The Perfect Smoothie

To make the perfect smoothie you must have a FROZEN banana. 

Before I was involved in a food co-op, I would take a trip to Whole Foods or Kroger and look for banana deals.  Often grocery stores will sell you large amounts of over-ripe bananas.  And when you eat mostly organic like we do . . . any sale helps!

I wait until the bananas are a little past ripe.  Typically I break the peeled banana in half.  (By being smaller we have found that our VitaMix does a better job pulverizing them.)  I stick the bananas on a plate and place them in the freezer.  You could also use a cookie sheet.  When the bananas are frozen I place them in a Ziploc back for later use.

When it comes time to make a smoothie, forget the ice . . . give me a frozen banana!  It adds flavor, thickness, and sweetness.

And what do I put in our smoothies?  Do you want the healthy version or our splurge smoothie?

I’ll give you the ingredients for our splurge (for a family of 5):

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 cups homemade kefir
• a gigantic blob of peanut butter
• 4-5 tbls cocoa
• lots of frozen bananas

Technorati Tags: frozen bananas,smoothie recipe

If You Give a Mom a Book: George Muller

When I went to the Hearts at Home conference (you gotta go if you are a Mom!), I listened to an amazing homeschooling mom -- Rachel Carmen -- (whose family owns Apologia now) talk about reading to your children. 

She talked about the importance of making the world larger to our children through GOOD books.  You use books to teach them about good and bad choices, consequences, and how to have a Christian Worldview.  Good books stimulate conversation, giggles, bonding, and sometimes tears . . . or even working through a fear that was unearthed through your reading. 

Rachel Carmen is largely the reason I do this weekly meme, If You Give a Mom a Book.  Sustainable books are so important to a child's education. 

One thing many people think lacks in our world today are good role models. 

Yes and no.

I think that there are role models.  They may not be alive.  Or they may not be famous.  But we still have some heroes.  They could be a neighbor.  Or a Mom.  Or a Dad.

In fact the most important heroes and mentors are waiting for us each time that we open our Bible.

And if you want more heroes to emulate . . . here is one for you.

Mr. Smiley got the entire set of Heroes for Young Readers from YWAM Publishing for Christmas.  I think the series has something like 20+ books. 

I try and read a story to the boys from this series several times a week.  They need to know about far away places, ways to serve the Lord by using their gifts, and vicariously experience God answering prayer and accomplishing miracles.  This intimate and precious story time typically occurs on our brown love-seat, in the afternoon, after rest times. 

What did you read this week? 

If you don't know what a Sustaining Book is check out my first blog post on this topic, If You Give a Mom a Book.

Some things that you could discuss in your blog post would be:

• What is one book that stood out to you this week?
• What was the title of the book, and who were the author(s) and illustrator(s)?
• What conversations did it spark between you and your child?
• Did the book come up randomly in conversation at some point causing your child to create an application on their own?
• Set the scene—where did you sit?
• Did you have anything yummy to eat or drink while reading?
• Was music playing?
• How did reading together help your day?
• What was the story about?
• Did you like the illustrations?
• What was your favorite part about snuggling?
• Why was your book a Sustaining Book?

Guidelines

• Link up 1x a week. My goal is to post every Friday.
• Pick one book—your favorite book from that week.
• Use any one of the suggestions I listed above to include in your post.
• Grab my button on the sidebar to compliment your blog post.
• Enter the exact blog post address in Mr. MckLinky!
• Leave me a comment that you linked up!

I can’t wait to read about your Sustaining Book!

utah

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Coconut Crackers

 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c. freshly ground whole-wheat
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 c. melted coconut oil

Directions:

Mix flour and yogurt and leave in a warm place for 12-24 hours.  After allotted time period, heat oven to 200 degrees.  Blend the following items in your food processor: soaked flour, salt, baking powder, and 1/4 cup coconut oil.

Roll the dough out to 1/16 inch on a flour dusted countertop to prevent sticking.  Cut into 2 inch squares.  Gently place crackers onto an oiled cookie sheet or stone.  Brush remaining coconut oil on top of the crackers.  Bake in the oven or dehydrator for several hours, or until completely dry and crisp.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

Technorati Tags: coconut crackers

Storing Pineapple

To encourage your pineapple to become sweet after holding her green hair up for a stint, give your pineapple a hair cut.  Twist off the green leaves and turn your pineapple upside down.  The idea is that this encourages the juice that settled to the bottom of the pineapple during shipping to distribute itself throughout the entire pineapple before you gobble it down.  (Note:  I did not give my pineapple a much needed haircut.  I didn’t think about it when I took the picture.)

Additionally, I have been told that you pineapple will store longer. 

The truth?  I do think that our pineapples have tasted better since changing their orientation.  But do they last any longer . . . I haven’t noticed.

Enjoy God’s sweet candy!

Technorati Tags: storing pineapple

Apple Brie Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour (I used wheat flour)
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 lb. Brie, rind removed, diced small
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
• lemon juice to keep the color in apples
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Gradually add flour and salt to make a smooth roux.  Cook several minutes.  Add apples to roux* and stir.  While stirring constantly, add apple juice, followed by milk.  Puree the mix.  Finish by dropping in Brie pieces one at a time.

*Roux is a mixture of flour and butter to be used as a thickening agent.  Traditionally, it is equal parts fat and flour by weight.

Technorati Tags: Apple Brie Soup

An Overabundance of Apples ~ Crock Pot Applesauce

If you have a lot of apples, or you would like your child to know that applesauce doesn’t have to come in a jar or a small plastic cup with a peel away lid, make applesauce at home.

It’s easy.

Now, I admit . . . it might be easier for me than you. 

My grandma gave me an apple peeler/corer/slicer from Pampered Chef.  If you don’t have this handy contraption, simply peel your apple with a pairing knife or better yet—a potato peeler. 

 

I have tried leaving the skin of the apple on . . . but every single time I leave the peel on my kids do not like the applesauce.  I am not sure how they know . . . but I am pretty certain that applesauce manufacturers must use kids to taste-test each batch to achieve perfection.

Don’t forget to save the skin for your compost pile!

Also, take out the core of the apple.  If you are doing this with your child, now would be a great time to read the book:

Slice your apple into chunks.  The apple doesn’t have to be spiral cut like I have shown you.  

 

I fill my Crockpot to the brim!  Place the lid on top and let it cook on high for most of the day, or until the apples are soft and mushy. 

Typically, I then pulverize the apples in my VitaMix, but you can also use an immersion blender.

I personally don’t think that the applesauce needs any sugar added.  God made the fruit sweet enough.  Research your apples and choose a juicy, sweet apple if you are used to sugared applesauce.  Add cinnamon if you like.

Remember, applesauce works as a great substitute for sugar in recipes!!

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: crockpot,homemade applesauce

Listen by Rene Gutteridge: A Review

I read 409 pages in a little over 2 days.

On a tangent: I think it would be fabulous if I read 409 pages in my Bible every 2 days.  If my travel Bible has 1759 pages, how many times could I read my Bible in a year?  Figure it out.  Leave a comment.  I'll choose a winner randomly, and you can have the Rene Gutteridge's book, Listen, after Hottie Hubby is finished with it OR I'll make you some granola--your choice.

Rene Gutteridge wrote this book to those "whose lives have been forever altered by words."

Nothing ever happens in the small town of Marlo . . . until the residents begin seeing their private conversations posted online for everyone to read. Then it’s neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, as paranoia and violence escalate. The police scramble to identify the person responsible for the posts and pull the plug on the Website before it destroys the town. But what responsibility do the people of the town have for the words they say when they think no one is listening? Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Can you remember when someone seriously sliced your heart with their cutting words?  I still remember back in gradeschool when some neighborhood boys encouraged their dog to chase me around a cul-de-sac to bite my ankles. Meanwhile, as I peddled away they bit my ear with their nasty words--fatso, ugly, stupid . . . or another boy named Chuck, who insisted on telling me that I was fat when I returned to school the summer after 5th grade.  Crazy because I began the new school year 35 pounds lighter and rail thin.

It still hurt . . .

The scene of Listen is a quiet town that appears happy, content, and safe.  They almost don't need a police force.

Until . . . the website.

The website, called Listen To Yourself,  records PRIVATE conversations.  Baffled as to how this is being accomplished, it takes awhile before the townspeople begin to think about the power and damage their words can have on their "friends."

Consider for yourself a question that is pondered by two characters within this riveting book:

Do the conversations we have privately define who we are, or are we who we are despite our private conversations?

Hmmm . . .

I love words and this book is all about the power of words.  Remember this post?  Words are one of the reasons I blog.  Just as the Word of God brings forth life in me, creating a string of words on Granola Mom 4 God gives me purpose and passion for the things God has called me to.  An outlet.  A way to share.  A way to document.

But I wonder . . . by you reading my blog, do you really know me?  What about the words I say that you don't hear?

Scripture clearly warns us humans to be careful with our tongue:

• When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. (Proverbs 10:19)
• A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. (Proverbs 11:12)
• The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21)
• Even an entire chapter is devoted to the taming of the tongue in James 3! 
  

Watch your words.  I certainly am considering them.  It is so easy to be flippant on my blog . . . or Twitter . . . and in a brief email.  I appreciate the warning and I am taking heed.

This is a sustainable book.  It is a GREAT read.  It is powerful.  It will make you think.  It will challenge you to put a bridle on your tongue. 

A hearty thanks goes out to Tyndale House Publishers for allowing me to review this book.  I was sent a copy of Listen for free.  I was not paid for this post, nor do I have to return it.  I would like to keep this book . . .but it is too powerful to keep it to myself.

If You Give A Mom A Book: Martimus at Midnight

I didn't realize what a find this book was.  I'm sorry we have to take it back to the library. 

The book:  Martimus at Midnight

by Alina B. Clein

Why is it so great?  It's about our museum.  The one we visited a few weeks ago.  We could actually relive this book . . . kind of. 

See?

We got to jump into the delightful story.  Except when we went, Martimus was pretending to be asleep.  Just wait until the museum closes.  That is when the magic happens and Martimus turns on the museum lights.

I don't know much about rhyme or meter (my college education escapes me) but the storyline glides off  your tongue melodically as you read the story aloud.  It is a delightful dance of words and watercolor as you glide and twirl  through the story.

Next time we go to the Children's Museum, I want to take this book with me and find all of the different animals and exhibits that are painted in the pictures throughout this book. 

We have read this book multiple times and in many places.  It travels from room to room in our house.  I keep renewing this book.  I don't want to give it up.

If you live in Indianapolis . . . this is a MUST read for you!

What did you read this week? 

If you don't know what a Sustaining Book is check out my first blog post on this topic, If You Give a Mom a Book.

Some things that you could discuss in your blog post would be:

• What is one book that stood out to you this week?
• What was the title of the book, and who were the author(s) and illustrator(s)?
• What conversations did it spark between you and your child?
• Did the book come up randomly in conversation at some point causing your child to create an application on their own?
• Set the scene—where did you sit?
• Did you have anything yummy to eat or drink while reading?
• Was music playing?
• How did reading together help your day?
• What was the story about?
• Did you like the illustrations?
• What was your favorite part about snuggling?
• Why was your book a Sustaining Book?

Guidelines

• Link up 1x a week. My goal is to post every Friday.
• Pick one book—your favorite book from that week.
• Use any one of the suggestions I listed above to include in your post.
• Grab my button on the sidebar to compliment your blog post.
• Enter the exact blog post address in Mr. MckLinky!
• Leave me a comment that you linked up!

I can’t wait to read about your Sustaining Book!

Thumbthing

I have a friend who speaks my love language. 

She sent me a present in the mail yesterday.

It's a Thumbthing . . a reading ring and bookmark.  You can read comfortably with one hand.

I love it.

It is unique.

Where does she find her cool gifts?  

I used it last night when I was reading my new book to review and my hand didn't go cold and numb.  My carpal tunnel that developed from a college job didn't bother me.

It made me stay up later, though.  

Thanks friend.  This post is for you! 

Great Giveaway over at Delightful Learning

I can't wait to meet Michelle . . . one day . . . when God wills . . .

Until then, I will just encourage you to visit her website, Delightful Learning.  That's what I do.

She is hosting a great giveaway.  Perfect for Tot School.  That is why I want it.  I mean . . . it would be nice to obtain a package in the mail of this item should I happen to win this cute toy that is perfect for little hands.

Click RIGHT here to find out about Michelle's giveaway.

Christian Keyboarding ~ A Review

There really is no easy way to learn how to type on the computer. 

It takes practice and repetition. Practice and repletion.  Typing has to become an almost instinctive habit, like breathing . . . or skiing.  You can’t think too much about the process.  You just do it.

I learned how to type on a typewriter . . . the majority of which are now sitting in Goodwill. 

Which gives me an idea . . . my children would think that the typewriter is novel . . . and I wouldn’t have to share my computer . . . and fear what button they might accidently push to delete 12,000 pictures. 

That’s it!

Typing may be learned old school style at our house.  Nifty.

I had the opportunity to try out a keyboarding curriculum called Christian Keyboarding by being a part of The OldSchoolhouse Homeschool Crew.

 

Highlights: 

• program allows students to learn the art of transferring words on a physical page to the computer screen
• lessons are brief
• uses the QWERTY keyboard
• at the beginning of each lesson is a Bible verse that reminds the student of the importance of the written word:  1 Corinthians 16:3, “Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.”
• practice sentences and drills are taken from Scripture
• curriculum gives you the preference of binding the whole book or just giving your student one page at a time
• printable e-book is portable and economical

The Cost: $12.95

The Benefit:  Keyboarding is keyboarding . . . this is a curriculum that will keep on giving throughout the years and through multiple children. Christian Keyboarding provides instruction and repetition, and most importantly gives your child an additional avenue to communicate the Gospel effectively and . . .  well . . . efficiently.

For more reviews on Christian Keyboarding please click on The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew badge.

Note:  I was given this product to review for free through my participation in The Old Schoohouse Homeschool Crew.  I do not have to give this product back nor was I paid for this post.  All thoughts and opinions are mine.

Technorati Tags: Christian Keyboarding,The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew

The Lesson of Expelled Accumulation of Life

It could have easily become overwhelming this morning.  I hadn’t picked up Mussoorie’s poop since the last time we mowed.  (Late October?)  Her poop was littered all over the yard . . . accumulated and decomposing in varying degrees.  It was like walking through a land mine. 

I don’t know if you know this or not, but there is an art to picking up dog poop.  The easiest way is to take care of the smelly situation daily.  Once the poop begins to pile up, the task becomes arduous, overwhelming, and loathsome.  Upon having spotted the waste, you bend down on sure footing and weasel the shovel under the expelled accumulation of life.  It is helpful when several piles of poop are within 6 inches of each other or so.  This way you do not have to rise up from your stance, and you can move your shovel to eradicate more poop.  It is possible for the ground to release up to 5 droppings per shovel.  Much more than that the poop falls off the shovel and you have to start over again.

Poop is poop.  There isn’t any nice poop or good smelling poop.  Some poop is more preferable to clean up, but it still remains poop.  It is something that one doesn’t want to touch or really interact with.  Once it has been processed we hope to flush it away forever.

Yet, it is a necessary part of life.  It is part of the bodily process that keeps us healthy.  But it isn’t pleasant.

if i had a choice of when to pick up poop, I’d take winter.  The poop is harder, rock solid.  But I don’t do clean up duty as often. 

When I pick up our dog’s poop I often ask. . . why me?  Why am I serving my dog?  I love my dog.  She is my constant companion that I trip on.  However, I am her master . . . I’m higher in the chain of command.  Yet I am stooping to pick up and take away her crap.

What made yesterday especially bad was that I discovered  Mussoorie’s  poop had traveled to the neighbor’s yard, rather she had chosen to defile another green space.  It tainted someone else's dormant grass. 

To top it all off, there were no short cuts.  I could try and scoop as much poop as I wanted to upon the shovel, but I still had to dump the poop in the woods.  Once my shovel was full, I played the game of balancing an egg poop on a spoon shovel to the woods behind our house.  It would have been easier to take a short cut over the deck, but the risk was far greater for me to incur bodily injury and soil myself due to there being a thin layer of ice on the wood structure. 

God used this  absolutory necessary winter morning walk to the compost pile avoiding Mussie’s twice a day deposit that had accumulated, to work on my heart . . . to loosen up the “poop” or sin in my life.

God doesn’t just cleanse us when it is convenient . . . like me and Mussie’s poop.  Daily we can go to Jesus and get our sin shoveled away.  The great thing is that we don’t have to be in a P90x stance to successfully ask Jesus to forgive us.  We can be anywhere, doing anything, at any time. 

But God is faithful and fair. If we admit that we have sinned, He will forgive us our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure. (I John 1:9 NIRV)

What I love about God’s plan to keep us in communication with Him, to keep sin from acting as a barricade, is that there isn’t a trick.  I don’t have to say the perfect words.  I don’t have to be worried about asking for forgiveness for too many things . . . He doesn’t say, “Jodi, that is 5 poops.  I can’t fit any more things in my book under your name.  Come back tomorrow and maybe then we can get you all cleaned up.” 

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10 NIV)

Additionally, I don’t have to just hope that what I am doing will accomplish poop duty in my life.  A right relationship with God doesn't consist of me being a good person, going to church not once but twice a week (extra points, right?), wearing modest clothing, not eating pork, refraining from cuss words, fidelity, or showing self-control by not yelling at my children. 

The fact:  at some point I am going to fail to keep one of these golden values. 

Case in point.  Yesterday . . . I had pork.  I didn’t think about it until I had devoured a momo (pot sticker) that reminded me of being a missionary in India.  I cussed (in my head).  I spoke sharply to my children.  My mom even heard it . . . ask her.

The yard of my heart is cleaned through Jesus.  At any point in my day, I can know that God and I are in good standing BECAUSE of Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”(John 14:6)

While we are talking about sin, I know that it can sometimes be a comforting thing to compare your sin to someone sitting in jail or even Lafonda at church.  I hate to break it to you but just like poop is poop no matter whose bottom it comes out of, sin is sin. 

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)

I admit, I would rather change a breastfed three month old baby’s diaper than Mr. Smiley’s 20 month old diaper.  Big difference.  Likewise, some sin is easier to deposit and trust Jesus to carry away.  It is easier to give God a shout out about mentally thinking a “choice” word than ask for forgiveness and help for speaking harshly to my children.

To stay healthy physically, mentally, spiritually I have to poop out my sins just like we all should be doing in the restroom daily before or after a meal.  (Sorry for the visual.)

I have also discovered that I go in spurts.  Summertime takes us out into the yard daily to play.  Mussie’s poop gets cleaned up almost hourly during hot weather.  But when the seasons change . . . I am not so faithful to keep the playing field free of brown stains.  The same is true in my own life.  If I am busy, sin accumulates.  So when I have some time to play with the Lord . . . it is hard to know where to begin . . . just like yesterday in Mussie’s yard. 

As I bent down multiple times yesterday, God gave me such a visual representation of what He does for me. 

I heart my dog.  Part of being a responsible dog owner is to pick up her poop.  I put myself at risk of getting dirty to go outside and clean up the places where she spends her time.  God does the same thing for me.  He rolled up His sleeves, came down to the green earth, and scooped up poop approximately 2000 years ago.

God offers no short cuts.  There is one way to get us clean.  But the reality is that God didn’t use a shovel, He used His Son.  He got dirty.  It was like He scoped out the poop in our lives with His own hands (not a shovel) to make us clean. 

I am thankful that He is God.  I am not.  I didn’t get all of the poop cleaned up yesterday before  I had to come in and tend to my children.  But Jesus did clean up all of the poop while He was on the cross. 

God isn’t limited by time.  He has a big shovel that doesn’t accidentally dump your sin on your foot or in your neighbor’s toilet. 

Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

___________________

He has taken our sins away from us
       as far as the east is from west. (Psalm 103:12)

Go do some poop duty!

Once An Arafat Man ~ A Review

It didn't take me long to read Once An Arafat Man by Tass Saada. 

This is the story of a man who is almost what you would call a modern day Saul turned Paul.  Tass Saada grew up with intense hatred toward anything Israel and Western.  Having run away from home at a young age to train to become a ruthless killer and Fatah fighter, Tass achieved respect, training, and an outlet for revenge.  His family eventually tricked him into returning home and completing his education.  However, Tass expressed rage in just about any situation while living under his parents' roof.  In an effort to distract Tass from his destructive path, his parents agreed to allow him to travel to America.  Tass married, worked hard, ran a kitchen, had children and . . . much to Tass's surprise discovered Jesus and love for the nation of Israel.

Though Once An Arafat Man is a quick read, it is packed with a powerful testimony of how Jesus is still transforming lives and revealing Himself to people of other faiths.  Be prepared to learn about history, the Bible, Palestinian culture, how God is working in the Muslim community, and the amazing work Tass and his wife, Karen, are doing through their ministry called Hope for Ishmael. 

Be sure to visit the Once An Arafat Man Blog!

I would like to thank Tyndale House Publishers for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book.  I was not paid for this post nor do I have to return the book.  I was and continue to be challenged to discover my role in sharing in the work of The Great Commission that Jesus has called us to . . . and am left wondering why God continues to put books and people like Tass into my life. I will continue to pray about our family's role in sharing the Gospel message. 

Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter Winner

Drumroll . . .

Congrats to Winner #6:

Yahoo for Michelle over at Delightful Learning!  Please go and visit her very cool and recently updated website.  She's on Twitter, too.  I like to bug her there when I don't inundate her inbox with emails.

Tot School

(Mr. Me-Too is 43 months old.)

Tot Trays

I forget where we got these amazing chopsticks, maybe PF Chang’s, but they are perfect for Chinese food and extracting pompom balls from beans (thanks to my sister, Michelle).

By the way, the hat on Mr. Me-Too was a permanent fixture that day.  I am not sure why, other than the fact that I love wearing my skullcap. 

 

Inspired by someone’s blog (I’m so sorry . . . I don’t remember which blog because I went through the whole Tot School list last week—I left you a comment), I cut out mittens, numbered them from 1-10, and placed the correct number of dots on the back of the mitten.  Mr. Me-Too had to place them in numerical order and then flip the mitten over and place the correct number of dots on the backside of the mitten.

We had fun printing an entire ABC booklet to use our Do-A-Dot’s with which you can find at Making Learning Fun.

We received some packing peanuts the mail when my Bed Buddy Foot and Hand Warmers arrived.  So the boys obtained some “swords” (kabob skewers) and gently stabbed the skewer through the packing peanut.  Once the kabob was full, they slid the peanuts off into the vase.  Once the vase was full, they completed the task.  (This does require supervision.  We had one sword fight that wasn’t pretty—but no blood.)

 

 

I don’t have real good pictures of our next activity.  We have 100 bouncy balls from Oriental Trading.  The boys had to load a large spoon up with balls, carefully climb the stairs without dropping the balls, dump them in a container at the top of the stairs, and then come back down to repeat the process.  (It got rid of some restless energy!)

At the suggestion of Confessions of a Homeschooler, I purchased some VERY large push pins (and yes this is another activity that needs a little bit of supervision.)  I hand printed (you can use a computer) several letters of the alphabet and Mr. Me-Too used a push pin to poke holes into each letter. 

The boys were so curious.  Why on earth did I have a pair of shoes on a Tot Tray?  Can you guess?

Their task was to find as many shoes as they could and dump them into a pile.  It was a bit eye opening to me—I didn’t realize how many shoes we had.  And I will have you know that Granola Mom had the LEAST pairs of shoes!!!

 

Then, they had to match the pairs of shoes because I mixed them all up.  (Rosey-Posey was over for the morning and helped us.)

After finding a match they created a parade of shoes.

Finally, they walked in another person’s shoes!

I created patterns with unifix cubes and they had to mimic the pattern.  Afterwards, they started making each other patterns.

Mr. Me-Too and Rosey-Posey played a snowflake matching game from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Life

It is possible for 3 young children to have a Quiet Time in one room and stay reasonably quiet.  Yahoo!

Can you tell that I loved having a little girl around the house?  Rosey joined us for yummy snacks.  I am working my way through a Sue Gregg cookbook and came across her yummy homemade Cheese-its.  Rose liked it until Mr. Smackdown started complaining.  And Mr. Me-Too loved them . . . well, until Big Brother started moaning. 

The boys also enjoyed working out with me this past week.

They also had their fare share of play time!

Technorati Tags: Tot School