Saturday, February 16, 2013
You mean bakery
I know i have bigger and more important things to blog about right now but that requires a bit more time and pictures to be uploaded on the computer. i tried out a new simple and healthy pancake recipe that I found on Pinterest tonight. Super simple - 2 ripe mashed bananas, 4 eggs, dash of cinnamon (or more if you are like me), 2 tsp of vanilla. Mix together and pour on lightly greased griddle or skillet. It doesn't make much - six 1/3 cup pancakes. We had had thawed blueberries slightly mashed poured over them. Sophie helped make them. she mashed bananas and mixed everything together. Anytime Molly or I said her name she would reply, "you mean bakery". We then had to refer to her as "bakery" and then repeat whatever we were saying. She makes me laugh. I'm really bad about taking a picture of my food so here is a picture of the second serving I had, thus the poor presentation.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Because I don't want to forget
Normally I feel my posts are pretty long. I try and get a lot in one since I'm not very consistent and like to incorporate photos as well. Today, however, I realized I should type short little posts when I don't want to forget something. My girls each said something that made me laugh today that I don't want to forget.
On our way to the doctor this morning Sophie pulls her hat off her head and has static...big time. Her hair is sticking up and clinging to her head. This is the conversation she had with Molly.
S: my hair is funky
M: yeah, you have 80s hair (she's heard this from matt)
M: do you know what 80s hair is?
S: no
M: me either
Getting ready for bed tonight Sophie asks for "vasolina" for her chapped lips.
On our way to the doctor this morning Sophie pulls her hat off her head and has static...big time. Her hair is sticking up and clinging to her head. This is the conversation she had with Molly.
S: my hair is funky
M: yeah, you have 80s hair (she's heard this from matt)
M: do you know what 80s hair is?
S: no
M: me either
Getting ready for bed tonight Sophie asks for "vasolina" for her chapped lips.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
back to college we go? kinda, but not really...
i'm sure most everyone has heard of dave ramsey's financial peace university but not many have tried it. matt and i are currently going through his nine week course during the sunday school hour at our church and loving it. FPU is a practical approach to handling money. it makes sense and it works. built on biblical principles FPU teaches you be good stewards of the money that God has intrusted to you.
FPU teaches you to zero out your budget tell your money to go somewhere that way at the end of the month or year you look at at how much you've made and say "where did all our money go?" matt and i have created several new accounts (two different savings, vacation, etc) and are enjoying this new challenge of truly living on a budget. it makes you appreciate your money a lot more and really evaluate your spending. i'm thoroughly enjoying trying to make the most of my budgeted amount for groceries and household. it's only been two weeks since i've had to stick to this and i'm happy to report that in the two weeks i've only gone over budget by $9. this is huge because i really never knew from week to week what i would be spending....i just went grocery shopping and purchased what i needed. i still do this but in a much more conscientious way. i calculate my groceries as i go through the store. i even go as far as weighing my fruit to have a more exact amount. i'm careful about what i buy and strive to make the most of the groceries i buy. reading this again, it makes me sound as if i was carefree and wasteful before; wasteful, no, but carefree, a little. because if i wanted shrimp and steak (ok, we really never eat steak because it is so stinking expensive) during the week, we'd have it. now i'm not so quick to jump out and plan more than one expensive meal.
the envelope system is something that FPU strongly recommends. in the envelope system, you allocate a certain cash amount for a category and put that money in an envelope for the month. when it's gone, it's gone. we have several envelopes for clothing budgets, baby supplies, gifts, etc. the envelope looks like a checkbook register so we can deposit and deduct throughout the month. funny story and weird experience for me was when i went to target earlier this week and had to make three different transactions in order to keep my money envelopes separate and accurate. fortunately, the store wasn't busy so i didn't mind this. had the line been backed up, i would have paid in one transaction and figured it out later. but, back to the story. i had a birthday gift, two baby outfits, and a household item. it worked wonderfully. the cashier probably thought i was strange but hey, who cares.
teaching our children about the importance of money is another area that has been discussed. matt and i decided to implement dave's idea with molly and sophie. everyday they have 5 chores to complete (in addition to picking up their toys and room). they earn $.10 per chore, so $.50 per day. doesn't sound like a lot but when you're 4 and 2 getting paid is a big deal and they love to work for money. at the end of the day we pay them their money and they keep it in a glass jar on the counter. then, at the end of the week they divide their money into three envelopes: giving, saving, and spending. at the end of the month we will have them sit in church with us until after the offering so they can give their tithe and we'll also deposit their savings. the spending money is theirs to do whatever they want with. molly is saving for american girl doll clothes. poor girl doesn't realize how expensive they really are. sophie's planning on getting more minnie mouse things. here the girls are with their jars and envelopes.
another perk of all this is my house stays so much cleaner. not because the girls are doing my work but because it forces me to stay on top of things. i can't just go sit down after lunch or dinner because one of them has to clear the table and bring me the dishes to rinse. i have to make sure the dishwasher has been ran so sophie can empty the silverware in the morning. molly vacuums the living room at night so i have to make sure it's picked up. little things that make a big difference!
FPU is a class i'd recommend to anyone. it's so practical and easy and just makes sense. if you have the opportunity to take it do. oh, and they'll even give you a cool bumper sticker for your car (we don't plan on putting ours on but it made me laugh that they sent one).
FPU teaches you to zero out your budget tell your money to go somewhere that way at the end of the month or year you look at at how much you've made and say "where did all our money go?" matt and i have created several new accounts (two different savings, vacation, etc) and are enjoying this new challenge of truly living on a budget. it makes you appreciate your money a lot more and really evaluate your spending. i'm thoroughly enjoying trying to make the most of my budgeted amount for groceries and household. it's only been two weeks since i've had to stick to this and i'm happy to report that in the two weeks i've only gone over budget by $9. this is huge because i really never knew from week to week what i would be spending....i just went grocery shopping and purchased what i needed. i still do this but in a much more conscientious way. i calculate my groceries as i go through the store. i even go as far as weighing my fruit to have a more exact amount. i'm careful about what i buy and strive to make the most of the groceries i buy. reading this again, it makes me sound as if i was carefree and wasteful before; wasteful, no, but carefree, a little. because if i wanted shrimp and steak (ok, we really never eat steak because it is so stinking expensive) during the week, we'd have it. now i'm not so quick to jump out and plan more than one expensive meal.
the envelope system is something that FPU strongly recommends. in the envelope system, you allocate a certain cash amount for a category and put that money in an envelope for the month. when it's gone, it's gone. we have several envelopes for clothing budgets, baby supplies, gifts, etc. the envelope looks like a checkbook register so we can deposit and deduct throughout the month. funny story and weird experience for me was when i went to target earlier this week and had to make three different transactions in order to keep my money envelopes separate and accurate. fortunately, the store wasn't busy so i didn't mind this. had the line been backed up, i would have paid in one transaction and figured it out later. but, back to the story. i had a birthday gift, two baby outfits, and a household item. it worked wonderfully. the cashier probably thought i was strange but hey, who cares.
teaching our children about the importance of money is another area that has been discussed. matt and i decided to implement dave's idea with molly and sophie. everyday they have 5 chores to complete (in addition to picking up their toys and room). they earn $.10 per chore, so $.50 per day. doesn't sound like a lot but when you're 4 and 2 getting paid is a big deal and they love to work for money. at the end of the day we pay them their money and they keep it in a glass jar on the counter. then, at the end of the week they divide their money into three envelopes: giving, saving, and spending. at the end of the month we will have them sit in church with us until after the offering so they can give their tithe and we'll also deposit their savings. the spending money is theirs to do whatever they want with. molly is saving for american girl doll clothes. poor girl doesn't realize how expensive they really are. sophie's planning on getting more minnie mouse things. here the girls are with their jars and envelopes.
another perk of all this is my house stays so much cleaner. not because the girls are doing my work but because it forces me to stay on top of things. i can't just go sit down after lunch or dinner because one of them has to clear the table and bring me the dishes to rinse. i have to make sure the dishwasher has been ran so sophie can empty the silverware in the morning. molly vacuums the living room at night so i have to make sure it's picked up. little things that make a big difference!
FPU is a class i'd recommend to anyone. it's so practical and easy and just makes sense. if you have the opportunity to take it do. oh, and they'll even give you a cool bumper sticker for your car (we don't plan on putting ours on but it made me laugh that they sent one).
Friday, January 18, 2013
S is for Sophie
Sophie is really becoming interested in learning. She can spell her name and does a decent job for a 2 1/2 year old writing it. I do try to do different learning activities with both the girls randomly but never get too structured. Since Sophie's interest has heightened I thought I'd get a bit more structured. We started with the letter S because that is the letter she struggles with the most while writing her name. Tracing sheets are okay but Sophie is such a sensory-type girl that I thought we'd try shaving cream. She loved it and it helped because later when she was tracing she did a much better job. Of course there was time or play and getting her hands gooey!
We fixed broken snowballs by matching the appropriate number to the dots.
Playing a snowball game with number cards was a big hit...especially since she won 2/3 times.
Sophie knows most of her shapes, including the rhombus....it's not a diamond, folks. So we worked on constructing the square with marshmallows and the letter S. we did have to pause for a few snack breaks!
Finally, we worked on sequencing and built a snowman.
Blogger and I are not getting along at the moment and I'm having to do this on my iPad because I can't upload pictures from a file and I don't k ow how to move them in the app version so they're all stuck at the end....grrrr. If anyone knows how to fix this, let me know, please!
We fixed broken snowballs by matching the appropriate number to the dots.
Playing a snowball game with number cards was a big hit...especially since she won 2/3 times.
Sophie knows most of her shapes, including the rhombus....it's not a diamond, folks. So we worked on constructing the square with marshmallows and the letter S. we did have to pause for a few snack breaks!
Finally, we worked on sequencing and built a snowman.
Blogger and I are not getting along at the moment and I'm having to do this on my iPad because I can't upload pictures from a file and I don't k ow how to move them in the app version so they're all stuck at the end....grrrr. If anyone knows how to fix this, let me know, please!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Peanut butter
I made my own peanut butter...and it is good! I found the recipe on, yep, you guessed it, Pinterest. Between peanut butter sandwiches, apples dipped in peanut butter, smoothies, oatmeal, and the occasional cookie which doesn't happen very often (but it is my go to cookie if I need one to take somewhere because I always have peanut butter), we consume a lot of peanut butter. I thought maybe I could save a little money and make my own. Turns out I really can't buying peanuts at the grocery store. Did I mention that's all you need? Peanuts and a food processor. I need to look into bulk peanuts and then see if I will have significant savings. Today I made honey roasted peanut butter. Yummy! It's a little gritty but I like a little texture. Chunky peanut butter is my favorite. I'm excited to use it in my oatmeal tomorrow morning! Here is the recipe: http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/07/homemade-peanut-butter.html. They suggested adding other favors in also. I see chocolate peanut butter in my near future!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
fun with gingerbread
the past couple weeks the girls have had a lot of fun with gingerbread people. normally i don't think to do too much with gingerbread men at christmas time. sure they're cute and i've always wanted to buy one of those kits to make a gingerbread house but never have. this year, my mom gave the girls a cute foam gingerbread man ornament kit to put together so along with that the help of pinterest (my crafty bff resource) i found some fun things for us to do.
we made yummy chewy gingerbread cookies. i'm not a big fan of gingerbread cookies but wanted the girls to experience them so i searched around for a recipe that had good reviews and when i saw a chewy one i knew this was it. much better than the hard, crunchy gingerbread cookies. here's the recipe link: http://stickafork.net/2011/12/chewy-gingerbread-cookies/
we painted gingerbread people using gingerbread paint. just mixed some brown (and white to lighten) paint with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. it smelled wonderful! and the fact that we could paint outside was an added bonus!
later that evening when the gingerbread paint had dried the girls decorated their gingerbread people with paint and glitter. sophie remembered that i had mentioned it. i am still finding glitter in my dining room. i think we'll go outside to glitter next time (even if it's freezing).
here are the foam ornaments that grandma gave the girls. molly was set on turning hers into a girl so she opted to place the bow on the side of the gingerbread's head rather than using it as a bow tie as suggested. sophie followed.
we made the cutest book that i found on this site called one yummy gingerbread. first the girls decorated their gingerbread people.
finally, today, we made our gingerbread houses. this was supposed to be done last week but molly had a little problem when she was told she couldn't have a sucker after lunch. her behavior resulted in a consequence of no treats for a week. it's tough to make a gingerbread house if you can't eat it so waited. sophie needed a lot of help assembling hers. molly really only needed help on the roof. decorating was a cinch!
we made yummy chewy gingerbread cookies. i'm not a big fan of gingerbread cookies but wanted the girls to experience them so i searched around for a recipe that had good reviews and when i saw a chewy one i knew this was it. much better than the hard, crunchy gingerbread cookies. here's the recipe link: http://stickafork.net/2011/12/chewy-gingerbread-cookies/
we painted gingerbread people using gingerbread paint. just mixed some brown (and white to lighten) paint with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. it smelled wonderful! and the fact that we could paint outside was an added bonus!
later that evening when the gingerbread paint had dried the girls decorated their gingerbread people with paint and glitter. sophie remembered that i had mentioned it. i am still finding glitter in my dining room. i think we'll go outside to glitter next time (even if it's freezing).
here are the foam ornaments that grandma gave the girls. molly was set on turning hers into a girl so she opted to place the bow on the side of the gingerbread's head rather than using it as a bow tie as suggested. sophie followed.
of course there has to be some learning involved (it's the teacher in me, i can't help it). sophie worked on patterning with gingerbread houses, men, and candy.
molly worked on vowel sounds and spelling words that were on the gingerbread.
both girls enjoyed counting out buttons and placing them on the gingerbread. they also enjoyed just decorating also.
here is the story
finally, today, we made our gingerbread houses. this was supposed to be done last week but molly had a little problem when she was told she couldn't have a sucker after lunch. her behavior resulted in a consequence of no treats for a week. it's tough to make a gingerbread house if you can't eat it so waited. sophie needed a lot of help assembling hers. molly really only needed help on the roof. decorating was a cinch!
sophie's finished product
and molly's
such fun times. oh, and they did eat dinner, no one was sick, and went to bed and fell asleep without any problems. guess they get their high sugar tolerance from me!
Monday, December 10, 2012
update on sneak the elf
here is what sneak has been up to the past 5 days!
sleeping in the doll bed
reading christmas books to the snowmen
riding on the snowman's shoulders
holding baby Jesus
replacing stockings with underwear. he did replace matt and my stockings
with our underwear also but i'll spare you the picture of it!
the girls are having so much fun with him. molly had a mild panic attack yesterday morning as she accidently touched him while trying to set up the wise men that had fallen over at the manger scene. she lost her balance and her hand came down on his legs. she was so upset and crying. i assured her the magic would probably not be gone becuase it was an accident and she just lost her balance. fortunatly sneak felt the same way and came back this morning with one of his silliest ideas yet!
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