Tot School

Head over to Carissa's blog to see other links to Tot School this week.

We are not completely back to normal since vacation last week, but we are getting close. This week, I was preoccupied with the big birthday party and making sure everything was set for it, so we didn't do a theme, hopefully, we will be back to that next week.

Here is some of what we did this past week:

imaginative play

planting a flower for her China mom

fine motor skills




cooking with moma

And one of my favorites from this week (there were many since we had a bday party, which I will put in another post):

Playing in her new princess pop up tent

Happy Birthday to my sweet angel!

Birthday party!!!

Join in on the fun here-hosted by http://www.gograhamgo.com/ and Jolly Mom.

See you there!

Picnic Table Talk-healthy snacks

Over at ABC and 123: Picnic Table Talk this week, they are discussing healthy snacks for our kids.

I haven't set a specific time for snacks yet, but if she hasn't asked for a snack by about 2-3 hours after a meal, then I will ask her if she wants one and give her some choices. These choices usually include a fruit, a whole grain, or soy yogurt or vegan cheese. (AG has a cow's milk allergy).

Here are some of her favorite snacks:

smoothies
seaweed
avocado
grapes
pretzels
rice cakes
any type of whole grain muffin
fruit
strawberry soy yogurt
vegan cheese
peanut butter crackers
graham crackers
homemade granola bars
homemade chewy oatmeal raisin cookies
cucumbers
tomatoes
pickles
olives
trail mix (usually Kix, Cheerios, raisins and maybe some dairy free choc chips)

I think I am going to try to make these fruit leathers for on the go snacks. I am also wanting to make some homemade "lazy granola" from here.

I think as she gets older I will try this organizational tool-I love it!! Thanks for the inspiration!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday-chewy granola bars

Today, I want to share one of our go to snacks for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. AG loves them and so does AG's daddy, although, he prefers me to make half with raisins and half with chocolate chips.

Ingredients
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4-1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened -we use dairy free due to AG's cow's milk allergy
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups crisp rice cereal (Rice Krispies)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips -we use dairy free
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
raisins (optional)

-Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease or spray 9 x 13 pan.
-In large bowl, beat brown sugar, sugar, and butter until light and fluffy.
-Blend in honey, vanilla and egg.
-In separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
-Add flour mixture gradually to sugar mixture and beat until combined.
-By hand, stir in almonds, chocolate chips and oats until well mixed.
-Press mixture firmly in bottom of greased pan, and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown.
-Cool and cut into squares.

Head over to BlessedwithGrace for more tempting recipes. I think I am going to try the cinnamon bran muffins.

Tot School

Please visit here to see more Tot School posts.

Last week, we were on vacation, so there was more Life School going on than actual Tot School, although, we did get a little bit in. We went to Branson, MO. While there we met up with one of our China travelmate families. This is the second time we've been able to see them this year and feel so blessed to be able to keep this connection for the girls, as we all think it is important as they grow. The girls are only 5 days apart in age and are absolutely adorable when together ( and separate :-). We were truly blessed to be able to find such good friends through this process. Here are some pictures from our week.

with her new princess puzzle

on the Branson Scenic Train with Daddy

playing with Mr. Potato Head

Lots of time in the pool

Here are some with our friends






And a few of my favorites from this week:

tot school

Oh, man, the week went by so quickly, I didn't get a chance to write about the previous week's Tot School. Time flies when you are having fun, and when you are visiting family-yes, again! I tend to pack up AG and myself when AG's Daddy has to travel for work. So, if he's gone for more than one night, you can bet we're not staying home. Off to Nana & Papa's we go-and they don't mind a bit! And, so that no one thinks that I am slighting my in-law's, Ma spent the night with us on Monday.


Since we were gone, Tot School was kind of sporadic. I always take the time to try to introduce her to new things or review things throughout the day, so I don't feel like it's a total loss. I had decided to work on themes each week, with this week being the first. I didn't do as much as I had planned since I decided on Tuesday morning to leave, but I did manage to take some things with us.



I did a daily shape:


M-square


T-triangle


W-circle


T-heart


F-star


I didn't actually do much for Thursday & Friday b/c she already knows those shapes really well.



Monday we did a square person-sorry no pic.



Tuesday we made a triangle kite.

Wednesday we made a panda head out of circles.

Next week, we will be on vacation, so we will do some things involving different shapes as kind of a review.

Go here to see Tot School.

Sweet book giveaway

Lisa at BlessedwithGrace is giving away the sweetest book HERE. It's Dance Me Daddy and it's been on my amazon wish list for a while now. I had decided to wait to get it for Father's Day next year, but I would love to win it.

Please go check out BlessedwithGrace. Lisa has a great blog about her life with her daughter and has some fabulous giveaways, one of which I won a few weeks ago- Kai-Lan and Yo Gabba Gabba DVD's.