Our first whole week of Tot School

We just finished up our first whole week of tot school (well with two days off thrown in there) We are still getting into the groove of making it work in our schedule everyday. Little Miss and I have been having a lot of fun.



We focused all week on farm animals. So of course we had to get out the Melissa &Dough Puzzles. I absolutely love their toys. I could spend a fortune on them.

She still has a hard time with puzzles so it is something I want to incorporate more so she can grasp what exactly she is supposed to do. She would rather just make the wooden animals make noise and walk on the floor.

I found this farm animal sounds video on Youtube and she absolutely loved it. She made me play it over and over and she would repeat every sound. Melts my heart.

We painted using her little people farm animals as manipulatives. ( I saw this on another  blog and don't have the link so I can not take credit.) She was a little confused as to why her animals were getting dirty but eventually had fun making them walk across the paper and seeing what they left behind.

Our dog also enjoyed watching her paint.

 

 

She made a woolly sheep with cotton. I cover the paper plate in cotton then let her go to town. She started putting them on one by one, but soon realized she could grab handfuls and smash them on. She usually does not enjoy gluing crafts, but she really got into this one.

 

 

 

 

We had a few days where we got swamped with errands and story time classes so we slacked off a little. We made Daddy get into the action one night when he was home so Mommy could finish dinner. They used the little pill things that pop out sponges. I thought these were an instant type deal but my memory served me wrong. She still had a lot of fun with it.

 

(think the dress is cute? stay tuned for an AWESOME giveaway)

 

 

This week we will be finishing up the farm animal theme activities I had planned for last week and hopefully starting the color red.

 

 

 

Linking up with The Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1

 



Menu Planning

Menu Planning has helped me out greatly at sticking to a grocery budget and not having to run back to the store a thousand times (except for milk) for ingredients I do not have. Here is what I have planned for our week.


MONDAY- Check E Cheese!! It is Little Miss's first time.

TUESDAY- Cheeseburgers, potato fries, mac and cheese

WEDNESDAY- Chicken Brunswick Stew This is a new recipe, hopefully it will be hearty and the husband will enjoy it.

THURSDAY- Chicken Fried Steak, baby carrots, mashed potatoes and country gravy

FRIDAY- Sweet and Sour Chicken, crab cheese angles  This recipe is to DIE for. It seriously is the best chicken I have ever had. My husband ask for it ALL the time.



What are you having for dinner this week?

Five Question Friday Time! 2/1/31

WHAT?!?! It's February already?!?! Time is just flying by. Everyone always told me when I had kids this would happen but I never believed them. I remember being in high school and time seemed to DRAG. Now its like I blink and a year is gone.

Today I am linking up with My Little Life for 5 Question Friday. It is a fun way to end the week, so go link up!


1. What is your favorite book to read with your kids?
Definitely Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Little Miss Loves loves loves this book. She loves pointing to the hot fire, the moon, and when they talk about the old lady she says hush. It is so cute. We read it at least twice a day, and our poor book is starting to fall apart.

 

 

 

2. After having kids, what body part has changed the most?


I was actually very lucky after having Little Miss. My hips never spread during the pregnancy (which did make delivery hard) but I didn't have that big change to deal with. However, my poor belly will never be the same. With the thousands of stretch marks and flubber, it will never be post baby ever again.

3. Would you ever go back to college? What would you study?
Depending on what the mister and I decide about schooling for Little Miss and any future baby I plan to if they do not home school. I have almost finished my elementary education degree, so I would either finish that or start the track to nursing. Right now I am so blessed to have a husband who is a GREAT provider and allows me to stay home with my baby. I am glad I do not have to worry about going back anytime soon.

4. How do you close a phone call? Bye, bye bye or other? 
Usually with most everyone I say talk to you later, bye. With the Mister it is usually love you.

5. What is the one food that will always be your "cheat food" on a diet?
Hahaha. I couldn't stick to a diet if I tried, so everything is my cheat food. If I ever did have to stick to a diet I guess my cheat food would be little Debbie's. If I have Little Debbie's in the house, I have at least one a day. I'm a sucker for junk.

 
Now I am off to take Little Miss back to the doctor because I just do not think her ears are clearing up. We are on day 7 of 10 with her antibiotic and it seems like she is pulling at them more than ever. With the weekend coming up I want to try to get her pain under control. Wish us luck!

My baby is 17 Months old!

 

 

 

My baby girl is 17 months old today! I can not believe it. Next month she will be a year and a half! That is so bittersweet. I absolutely LOVE this age. I wish I could freeze time. She is learning so much every single day.

 

 

Here are some stats:

 

 

Weight: 25 lbs 3 oz

 

Height: 33 1/2 inches

 

Clothes: 24 months/ 2T

 

Favorite Book: Good night Moon

 

New Words: Papaw, tree, keys, cheese, sky, eyes, cow, lots of animal sounds, kitty,taco,  book,  her name, and lots of other random words.

 

 

Favorite food: Cheese. She could eat cheese all day everyday if I let her. 

New Styles: Pony Tails! So glad we have reached this link finally. I have to do something with her hair everyday because her bangs are in her eyes now. I want them to grow with her hair, so no trimming!

 

 

Fun new things: She is getting really good at doing the actions in songs exactly when they are sung. She is great at If You Are Happy and You Know It. She also likes Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels On the Bus, Two Little Sausages, and the Row Row Row your Boat with the Alligator.

 

New Developments: She can rock her wooden horse by herself now, and so somersaults. She actually has been doing somersaults for a while now. Her running is getting a lot better and she loves stomping her feet.

 

Happenings this past month: She had her first ear infection this month which lead to her first antibiotic.

 

New Activities: Gymnastics. She is a bit apprehensive, but I hope with time she gets used to it because I know she will love it. She loves doing all the tricks at home. 

 

 

She is such a GREAT kid. I look at her and smile. I am so so so very blessed to be her mommy.

Worless Wednesday: First Pony Tail

 

Little Miss's hair is just long enough to squeeze into a pony tail. This melts and breaks my heart at the same time. She looked like such a little kid with her hair this way. My baby is growing way too fast. Somebody send me a time machine!

Tot School Day 1

I am linking up with 1+1+1=1 today for my first day of tot school with Little Miss! 

Today I started tot school with Little Miss. I just planned a few activities for us to do together and she really enjoyed this time. I planned for our first week to be themed towards farm animals. She is really into learning all the animal sounds right now so I thought this would be perfect.

We started the morning by reading two farm themed books.

 

I told her it was time for school and showed her how to sit cross cross apple sauce on the rug. She was so excited and listened so well to the stories. She loves the Baby MacDonald on the farm because it is a touch and feel book. She also knows all the sounds to the animals inside. She brings me this book a lot to read so I knew it would be a hit for our first day.

After we read I pulled up some farm themed songs on YouTube. We sang Old MacDonald, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack and Jill, and Mary Had a Little Lamb. she loved dancing to the music. In fact this is how she choose to dance to one of the songs:

She is so silly.

 

 

I let her play with a farm themed sensory bin while I set up for a craft. She didn't know what to think about it because she had never done a sensory bin before. She spent a lot of time taking the oats out of the bin and putting them on the floor.

 

 

Our gluing craft was a little challenging for her, because she does not like when things stick to her fingers. She enjoyed it for the first two pieces and then wanted to be done.



 

The biggest hit of the day was the markers. She was pointing to them the whole time we were gluing.

 

We finished our first day of tot school by making pigs in a blanket for lunch. She was just trying to steal all the cheese. :)

 

I am very excited to be starting this little adventure with her. I look forward to seeing her grow and learn, and just look forward to the special time together.

 

 

Five Question Friday: 1/25/13

I am linking up with the wonderful My little Life today for Five Question Friday. Come join in on the fun!!!


1. Do you embrace or dread snow/cold weather days?


Honestly, this depends on the day. A lot of the time I embrace staying inside with Little Miss in sweat pants all day. It just seems so cozy when it is snowing out. Then there are the days that Little Miss is bored to death and I wish it was not so nasty out. Today for instance it is snowing, the roads are getting bad, and I desperately need to go to the grocery. Not a good combination.

(She is like her momma, she likes the snow for the first 15 mins, then is way too cold)



2. Which game show or reality show could you totally win?
Definitely Let's make a Deal! I love that show! Silly people always pick Zonks, I could totally win big :)



3. What is your preferred climate?


I would prefer to live somewhere where the weather was a comfortable 75 degrees year round. Not too awful hot where you do not want to go outdoors, but not chilly either.

4. What do you buy every time you walk into the grocery store, no matter what?
Milk!! My daughter and my husband go through that stuff like mad. We almost go through a gallon a day. It is a tad ridiculous.

5. If you see a spider/bug in the house, are you brave enough to kill it, or do you call for your hubby?
Usually for my own safety I have to kill it because he is at work. There has been a time that I left a huge spider in the bathtub (barely alive because I tried to drown it) until the Mr. got home to kill it. Spiders really creep me out.




I hope everyone has a great weekend! Little Miss has two ear infections, so hopefully she is up for gymnastics in the morning. She is a little trooper when she is sick. She does not act like the bother her too much which I am so grateful for.