Monday, October 29, 2012

Menu Plan Monday: October 29


 

I haven't planned menus in 2 weeks because my husband has been out of town for new-job training in Boston.  We ate out several times (which I hate to do) due to kids' activities at night and house showing during meal times.  But, thanks to my mother-in-law, I did not have to cook much at all while hubby was gone ... she stocked my fridge full of yummy leftovers before he left. 

I did make this yummy soup for dinner one Monday night and ate leftovers for lunch all week.  Warning: It makes a ton.  I'm kind of tired of eating it now, so I may freeze the rest for later.
 
Breakfasts: whole-wheat pancakes w/chocolate chips, pumpkin pancakes
 
Lunches: Italian White Bean Soup, turkey sandwiches
 
Monday: spaghetti casserole, salad & garlic bread
 
Tuesday: Roasted chicken & peppers, rice & green beans
 
Wednesday: tomato soup & grilled cheese
 
Thursday: The world's best chicken, roasted asparagus, whole-wheat rolls 

Friday: leftover spaghetti casserole, salad & garlic bread
 
Saturday: Beef & vegetable soup (my mother-in-law's recipe), cornbread muffins

Sunday:  Almond crusted chicken, baked sweet potatoes & green beans (lunch); Leftovers for dinner!
 
Check out Laura's blog for more Menu Plan Monday.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Luke: 2-years-old

Luke turned two back in September.  He has definitely grown out of the baby phase ... and losing all that cute baby fat!
 
These are photos from his 2-year-old photo shoot.  The photographer did a great job of capturing his personality in these photos.  They are so Luke!
 
The official 2-year-old doctor visit stats:
 
Weight: 25 pounds, 13 ounces (25th percentile)
Height: 33-1/4 inches (20th percentile)
 
Other important things:
 
Clothing size: 24M-2T
 
Shoe size: 6
 
diaper size: 5
 
Favorite foods: veggie chips, apple nutrigrain bars, mac & cheese, applesauce, bananas, cheese sticks (he is the best eater of any of my children and will clean his plate no matter what I feed him 9 times out of 10).
 
Favorite TV shows: TV is not really his thing, although he does like Elmo and Super Why if they happen to be on.  I've already spoken of his love for Apple electronics.  Ha!  He really loves to watch any Disney Cars movie and any LeapFrog movie.
 
Favorite songs: Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider
 
Learning: He can sing the ABCs and count to 10 (sometimes 20 but not consistently)
 
 
This little boy is always on the go ... unless he is sitting playing with my iphone or ipad.  He wakes up asking for those things and he knows exactly where I keep them to be charged.  He also loves books and cars.  Specifically, an Elmo colors book (from the dollar bin at Target) and another baby word book.  He loves to point and say the word or make the appropriate animal sound.  He also loves anything related to Disney Cars.  When I was putting him to bed tonight, he said "I love Cars 2."  He really cracks me up!

 
Social development: you have a LOT of words!  I can't even begin to write them all down but he has a lot to say, and he says it loudly!  And I understand most of it.  One of my favorites is "no way" when I ask him if he wants something.  He can repeat pretty much anything you tell him.  When we pray at night, he will say "Dear God" and "Amen".  So sweet!
 
Physical development: This boy runs full speed all the time.  He attacks life with such vigor.  It is all or nothing with him.  He runs, jumps, gallops and hops.  He loves to push the shopping cart at full speed.  He loves to swing and slide outside.  Oh, and he is also quite the climber from what I hear from the Wednesday night church workers (but he doesn't climb much at home).  He walks right into his preschool class without a look back at Mom.

 
See how Luke has grown over the past 2 years!  I can't believe my baby is 2!!
 
 
Here is a photo montage of all 3 kids at age 2.  Claire and Luke definitely look more alike at this age than David.  David has my rounder face and Claire and Luke have Will's jaw & chin.  Luke is definitely our blondest child!  Claire and Luke also both have my fine, thin hair, while David has Will's course, thick, curly hair. 
 

Monday, October 15, 2012

Menu Plan Monday: October 15-21


 

The 5 dinners-in-1 hour clean eating plan was a big hit last week.  The meals were yummy and easy to prepare.  Even if you don't prepare them all at once in advance, the meal-prep is still super simple and fast.

Breakfasts: Maple Pecan Pie Bars (these are super-yummy ... my hubby and 4-year-old son both really liked them);whole-wheat pancakes w/chocolate chips, eggs & turkey bacon (for me)
 
Lunches: Italian White Bean Soup, Zoe's chicken salad, leftovers from last week
 
Monday: Pizza spaghetti casserole, garlic bread, salad
 
Wednesday: leftover turkey & white bean chili, grilled cheese sandwiches
 
Thursday: Pizza night, salad

Friday: spaghetti, salad, garlic bread
 
Saturday: Beef & veggie soup, cornbread

Sunday:  Leftovers!!
 
Check out Laura's blog for more Menu Plan Monday.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Pre-K: Numbers/Shapes/Colors Review

Week 2 of Pre-K was Numbers, Shapes and Colors review.
 
{David is 4 years, 4 months old}
 
Most of our activities came from Confessions of a Homeschooler's K4 Curriculum.
 
Shape matching puzzle.
 
 
Shape puzzles.

 
Color matching puzzles (from the dollar bin at Target).

 
Number writing.

 
Counting!  With magnets.

 
And stickers.
 
 
Number matching.

 
Patterning.

 
Matching different shades of colors.  (Thank you Porter Paints for the paints chip samples!)

 

 
Paint Brush color matching file folder game.  I need to pull this back out because I spent A LOT of time cutting out all those different color paint brushes!

 
Counting with Unifix cubes.

 
Spelling color words.

 
 
 
Playdough shapes.  He does not love the playdough.  I wish he did because this is something he could do for a while independently while I worked with big sister on some of her school work.  We don't pull out these activities often.

 
We read "Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3" by Bill Martin, Jr. and we watched some of our favorite LeapFrog counting videos: "Numbers Ahoy!", "Math to the Moon" and "Numberland". 
 
This post is linked up to these great blogs ... check them out for more great learning ideas!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Luke's Birthday Party

My BABY turned 2 back in September.  I will do an official "Luke is 2" post soon with all the milestones and such, but here is the breakdown of his second birthday party.
 
Theme: Little Red Car.  Decorations were all red/aqua and Luke loves cars (and trucks and all moving vehicles).  I had to shoot this picture the day I made the invitations because I did not have a good recent picture of him.  He will not stay still long enough for a picture.  (I strategically strapped him in his little red car for the picture.)
 
 
We had a small family party with pizza for lunch and cupcakes to celebrate the birthday boy.  I went with simple red and aqua iced cupcake frosting (from Sam's) and made cute cupcake toppers.  I also decorated and plan white (very cheap) cardboard cupcake stand from Party City to match the party theme.



 
Luke was super-excited to come home from the soccer game and find all the party decorations!  He also loved that he was tall enough to stick his little finger into the cupcake frosting!


 
The whole spread.

 
Uncle Jon gives good tickles.

 
Birthday gifts!

 
Sweet family and friends at the party.

 
David and Claire with our neighbor Kate.

 
Time to sing Happy Birthday.  Luke was way more interested in the hanging balls.

 

 

 
Love this sweet boy!

 
And then it was back to the hanging balls!

 
Blow out the candle!

 
The cupcakes were a big hit!


Poppy captured everything on video.

 
The birthday boy loved the cupcake!

 
Look at those eyes!

 
Luke and Mommy!
 
 
Cousins!

 
DiDi & RiRi.

 
The girls!
 
 
Time to open gifts!



 
This gift was a big hit!  (Melissa and Doug House).

 
More LeapFrog videos!

 

 


Lightning McQueen slippers!

 
Lots of help from the party guests!

 
A new scooter!

 
Our little family.

 
Will's side of the family.

 
My side of the family.

 
Aunt Ashley and Ian.

 
What a fun day celebrating Luke!