Manic Monday

I have danced so much today!  I did a half hour practice first thing this morning.  I did a 10 minute practice in my space before class, my hour class, and then they requested a few favorites so we danced for nearly 15 minutes OVER.  Almost 2 hours worth of dancing before 11 am!  Holy smokes.   I also made cupcakes (the very vanilla ones I've shared before, you can find them on the recipe link) this morning to go in a container I was giving back to a friend.  She brought the container when she made me paleo-doughnuts.  I kid you not.  Ahhhhmazing.  

We came home, I showered and we headed back out to meet some friends at the park.  We met and chatted while the kids all played...ahem, the big kids HUNG OUT.  They have informed me that they do not "play."  *eye roll*

I outlined a plan for One's school work.  They went on a week vacation with their bio-dad and now she's behind.  However, she is already trying to cram a full school year into six months so her work load is higher AND she only has 8 weeks left to finish so she can't just stretch it out.  Now, I just printed some of the freebies from TpT I shared yesterday, so that I can get to school with Three and Four.

I'm exhausted, and truth be told, I just want to lie down for an hour or so.

Sunday Snapshots

Three, Four, and The Punk on the big slide at the fair. 

Four is a very serious soccer player. 

Awesome ride. Their favorite. They rode it twice. 

After the fair, we stopped at our local ice cream place. This is the first time Four had ice cream that we didn't buy and obsess over the ingredients. It went well, I'm beginning to see a light at the end of this tunnel. 

This is how your kids play Wii too, right? 

Hey, maybe you shoulda listened to mom when she said go back to sleep (@5:45am.)

"Cave Painting"

Four's pumpkin choice.  I carved, he chose the pattern. 

Three's pumpkin choice (actually, his third choice, I vetoed the first two based on difficulty for the carver. )

Sideways Saturday (on a Sunday Morning...)

I know my posts have been all over the place, but whatevs.  It's life, it's chaotic and crazy (and I love it.)  I have a few minutes and I wanted to share a few things I'm downloading to help out with school stuff.  Enjoy these freebies from TpT!

Retelling Sticks--I can see these being really useful with Three right now.

Number Line Math Game--We are currently working on addition and subtraction with the number line.  This game has a space theme, and Three is all about any GAME to get his work done.

Witches Brew--this is a Halloween themed trail mix.  We won't be making it because a.) money is tight, and I don't have enough of these things just lying around to say "well, I'll only have to buy XY." and b.) Four couldn't eat it, and he has enough of that "Look everyone else gets this fun stuff, you get none." shit going on is his life already.  BUT--if you aren't dealing with either of those situations?  This is a cute, yummy way to get kids measuring in the kitchen with you (which I'm a huge proponent of.)

Pumpkin Seed Counting--this one has the numbers out of order, so they have to pay attention and really recognize the numbers.  We will be carving pumpkins today, so we will be counting some seeds this week (the few that I don't hoard and roast.)  I will most likely create my own sheet with higher numbers (this one only goes to 10.)

Dia De Los Muertos--create your own calavera bilingual worksheet.  Awesome!

There is also the idea of keeping all the candy wrappers (or using the actual candy) and making a graph of what you got.  We will be using Switch Witch this year (Four can't have the candy--allergies.  And Three gets what we refer to as "candy spots" which are really bad eczema flair ups because of food dye) so all the candy will be gone on the morning of Dia De Los Muertos.  Yay for me (it's SOOOO tempting to have it in the house.)

Flashback Friday

This has been the most productive week-school wise-that we've bad in a LONG time. We actually got EVERY SINGLE thing I planned complete. Crazy right??  

We learned about: Bats, practiced reading, did addition and subtraction on a number line, memorized a rhyme, looked at our map and learned where some interesting types of bats lived, learned what characters are, completed a Venn diagram about a bats vs birds, and did a few sheets on the story of Stellaluna!  Phew!

Three at First Grade Co-Op. 

Skinny Housewife

http://thenonmarthamomma.com/3-easy-apple-recipes-for-fall-a-guest-post/

OOOOOK.  I'm so excited about the apple bacon chicken salad recipe.  I've been wanting to try it since I found it on Monday afternoon.  Now, I haven't had a chance because I haven't been home at lunch time all week.  Today I was, but my husband cooked all the bacon yesterday so I was short that.  I will rectify this.  Trust me.

I'm thinking this will be lunch for a couple days next week.  I love it because it uses greek yogurt in place of mayo.  I LOATHE mayo.  LOATHE isn't even a strong enough word truly.  I hate the look of it, the smell of it, the feel of it....just IT.  BLERGH.

Now, greek yogurt isn't paleo, but I'm not being super strict about dairy.  I'm not going out of my way to eat it, but I'm not really going out of my way to avoid it either.  And cheese, don't even get me started on my unwillingness to part with the GREATNESS that is cheese.  Not.  Going.  To.  Happen.

My plan for having this as a lunch while out of the house involves cooking up the bacon and chicken and mixing it up with the apples (submerged in a little lemon juice, because I don't want brown apples at lunch) and then packing the yogurt in the ice pack and mixing it in when I'm ready to eat.

One of my BIGGEST issues with being paleo is lunches out.  We are out of the house at lunch time three days a week.  And, I don't like raw veggies of any sort (I know, I know...) so I'm limited in what I can pack.  Especially, now that it's getting cold out and some things I just don't want to eat cold.  I need a portable microwave or a camp stove for the back of my van.

Two for Tuesday

I could lose a whole day (maybe more than just one...) looking at this blog!  I used a lot of these ideas for our work this week, and I LOVE her other ideas too...can't wait to spend more time digging through old posts.

http://aroundthekampfire.blogspot.com/2012/11/stellaluna-some-sugar-freebie.html

And did you know about this??  If you did, I may come beat your TUSH for not telling me about it sooner.  Online stories from National Geographic Kids on a WIDE variety of subjects!  WHAT the WHAT???

Manic Monday

Such a productive day.  Got up, practiced my Zumba routines for the new upcoming session of my class, did school work with Three, went to the grocery store ALONE (did you hear the angels singing?  I sure did!) came home and fed the boys lunch, did a little more school with Three and Four, then went to bowling league, stopped at the store for 1 thing I forgot (that I NEED for halloween costume finishing, so it was imperative,) came home and put the dinner in the oven, filled out 2 job applications, practiced some new Zumba routines, now I'm putting up a blog post and waiting to scarf down dinner--I'm STARVED--and head to Four's soccer game, followed by a movie watching party with a friend!  PHEW!  It's been a glorious day.  

Here's what the kids have been doing while I was filling out apps, dancing and now blogging...

Let's hope no one needs to use the potty any time soon.  *wink*

Sunday Snapshots: love is...

Love is...searching thrift store racks for a newborn sized pj outfit for a stuffed animal. 

Love is...stitching a beloved monkey's head back on. 

Love is...pulling off the decoration of one of YOUR favorite headbands in order to convert it to a useable accessory for your child's Halloween costume. 

Love is...hand painting shoes (bright pink ones because that's the only color we could find in her size) YELLOW to match your child's Halloween costume. 

Love is....watching your kids do their thing! (Four blocking a goal, that's my little keeper!)

Love is....taking care of yourself and doing what you love (at the same time in my case!) 

Love is...a hammock near a bonfire. 

Love is....The Bestie and I hanging out in the back of her car, in a Walmart parking lot (because we are both on restrictive diets and weren't drinking either and would have felt rude sitting in a restaraunt and not ordering, AND this was my only free time this week--you do what you can!)

Skinny Housewife: Very Vanilla Cupcakes

http://comfybelly.com/2011/06/very-vanilla-cupcakes-using-coconut-flour/#.UeFmUUEp-KU

These are delish!  My kids like them, but I won't share because they aren't "all in" paleo, and so they have other treats that I cannot eat. I'm a selfish mom like that. If they want to move "all in paleo" I would share, until then--MINE. These are cake like, and not dry at all. I'm eating them without icing and they are FAB but there is a link to some icing recipes listed on the blog post as well.  

Enjoy!