Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Blah, Blah, Blah

I have nothing to say, well that is not true...I just have nothing INTERESTING to say. And, if you know me in real life (rl) you will know I have never let that stop me! So....


  1. Internet Explorer is apparently not happy with Blogger. I can not seem to make them talk and behave together. Which is frustrating and making it really hard for me to post anything with a lot of links in it. Which includes my October post for science.
  2. Tomorrow is October! When did that happen?
  3. This year October means 2 things to me instead of just one. My birthday...as usual and I start working in Josh's class...on Friday...
  4. I am nervous about starting Friday. I just do not feel prepared! AT ALL! I am running the entire Accelerated Reader (sorry no link!) program for his class. Should be interesting since I have not actually seen AR at all in about 10 years. Then, only briefly.
  5. Remember me complaining about our brand newish furnace leaking? STILL NOT FIXED! It has been about 2 weeks.
  6. Now the Kitchen sink...with the newish faucet is leaking...or at least it was until the plumber came and fixed it this morning. It was under $100 which is good but the broken part only costs $.40. Oh well...at least it is fixed.
  7. Josh is HILARIOUS and so is all of life in his eyes...or at least that is what he tells us and everyone who will listen.
  8. It seems like everyone I know is either pregnant or just had a baby. (Congrats BL!)
  9. Anybody want to buy my house? Please!
  10. Next week, Josh's teacher is coming for a home visit.
  11. Josh has sold $68 worth of his toys on Craigslist.org ! And several more to go.
  12. He bought a batcave with some of his money...ugh, here Fisher-Price Super Friends Batcave (don't ask how long that link took!)
  13. I usually have several Christmas gifts purchased. This year? ZERO!
  14. I have a lot of things going on that are unbloggable and are weighing on my heart.

Thanks for the indulgence of a whiny list! I will try to get the October Science posted this week!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Menu Plan Monday~ September 28

We did not follow the menu at all last week! Sure hope we can do better this week! AND I still did not get a chance to make the Who Bread! So that is still on the schedule for this week.

Monday- Taco Salad

Tuesday- Pita Pizzas (Just reg pizza but made on a pita)

Wednesday- Cinnamon French Toast & Sausage

Thursday- Chicken Parmesan

Friday- Fried rice with Ground Turkey (not sure how...we shall see...I will post a recipe if it turns out!)

Saturday- Savory Chicken Roll ups found here!

Sunday- Leftovers!

Check out the other menus--> http://orgjunkie.com/

Friday, September 25, 2009

My 5 Tips for A New Montessori Mom!

Jo recently left me a quick request,
I have recently been asked by a new-to-Montessori mom of a toddler, where to start? She is overwhelmed by the amount of equipment and information available...as you are a Montessori mother I would love it if you could share your top tips too.


Here are my top 5...


  1. Focus on Practical Life! Little ones need lots of PL activities. The good part of that is PL activities are the easiest to make yourself...so, cheap and easy! Some great ideas for these activities can be found here!
  2. The Child is likely to find a favorite activity and do it over and over and over. That is OKAY and actually wonderful. This type of behavior helps little ones focus and become peaceful. (My Josh made bead necklaces everyday for months, he did eventually pick other activities...I worried he never would!)
  3. You, and your child will be okay if you do not have every activity available in a traditional Montessori environment. They will still learn all they need to know. Do what you can and make do when you can not! (We never did get Josh to do anything with the beads or the base 10 blocks for that matter...but he still learned to add at age 4!)
  4. FOLLOW THE CHILD! Even if you planned to present say uh farms, if he wants to learn about bugs...Go with it! He will learn more if he is interested and your stuff will wait.
  5. Finally, find support. Even if it is through an online community, you need to have someone to bounce ideas off of and vent to. I am so very grateful to all the moms who I have met through my blog and through reading theirs. Leave comments, ask questions. We all really want to help each other and a lot of these women have such amazing knowledge to share!

Here are a couple entries I wrote when planning to work with a toddler using Montessori:
Ideas
More ideas

Check out Jennifer's Blog
http://spiralmontessorimama.blogspot.com/
She teaches in a Toddler classroom and is an AMAZING Monte mom herself!

Good luck and feel free to always ask anything!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wednesday's Website

Ooooh look what I "stumbled upon"!
KidsTuff Kids Chair!!!

What sweet little chairs...so perfect for little ones.

And, the price seems really reasonable!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Menu Plan Monday~ September 21

Busy, busy, busy!

But here goes what we may potentially eat!


  1. Shepard's Pie (I just throw in a bunch of veggies, chicken, gravy, cr of chick soup, and mashed potatoes on top bake...Eat! Yum!)
  2. Tuesday the boys have a Daddy/son dinner out at Josh's school!
  3. Empanadas
  4. Fettuccine Alfredo
  5. Pizza
  6. Omelets
  7. Mexican chicken salad

I also really want to make Who bread!

It is officially Fall on Tuesday! I am thrilled! I just love Autumn... the weather, the clothes, my birthday!

Have a great week!

Check out the other menu's at http://orgjunkie.com/

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Falling into Fall!

In all honesty, I am struggling a bit right now trying to find a rhythm for our days. We have a lot going on.

Josh has started school. He is really enjoying it and thinks his teacher is hillarious. (his words!) What that means for me is that I am now spending 1 hour in the car everyday just getting him back and forth. That time does not include wait time. And I can not believe all the after school/evening meetings!

We are getting our home ready to be sold. Which means oh so many projects. Painting, cleaning, power washing, priming, sanding, etc...

Then there is the life happens category. Things like normal living... Which also includes our newish furnace leaking mysteriously, and my new project of selling all our unwanted stuff on craigslist.

So what is suffering? Oh, you know... dishes, laundry... the normal stuff.

We are doing pretty good at keeping up with our at home school. We are working along at our human body study. The Story of the World is also going great. I keep adding more and more to it because we are really enjoying it. All we have done for geography is put together our new NA geopuzzle. (love it by the way but more on that later!)

So that is what we are up to! How is Fall treating you?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wednesday's Website

Some cool ideas for crafts for a culture study but definitely a "work in progress"!

http://www.culturecottage.com/index.html

Make sure you check it out though and bookmark for future use!

Friday, September 11, 2009

School is...um...cool?


Well we did it! We survived Josh's first week of school! I tell you though, it was both worse and better than I expected.
The first day I dropped him off and for the most part it went fine. He was excited and happy...I held the tears until I got in the car. Sounds successful, right?
Pick up was a bit iffy. To begin with, the whole crazy pick up thing is CRAZY. There are no buses, so every parent is there waiting in line to pick up their child. CRAZY!


When it was finally my turn to get my kid...he was escorted to the car by his teacher... he jumped in and immediately burst into tears. I think he was a bit over tired. He is not generally that emotional. He had forgotten a book he made during Center time AND some little girl tore it and he had to tape it. It is still unclear to me which he was crying about...maybe both!

Anyway, then he says, "...and Momma, we did not learn ANYTHING today...you said I would learn something..." Oy, he has continued to complain about that everyday but at least now he is also adding that all they learned was about school rules...but nothing else! (Which by the way, is not true since he told me all about snakes on the way home today...BUT he wants to learn real stuff like math etc...) I just keep reassuring him that they will learn more as everyone gets used to school.

Which is only sort of true! He is not going to learn what he wants this year, and prob not next year, at school. But we are also continuing to work at home and he is loving that all of a sudden. Sort of a "you do not know what you have until you no longer have it!"


Right now at home we are working on

  • Geography~ North America
  • Science~ Human Body (esp. digestion this week!)
  • History~ Story of the World (what is history/archaeology?)

Think I will add math to please Josh in the next few weeks, once we get a better rhythm in place.

I do want to add that I really like his teacher. I think she "gets" him. She pulled me aside already to talk about how SHE has the same sense of humor as him...hmmm??? And also, that he really is good at reading...uh, yeah...I noticed! I think when we had warned her she thought we were exaggerating.

So, any good advice about keeping him away from germs and mean kids on the playground? (He already has a runny nose and had a time out for pushing a boy who would not stop teasing him.)

Welcome to the world of school!

What we have been up to...

FYI, I wrote this and scheduled it BEFORE school started!




We finally got our new flooring put in! My Cousin and Uncle do flooring for a living and did an amazing job! We are really happy with it...too bad we do not plan to be here long enough to enjoy it. We are officially getting our house ready to be put on the market!! Which means we are painting and cleaning and trying to get everything ready!




Josh has been playing outside quite a bit. Especially since we have been out there painting the garage etc... the past few days. This picture is funny though, check out the garden gloves and light saber!



Always doing some learning activity! This set is pretty cool. You can sort the animals into kingdoms, or habitat. Animal Habitats Game (appears unavailable, which is really sad because it is wonderful!)
Can you read that? It says, "Poop did not come out with marble." Josh swallowed a marble a week or so ago. It sounds like it was an accident but the whole thing was a bit of a nightmare. At first, we thought it might be a magnet. But it turned out to be just a metal marble that comes from a magnet set. He passed it pretty quick, in just 2 days, but I had to "retrieve it" to be sure it passed. On an interesting note, Poison Control called me everyday to check out that things were okay and to provide any support we might need. They were incredibly helpful!
FYI, 1-800-222-1222.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Wednesday's Websites

Monday, September 07, 2009

September = Biology

Here is what I am thinking for Biology!

BookList

The Skeleton Inside You (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Germs Make Me Sick! (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) (Reading Rainbow book)
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body
Me and My Amazing Body
The Way We Work
What Happens to a Hamburger? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Why Do We Laugh? (Why Books)
Our Body (Child's First Library of Learning)
I Know Why I Brush My Teeth (Sam's Science)
Your Skin and Mine: Revised Edition (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
My Five Senses (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

Other resources

Human Body Funstation
Beleduc Your Body - Boy 5-Layer Puzzle (Josh LOVES this...SOOOO worth the $$$)
Skeleton Floor Puzzle (much nicer than ours but that price is amazing!)
Talicor Somebody Board Game (LOVING this right now!)

Human Anatomy


Human organs coloring page

Human skeleton coloring page

Dr Pbody

Human Body - Power point of the body

3 Part cards

Self Care

Dental Care ideas


The 5 Senses

neat intro for readers!

5 senses body cube game!

http://www.littlegiraffes.com/fivesenses.html

  • Touch -mystery bag
  • Hearing - Sound cylinders
  • Smell - Spice jars matching
  • Taste - compare sweet/sour/bitter/salty
  • Sight - Magnifying glass activity

Simple reader!

Trace and color- fine motor practice.

Lapbook ideas

Science journal ideas

  • Popcorn Experiment
  • Play-doh experiment

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Menu Plan Monday~ September 7

"Back" to School addition! Gonna make it an easy week since we are all a little nervous!


Monday- Labor Day - Hot Dogs, beans, chips/dip & whatever else we can dig up!


Tuesday- First day of Kindergarten! Gonna take Josh to his favorite restaurant Mr Burger! (interesting choice for my child, huh!)


Wednesday- Quick Crescent Taco Bake


Thursday- Cinnamon French Toast...hold the syrup! & Bacon


Friday- Fettuccine Alfredo With Chicken (make sure you use the lower fat ingredients so this does not kill you!)

Saturday- Leftovers!

Sunday- Taco Salad

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

MIA...again!

Just spending our last weeks before school starts together! Been a bit crazy...including new family members on the way (Not me!), family members moving far away, marble swallowing along with poop inspecting (it turned up!), new flooring, many...many...many school meetings, house hunting, house "staging", and just normal life craziness.

Be back soon!

Shannon