy, knees or backs, I have not been able to exercise like I want to. I hurt my back on Friday and it's been hurting since then. Just today I've been in so much pain that I had to ask my mother-in-law to help take care of my kids. This is a very hard thing for me to do since I hate imposing on people.

But anyway, enough about me. I'd have to say that M&M's favorite physical activity is swimming. She thinks she is just having fun, but really she is constantly moving her body and exercising whilst she jumps in or tries to get from one side of the pool to the other. We have a trampoline with a safety net and M&M loves to jump on it. Although she hasn't recently because of the heat. I'm hoping once it cools down a bit this activity will pick up a little bit more. I remember growing up and jumping on the tramp was the way I got exercise, trying to do flips and such.

During the spring when the weather was nice M&M and I would play in our backyard. One of her favorite things to do is blow bubbles. Even though this is not a physical activity in and of itself, it can be for the one trying to pop the bubbles, especially if there is a slight breeze and one has to run all over the yard to catch them. M&M also loves to play soccer with her daddy, kicking a ball around and running after it.

Inside, one of M&M's favorite activities is dancing. Even if she's watching a show on T.V. or a movie she will dance to the songs. Her favorite movie right now is Mary Poppins and she watches this everyday, (shhh...don't tell). Everyday she will come and show me a new dance move she has learned. She's gotten to the point where she just wants me to fast forward to the parts where someone is singing and dancing. I will also turn on some music and we will just dance together whether it be slower music or fast. M&M loves to do somersaults as well and she's really good at them! I think next year I am going to put her into a dance class or gymnastics for her to be able to develop these talents that she is exibiting.

Other than that we take walks, go to the park and play on the playground, etc. Maybe when M&M is older we will set more time aside for structured active play, but for now she is constantly moving anyway so it works out!

My First.....and second award.

Mouse Learns, Mouse Grows has given me my first and second awards. The first one is the Lovely Blog Award where I have to pass it on to 15 newly discovered blogs that I enjoy reading.

The second award comes from Mouse Learns, Mouse Grows as well. This blog requires me to tell ten things about me that readers might not know. Since I don't divulge much information about myself on here this should be pretty easy. Then I have to send it on to 10 other blogs. I am going to simplify matters like the blog I got this from and send it on to the same blogs.


So here's ten things about me:

1. My name is Sheena. My mom got the name from the singer, Sheena Easton.

2. I do not like hot humid weather, but that is what I am stuck in right now!

3. I am 25 years old.

4. I LOVE to travel.

5. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, i.e. a Mormon.

6. I was born and raised in Utah, but my husband brought me back to his home state because of a great job opportunity. (I miss my family, sniff sniff.) But I love it here as well.

7. I got my associates degree, started on my bachelor's at a different school and then met my husband. Got married, got pregnant, dropped out of school because of sickness and I only have 9 more classes to take to graduate. I wish I could have finished, but I might still do it.

8. I feel like I am a creative/crafty person, but just lack the time and energy to sew, paint, or make anything. I hope to soon change that because I have found it is a great outlet for me and I love all of the fun things I am finding on blogs to make.

9. I played the piano when I was a kid, stopped playing it as a teenager and now I wish we had a piano so I could play again. I'm hoping we will get one here pretty soon so that I can bring more music into our home.

10. My newfound favorite color is red.

There ya go. Now you know a little bit more about me than you did before if you even bothered to read this far down. :)

I am passing these awards along to:

Izzie, Mac, and Me

My Two Happy Homeschoolers

Taking Off My Shoes

Spinners End Nursery School

Tot School

Teach Mama

The Work of Childhood

Teaching Heart Mom

Live Learn Love

Frugal Family Fun Blog

Funny Days with Mommy and Maddie

Life of a Dairy Queen

Chocolate on my Cranium

One Crafty Mumma

Tot School July 20-24

Yet another week without any plans. But I have a good excuse. I am focusing more of my attention on planning and organizing a lot of things in my life. I have all of these great ideas saved up on Evernote, but I have a hard time getting them off of the computer and into real life. I have found a way that works for me and hopefully I will be putting the system into work later on this week. I am also totally reorganizing my playroom because there is entirely too much stuff in there right now. See this post to see what it looks like now. I want to make more of a creative space for M&M to play on her own because that is something she really needs to work on and I really need her to work on that as well. She is getting really clingy right now and I need a little space. But just a little. ;)

On to Tot School. As M&M brought her baby doll's highchair into the kitchen this week one of the legs fell off. So being the clever little girl she is she went back to her playroom and got her toolbox to fix it. She spent a fair amount of time using all of her tools to pound and screw the leg back on. We then proceeded to fix her tricycle. I was the mechanic for this one and she kept saying, "Sir" will you please do this or that to the bike.


I saw this idea for English muffin pizzas on this blog. We made them for lunch one day.


Then we made a homemade ring toss game. I got the idea for this here. We poured dry rice into an empty water bottle and then used pipe cleaners to make circles and throw them over the top of the bottle.

M&M had a hard time with the smaller circles so she suggested making them bigger. I just twisted two of them together to make them bigger. This made it a lot easier for her.


Then M&M asked what else we could do with these so I got different size balls and I held one of the circles while she tried to throw the ball into it. She said, "We're playing basketball!" I was impressed because I didn't think she really knew what basketball was.
I'm really getting into these homemade games and activities. They seem to spark a lot more imagination than store bought toys and they're cheap!

That's it for this week, but I have big plans for the coming weeks. More letter of the week activities.

Family Traditions and a recipe

Growing up my family had many traditions for holidays, etc. We also had things that we didn't do at a certain date and time, but we just did whenever we felt like it. One of these things was watching "Sound of Music" while eating Abelskievers. I loved doing this and couldn't wait to do it with my own family. At three years old, M&M loves loves loves Mary Poppins. She'd watch it everyday if I would let her. She loves the singing and dancing in it and so I thought maybe she'd like the Sound of Music as well. On Monday night, our family night, I broke out the Abelskiever pan (AKA Pancake Puff pan) and the Sound of Music DVD. M&M really liked the song parts of course, but wanted us to "pause to the next song" as she put it. It was really fun implementing a tradition I used to do as a kid into my own family now.

Warning: This recipe is not healthy in any way, shape, or form.

Abelskievers

Separate egg whites of 3 eggs, beat to high peaks. Set aside. Beat 3 egg yolks.
Add 2 c. buttermilk.
To buttermilk mixture add: (then beat well)
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg

Fold in egg whites and then add 2 Tbsp. melted butter. Drop mixture into Abelskiever pan in which hot shortening has melted. (Put in more shortening each time you add new batter) Cook, then roll in powdered sugar. Eat them while their hot!

F.Y.I. The Sound of Music is based in Austria. Abelskievers are Scandinavian. These do not correlate in any way. It's just something we did as a family and I wanted to continue it.

Side note: As I was looking on the internet about the Sound of Music I saw that they are going to do a remake of it. I don't know how I feel about that.....Mmmmm. If you're a Sound of Music fan, what do you think?

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

In my quest to ensure that my family has dinner on the table every night I have been in the search for more recipes as I am only in possession of a handful. I found this recipe on the box of Bisquick.
My daughter doesn't really like chicken except chicken nuggets, but anytime I make these she gobbles them down. It's definitely a keeper.

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
2/3 c. Original Bisquick mix
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt or garlic salt (I use garlic powder)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. In 1-gallon resealable plastic bag, mix Bisquick, cheese, salt and paprika. Dip half of chicken strips into egg; place in bag. Seal bag; shake to coat. Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat with rest of chicken. Drizzle butter over chicken. Bake 12-14 min., turning halfway through bake time with pancake turner, until no longer pink in center. (I don't turn mine over and it works just fine.)

I love how it's shaken in a bag because my daughter loves to help me make dinner and this is something that is fun for her to do.

Picnic Table Talk-Organization

I'm so happy about the topic this week at ABC & 123. It's organization! I've come to find out over the past year of being in our own house that I am an organizational freak. At least I aspire to be one. If you came to my house you probably wouldn't be able to tell. I am on a journey to organization as well as everything else in my life. I could spend entirely too much money at IKEA and The Container Store if my husband would let me. He's been really good though about letting me get my supplies for Tot School and stuff to organize them in.

I've been meaning to do a post about organization for some time now, but I was waiting to be all the way organized so I could post about everything. Then this topic came up and I realized that it will be a long time until I am all the way organized so I might as well post what I have done.

Organizing Stuff:
To start off I have organized all of my Tot school supplies which extends from paints to workbooks to puzzles and beads, etc. We are fortunate to have an extra bedroom in our home that we have turned into a playroom. We could have made it an office/craft room for me, but we decided that will come at a later time and a place to store toys would be more beneficial. I am in the process of reorganizing this room with more storage options and getting more stuff off of the floor.

Any ideas??

To start this organization my hubby put up this shelf for me which I have stored puzzles and games on.
I use the closet in this room to store all of the Tot school stuff.
The other side of the closet has an old bedside table that I store craft supplies in.

Organizing Schedules:
When I think of organizing I think of how I organize ideas as well. I made a schedule board for M&M and posted about it here. In that post I said that I wanted to make a schedule for me as well so that M&M would see what mommy has to get done during the day. Well that was back in May and I finally got it done today. It isn't an exact schedule, but it's a check list that I can show M&M what mommy needs to get done. I have not implemented this yet so we will see what happens. It's nothing fancy either. It's just posterboard, sharpies and clipart pictures from Word. I don't know how to put together anything like this on the computer. I know a lot of people use Publisher, but I don't have that. It works for me though!
I also got the idea to make a calendar with interchangeable numbers and pictures on Blissful Moments. This way M&M can see what is upcoming in the week and look forward to it and when she keeps asking me about something we are doing I can turn to the calendar to show her how many days away it is. She doesn't fully understand the concept of days, but she will grow into it.

Confession time! I am so bad at cleaning my house and most of the time it just gets straightened, dishes are washed and laundry is done and then I don't have time for anything else. I made a schedule with one chore for each day. Again I made it out of posterboard, sharpies, and clipart. This one is mostly for me, but I did pictures so that M&M would know what needs to be done each day. She can either help me or play in her playroom/watch a movie, etc. For instance, she will not help me vacuum because she is terrified of the the loud noise it makes! Silly girl.


Organizing Ideas:
Next up is how I organize my ideas that I get for Tot school. This is the process. When I find an idea on the internet I use Evernote. This way I can highlight what I want and click and it will save it in one of my notebooks. I have made different notebooks for different areas of learning like: shapes, colors, arts and crafts, etc. I also have some for ideas that I get for organization, home decorating, projects I want to do myself or recipes. Once I get an idea in there I will periodically go through each notebook and most likely make a list of the activities in them. I recently found this Lesson Plan Book in the dollar spot at Target. I usually do a letter of the week as the basis for each week of Tot School. Each page as a different letter on it and I write ideas that I want to do on there and which notebook I can find it in on Evernote. The green sticky note as a bunch of words that start with the letter I am using. This allows me to think of ideas I can use for each of the words. I found these words on this website. From those words I go to DLTK and Making Learning Fun to find ideas, as well as the rest of the sites I have listed as resources on the right sidebar. Of course I use ideas that I have found from all of you wonderful bloggers our there.

When I find a paper activity, something that I can print out, I print it out and then put it in this file folder box. Each folder corresponds with a letter of the alphabet. I can just slip that into which letter it goes with and take it out at a later time when I am planning for a certain week to cut out or whatever needs to be done with it. When an activity has several pieces I use all different sizes of ziploc bags to keep all of the pieces together. I'm not very crafty so I just write the title of the activity on masking tape and stick it to the bag. It works!


When I am in the middle of making something I use this hanging file organizer from IKEA to store pieces for the project as well as other odds and ends.
Organizing recipes:
Another thing I am bad at is making dinner. Ever since having Bubba 7 months ago and even before that when I was so pregnant and miserable, I have not felt like cooking dinner or have not had the time to. My poor husband....

I have a bunch of recipes stored up in Evernote and finally got some of them printed out to put in plastic pages in a 3-ring binder with tabs to separate different sections. I found this wonderful menu planning form at The Project Girl website which I use to plan out menus for each week. The planner has a grocery list template on it divided into sections. This is a plus for me so I don't have to have another piece of paper that I could lose. She has some other great forms as well. I have to plan out menus or it will hit 4 o'clock and panic sets in as I scramble around figuring out what to make for dinner.

One more thing:
When all of those Tot school activities are done and we need a place to hang them up we put them on the wall in the playroom. They are actually bath rugs from IKEA that I've tacked up onto the wall. My original idea was to put corkboard behind it, but that project hasn't gotten done yet.

This turned out to be a really long post, but I hope somebody gets some good ideas from it to use in their home to get organized.

It may look like I have life pretty much sorted out, but that is far from the truth. I am really good at putting these things together, but not so good about following them. I am taking steps forward and making progress though and that's what counts, right?

I look forward to looking at everyone else's posts to get some more good ideas!