Featuring the Letter I

So this week we will feature the letter I in our activities. I words that I came up with to highlight this letter were : Imagine, Ice, Ice cream, Ironman, Imitate, and I like...

Here are the activities that we will do to go along with each of these words:

Ice Cream: Make homemade ice cream with this recipe. Make this I from this post.

Imagine: Tell stories with Kaden. Every night he tells his Dad a story that usually goes something like this: "Once upon a time there was a boy named Kaden. He liked to play with his Dada. They went to Target to look at Toys. They saw a dinosaur, some cars, and helicopters, and Ninja Turtles." So we will expand on this. I'll introduce some new half sentences to him and have him fill in the blanks.

Ironman: So this reminded me of an ironman marathon that my BIL was in a few years ago. I think I will make an obstacle course for Kaden to go through. Maybe I will have Matt hose off the plastic pool so I can use that as part of it too. :)

Imitate: So we might try some Simon Says- though I am not sure if he will get it. We will do some pretend you are this or that animal. That he gets and enjoys. We have some animal cards so I will use those to pick the animal at random.

I like: I will interview Kaden about things he likes and scrapbook the list for posterity. :)

Ice: This activity or this one or both...

I will take suggestions... any other I words you can think of? Any activities to teach the phonics of the letter I? He recognizes the letter fine and connects some words with it but he doesn't know sounds yet.

Bree's got more Awesomeness on her site

My former roomate is publishing her first book in 8 months!!!! wow! To celebrate she is hosting giveaways on the 22nd of every month until then. woohoo! The first one started today(I guess technically yesterday). Go check it out and sign up to follow her blog. Then leave a comment saying that I sent you so I get more entries in her contest. Her current give away is for YA fiction and I think I went to London with one of the Authors of one of the books she is giving away. It’s a small BYU world. And I was an English major (not that you can tell based on this blog).

Also, you should read Bree’s blog ‘cause her kids are hilarious(or her writing about her kids is hilarious… I think it’s a combo of both). If she has half the imagination that her kids do- well let’s just say her book is going to be Fantabulous! Read Bree!

Boys rule!

Fabulous Fun Finds is having All Boy giveaways next week!!! Woohoo! Fabulous Fun finds is so much fun. Every day I go there to see what new giveaways they have or if I am a winner. There are no strings attached. You won't get tons of e-mails (unless you choose to sign up for every newsletter of all of the products- but then it's your choice whether it is worth an extra entry for you or not). The products that are highlighted are all drool worthy. Frequently the vendors give coupon codes for their wares as well so if you aren't lucky enough to win you can still get a discount. Check it out!

Goal Check in

Budget- We go up and down with this one but I am doing better at not shopping for random stuff. I am doing better at cooking from the pantry and using up ingredients. Our biggest weakness is eating out but we are meeting our savings goals(mainly because of all the OT Matt is working). WOOHOO!

Kaden is potty trained so I will change this goal to sleep training Asher. The kid still wakes up every two to four hours. It's driving me batty and makes me grumpy. I am not getting enough sleep and then I use it as an excuse to stay home and watch tv or be on the computer all day. NOT GOOD! This weekend- hopefully he is done with his cold- will be tough love weekend. He can cry cry cry or Matt will pat him on the back but no more mommy milk and snuggles in the middle of the night.

Spiritual- I need to plan my lessons earlier in the week. I have started reading the daily sunday school lesson scriptures again. I rarely stop praying during the day-I always need something(patience and calm!) or I am thankful the boys are asleep, or playing nicely, or asleep. :) I do need to make time for some more thoughtful prayers(ones where I sit and listen too) though instead of all the in the moment ones.

No TV and getting out more with the boys- We tend to get out of the house 4-6 days aweek. So that's pretty good. The Mom's club I joined is wonderful! We love our first five classes! Kaden is doing really well participating in circle time. He still has his freak out moments but they are lessening(at least when it comes to preschool time). Now I need to do more with the boys at home. I think I will plan 4 activities for the boys each day (each activity lasting about 15 minutes each) So between that and us getting out to the park or class we should be doing good. So starting next week I will plan activities and post links here. Check in on me and make sure I follow through!

Cleaning house- man I suck at this one. I have made progress but I still need lots of work. Since Matt is working 6 days a week right now I have hired my cousin's 11 year old daughter as my mother's helper once a week. She comes for two hours and plays with the boys (no tv :) ) while I clean house. Sadly so far I have had to use this time to get my kitchen under control and laundry and so far I have not been able to do further deep cleaning like I had hoped. Today I have made the goal that I will have the dishes and basics done before she gets here so that I can clean out my fridge and mop my floor. I accidentally dumped a bunch of kool aid in my fridge last night so, yeah, it's time for the sticky nasty deep cleaning. And Asher had a blast splashing his juice on the floor on Sunday so it's mop time too. Hiring a mother's helper was the best decision I have made in a long time. She's great with the imaginative play with my boys. I love hearing it as I rush around trying to get everything done. :)

Searching for Summer recipes

My husband isn't a huge fan of Veggies or Fruit or sandwiches or salads.... So what's good in the summertime? Most people grill but we just have a little tabletop camping grill. I guess I should learn how to use that- it just makes me nervous with my little boys running around. Send me your suggestions for things that don't use the oven and are simple and easy. Here are my ideas that I know my hubby will eat and I can add all the veggies I want to my portion and not his...

Chinese Chicken Salad(with or without potstickers)
Nachos
Tacos
Tostadas
Cafe Rio knock off salad (though I need to learn how to do this in smaller quantities because some always goes to waste)
Sloppy Joes
mac and cheese
bourbon chicken
sweet and sour (hubby will eat carrots and pineapple with this)
Italian chicken

OK that's all I can think of for right now... give me ideas!

Menu Plan Monday

I better do it or I know we will eat pizza or tacos every day this week. I am getting over a cold and it is crazy hot outside (o.k. so it is normal hot outside- I still don't have to like it) and it's Monday so I have no motivation to do anything! :) I here by make Monday my official down/planning/pick up the weekend disaster slowly day. I give myself permission to be anti-social and stay in my PJs all day. But I do have to spend some of the day planning the rest of the week and cleaning up as payment. So anyway- here's my planning part...

Dinner this week in no particular order:

Curry Chicken Casserole- I keep seeing this one posted on various people's sites with and without the curry- it is a classic. I may have to skip it this week because it is HOT and this requires the oven. But I am craving it....so we'll see... This is the most recent version of it I've seen - it is different than the way I make it but it has basically the same ingredients.

Sweet and sour chicken- I just remembered this one requires the oven too :( Time to figure out my summer menu plan... - I'll probably make the Bourbon Chicken from that same site nstead if I manage to get some apple Juice...

Sloppy Joes and fries

Chinese Chicken Salad using this dressing- phew! this is a good summer one.

Skillet Macaroni and Cheese- this is a new recipe to try for us but it looks yummy and is one the boys will eat too.

Beef Stroganoff- basically hamburger, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, Montreal Steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and a packet of Taco bell hot sauce mixed together and serve over rice.

So there's seven...

Jpanese fabric giveaway

I love Crafty Crow for all of their wonderful Kid's Craft Tutorials. Today there is another reason to stop by- Japanese fabric Giveway! Yummy! I love all the funky little characters. So cool and cute! Check it out at Crafty Crow.