Muffin Tin Meals & More

I love using the kiddos’ divided plates for mealtimes, making sure I find something to fill each spot.  Whenever I leave one “blank,” Gwen has to point out that it’s empty.  Sorry, some days I’m more creative than others! 

I got this nifty idea from Counting Coconuts to make muffin tin meals.  It’s amazing how the kids get excited when you mix things up a bit, do things somewhat differently.  They were excited with the presentation, and had fun eating from each compartment.

Next week we start preschool (!!!), and since we begin with the story of creation, I think it would be a neat idea to have a creation-themed lunch using the tins.  All the ideas I got from googling call for sugary treats (like Oreo cookies for separating the light from the dark), so I’m trying to come up with a healthy version.  The goldfish crackers will most likely pop up again in that meal!

I’m a little nervous assuming the role as “teacher” for Gwen; I know it’s something I do all the time anyway, but setting aside specific time for “school” puts me in a bit of a spotlight.  This is what I see happening:

“So… this is the letter ’A'… which is for apple… moving on!”

I’m afraid all this planning will be for naught, and I’ll have wasted my time on busy nothings.  But if nothing else, we’ll have a bit of fun along the way…

A peek inside the creation-themed sensory bin I’ve put together:

What’s inside:
Day 1: white rice for light/day & black beans for dark/night    
Day 2: blue tissue paper & cotton balls for the sky
Day 3: brown cup & earth ball for land/earth; blue streamers for water; Easter grass, Lego trees, foam fruit and flowers stickers, flower pin & a plastic flowers for trees & flowers.
Day 4: medium yellow pom-pom for sun, marble for moon, small yellow sparkly pom-poms for stars.
Day 5: plastic fish toys, fish puppet & wooden birds for fish & birds.
Day 6: plastic animals & two toy people for animals & man.
Day 7: dollhouse bed for day of rest.
*I also added some small shiny star stickers to find, a plastic star tray/scoop,  and letter magnets to spell out “creation.”

Gwen has been getting excited about starting school with Mommy, and though I’ve gotten quite a few resources already, I thought it would be a neat idea to get her a special school gift – like a backpack (she could take her school stuff when we run errands or go camping), a pencil case, whatever.  I love turning an event into a special occasion!  Nothing has really caught my eye, though… except for a brand new copy of Angelina Ballerina that I nabbed for sixty-nine cents at a thrift store!  She’s a favorite character and I’ve had that book on Gwen’s wish list for a while.  AND Angelina begins with the letter “A,” so it all goes together quite nicely.

Since we have a limited book collection at home, I’ve been requesting all sorts of library books for our first week on the letter A, the number zero, and the four seasons.  Gosh, I’m starting to sound like Sesame Street.  Here are a few of the titles that will be in our book basket.  W ish me luck! 

Highlights

I’ve finished the laundry and the dishes and don’t feel like doing anymore housework, so I thought I’d share a few highlights from last week.  I realized I forgot to share the kiddos’ reaction to the ice cream sensory bin.

The verdict…

They loved it!  Of course, it got played with the most on the first couple of days, but every once in a while Gwen will ask me to open it for her, and as soon as Josiah sees her playing with it he moseys on over.  I’m sure if I just left it out they’d play with it, but have you seen the contents?  There’s no way I’m leaving all those pom poms out in the open.

Guess what I finally made?  The homemade play dough!  I didn’t make pretend ice cream like I had planned, but I did use spices and food coloring along with mint and orange extracts to make it look and smell nice.  I love play dough - the texture is so much fun! - so I joined the kiddos on this one. 

I keep it in jars so it doesn’t dry out; not sure how long it’s supposed to last.  I will probably make a blue version with glitter to go along with the creation story for our first official week of preschool.     

Besides ice cream, Summertime is for popsicles, smoothies, and berry-picking, all of which we have been enjoying in abundance.  I make smoothies for the kiddos almost every day, perhaps every other, using my homemade yogurt and frozen fruit, sometimes adding some orange sections or orange juice if it needs thinning.  Since we go through frozen blueberries like nobody’s business, I’ve taken advantage of the picking season and have gone three times already – to Schartner’s Farms in my neck of the woods, and a skip and a hop to Sweet Berry Farm (they have a cafe with yummy offerings and ice cream to boot!).

I also [finally] tried a recipe for fudge popsicles which I had bookmarked from Smitten Kitchen when it was first posted.  They were sooo good!  I used dark chocolate, organic whole cane sugar (a lesser amount), a combination of cocoa and carob powders, and coconut milk for the milk.  I don’t think the kiddos care when their desserts have been tampered with to make them healthier.  

Since I knew we were going to be enjoying popsicles on a regular basis during the Summer months, I decided to add a book to one of my Amazon orders (you know, to qualify for the free shipping) and got POPS! Ice Treats for Everyone.  I want to make all the recipes, of course, but started with the coconut pop – just like a frozen macaroon!  There are some pop recipes on the author’s website.

My dad has been wanting to take the kiddos to a polo game for a while (supposed to be something fun to do outdoors, and the horses… kids like horses, right?).  We finally went on Saturday, and while it wasn’t the most exciting thing for me, it was fun to go with the family. 

If we go again, I’ll bring a book and some snacks.

What have you been up to?

Wordless Wednesday: I miss the days when love came so easily…

Gwen as a newborn

Chore Chart for Kiddos

For a while now I’ve been wanting to make some sort of chore chart for Gwen.  I figure having the visual helps reinforce the things I ask of or expect from her on a daily basis, as well as motivate her to complete tasks. 

While searching for homeschool resources, I did come upon various printable charts – but most of them were pretty basic graphs with simple word descriptions, not very impressive for a kiddo who doesn’t yet know how to read. 

Earlier today, when going through my binder of craft ideas for the kiddos, I came upon an article I had ripped out of a Parents magazine for cute chore charts with corresponding pictures – just like this one.  To my frustration, the one pictured in the article was not on the website – but there are some other blank charts.  Then I thought, why not make my own?

Earlier today I was delighted to find this Funny Font Book, which helps younger children differentiate between letters when there are so many typefaces and versions of the same letter.  I immediately downloaded it, re-sized the pages so I got four per printout on photo paper, cut out the pages, punched holes, and secured them with a metal ring.  Hm, metal rings… maybe I could make a similar flipbook for chores.   

I googled “flip chore charts with pictures”, and though it’s not what I originally had in mind, one of the results landed me at Proverbial Girl Duck and her post about positive rewards and chore charts.  I love the system she implemented, and was even further delighted when I realized she downloaded it from Homeschool Creations – already a favorite of mine!   

I printed out the chore chart (in purple) along with the chore cards on photo paper, picked out a few of the cards that might go in each category (morning chores, afternoon chores, or those for reward), and cut small pieces of velcro to attach to the front and back of each card. 

On the backs of the cards I put a star sticker, so when the chore is completed it can be turned around and – voila! – you see a star. 

I also pasted the main chore chart onto a piece of purple construction paper, just for fun.  I was going to put her name somewhere, but I’m not sure if I want to use marker, stickers, whatever – maybe I’ll leave that up to Gwen.

Tomorrow I’ll introduce her chore chart, along with Proverbial Girl Duck‘s idea for “warm fuzzies” – pom poms earned for doing reward chores or good behavior during the day, which when the jar is full can be turned in for a movie night or other surprise.  

I’m not sure where it would best be displayed – figured it would get messed with on the fridge, and she would probably end up playing with it if left in her room.  Can’t wait to see what she thinks of it – getting “warm fuzzies” just thinking about it!

Fudge Babies

I just made these and had to share them with you! 

I love browsing cookbooks, tending to pour more over the desserts than anything else.  A recent check out from the library was Elana Amsterdam’s the Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.  The recipes look really good, even though I’m not concerned with going gluten free or vegan – it’s just nice mixing up healthy recipes once in a while, trying new combinations and ingredients.  I decided to take a gander at her website, Elana’s Pantry, and have since bookmarked many of the recipes (Almond Joy Bars, anyone?). 

I saw this super-easy, healthy recipe for [gluten-free, raw, vegan] Fudge Babies and knew I had to try them.  I just so happened to have a container of Medjool dates in the fridge! 

The taste of dates doesn’t bother me, but for someone else who might not care for it (like Phil), you can’t even tell.  It just tastes like rich, chocolatey goodness.  I followed Elana’s version, which is slightly different from the original recipe and a host of variations that can be found at Chocolate-Covered Katie.

The only thing I did differently was add a spoonful of natural peanut butter to hold the ingredients together – not to mention the fact that I adore the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

The only drawback?  The recipe makes a small batch.  Easily remedied! 

Yum.