*drumroll please!*

enjoying the 60 degree weather and BLUE lollipops!

:)

we. are. so. excited.

baby boy desa coming august 14, 2014!

my little ham

this little ham.
we potty trained him at 23 months.
through his nap at 3.
and now, he's not quite 3 1/2, and asked for big boy undies at night.
i was skeptical.
he's never made it through the night.
but, "if they ask"....
so, we let him try it.
first night: up at 3am, going potty, but a bit confused as to what he does with his semi-damp undies.  we walk him through the "proper" steps and leave another pair of clean undies/pjs in his bathroom and send him back to bed.
and since?
like clockwork, he gets up at 2am...or 5am...or right when he wakes up at 8am, (but only once in the night!) and goes potty.
without noise or fuss.
the only way i hear him is because he is, in fact, a man, and slams the toilet seat.
slams it up.
not down.
whatever.
the point is how proud we are of our little ham.
he's made it a whole week and a half, without incident.
and without waking his younger roommate up.

i'd say that's pretty impressive for a 3 year old.

ps- we also love that gap in your teeth.  just saying.  mama adores it.

St. Patrick's Day!

we had a great St. Patrick's Day (week) celebration!
since it's Ireland week in homeschooling, we decided to just make all week, St. Patrick's week!

we kicked it off with a church potluck on Saturday with tons of games.
sack races, bobbing for apples, hot potato, musical chairs, and more!
the sweet, sweet youth of our church just love michael (and jack!) and since he was a little too young to play most of the games, they really helped him out!
he even won two games!

picture time!
*no clue why daddy was holding mv like that.  poor kid.*

on the actual day, we had spinach pancakes and green milk for breakfast...

a green buffet for lunch...

and a really silly dinner :)

all week, we did St. Patrick's day crafts like rainbows...

the Holy Trinity on a shamrock...just like the real St. Patrick!

a textured shamrock!

handprint leprechaun...

and we even grew some clover in St. Patty's hats!

a great week of green celebrations!

black bean and sweet potato bowl

possibly my new favorite lunch. 

i have a soaked oat smoothie for breakfast and this for lunch. 

this new kid must love savory! :)

anyway, the possibilities are endless. 

mash sweet potatoes for the base and add sautéed black beans for the topping. 

add an egg!
add quinoa!
add cherry tomatoes!

so. good.
and so healthy!
this is a delicious option that will keep you going through the day!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Bowl
Serves 1.
one batch cumin black bean spread (and totally leave out the sour cream...we are going for healthy here!)
1/2 sweet potato, cut into half moons
1/4 avocado, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the sweet potato in a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper over medium heat until golden and crispy and cooked through.
Meanwhile, heat the black bean spread and spoon into a dish.
Top with hot sweet potatoes and diced avocado and season to taste!
Enjoy!

toddler meals...part 2!

are you sick of these posts? :/

we love these.

the boys are such good eaters but it's still fun to serve a delicious, nutritious, and fun meal!

and, yes, i've been asked.

they eat every bite of these meals.

and, yes, even though only one picture is shown, our little bear gets these meals too :)

a bit girly but nothing like a cherry tomato, red pepper, olive and carrot butterfly on a beautiful day!

leftover grilled chicken, leftover acorn squash mash, bananas, apricots, and steamed broccoli!

oranges, blueberries, goldfish pieces, and yogurt raisins :)

my boys loved this spinach cannellini dip, along with star toasts, avocados, boiled egg, and tomatoes.

these were from our Africa unit in homeschooling...but still fun to do with your little!

toast with peanut butter, apples, rice crispies and pretzels.

almond butter sandwich on whole wheat, carrots and apples with hummus, oranges and pineapple fruit salad, cukes, and a special, star dessert with nutella and "prinkles!" :)

blackberries, cheese elephants, steamed edamame, low fat turkey sausage, boiled egg.

even daddy got in on the fun!

toast, ham, oranges, cheese, strawberries and blueberries!

what kid doesn't like a kabob?!

*except maybe pointy objects should be for ages 3+...*

or a buffet? ;)

cookie cutters are your best friend for toast and sugar free jam :)

and for X's for school...

who wouldn't like these vibrant colors??

i would/do.

right now...

right now, we are...

throwing snowballs at mommy, through the window.

sorting m&ms for cookies.

this kid has known how to sort for a long time.

but.

he loves to sort.

and when you gotta get dinner on the table, and this take him an hour of golden silence, i let him refresh himself on sorting :)

having oh-so-many cold days.

but loving tractors and beans!

eating snow.

tromping through snow.

and then being surprised by what? in the midst of the snow! a beautiful, sunny day!?

hallelujah!

enjoying a bump :)

and pajamas.

relaxing at the spa for a day, compliments of daddy!

trying to understand what daddy is teaching us about dominoes...

...and monopoly. 

doing our morning, adorable stretches.

juicing every fruit and veggie we come across!

salivating over a new pack of essential oils!

mommy is in heaven.

waiting on daddy.

every day.

they nap till 5pm.

and stand here until he walks in through those doors.

melt. my. heart.

best breakfast smoothie.

this is my go-to smoothie.
so easy.
a lot of ingredients but all healthy and all natural.
gives you energy for the day without weighing you down with calories or carbs.
and if you think that coconut oil is an odd choice for additive, see here.
you'll be convinced :)

Best Breakfast Smoothie
Makes one large one.
1 banana, frozen or not, it's up to you
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup Greek yogurt, fat free, unsweetened
handful of walnuts, toasted or not, depending on time :)
3/4 cup soaked oats (have you heard of the benefits of soaking your oats??  do. it.)
1-3 tablespoons pure, organic coconut oil
1/2 - 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or other milk

Process until very smooth in a food processor, scraping the sides down as needed.
Enjoy cold!
*If you need a bit more sweetness, add a drizzle of raw honey or a couple dried dates. I do when my bananas aren't super ripe...*

homeschooling wrap up: february

well, another month wrapped up in homeschooling!
as always, we had a great time and enjoy the pictures below!

letter of the week was S...
so Sand was our textile...

Stegosaurus, Strawberries, and Sausages were in order...

and Spaghetti painting...

and our Bible story was the Good Samaritan!

we celebrated the Olympics...

and even had yet another snow day!

then, it was off to T...
Toothpicks...

a study in Teeth...
dry erase on a laminated tooth!

and "scrubbing" our yellow teeth all white and clean!

Tortilla with Topping (hummus) and Tomatoes, Tangerines and Teddy bears!

then, we focused on Valentine's Day (week) for awhile...
we sorted candy for cookies for Daddy's work...
(he knows how to sort well by this point, but i tell you, this kid will sit here for an HOUR and sort candies if mommy tells him to...a perfect time to get dinner on the table! :))

we counted and sorted candy hearts.
and learned that 5 rows of 10 makes 50!

we used hearts to construct a raccoon...

(i was desperate for some more "manly" heart crafts...)

made a special card :)

and stamped!

he loves to stamp anything.

then, on Valentine's day, we had a lot of heart shaped foods :)

the following week, we learned about Jesus calling his disciples

and started the letter U!

the textile was Umbrellas...

Udon noodles...

and we learned what an Ugli fruit is!

he loved it.

of course, we added to our letter book.

and made an Upside down cake for G-Ma and Poppy, who were visiting that weekend!

last week was V!
V for Vegetables...

Venus fly trap...

and Valentines!

our culture series focused on Africa this month!

so naturally, we had giraffes for breakfast ;)

we painted an African savannah sunset...

and how can you possibly paint in the tub without a full-on bath afterwards?  honestly, mommy...

mommy added the acacia tree...

then we added hay for the savannah grasses...

and hung it behind our center to play-act!!
it actually turned out really pretty, i think!

and we had theme snacks...
that's a monkey eating bananas, zebra eating "grass", lion eating "meat", and the poor hippo is eating...grapes?  ha!

we practiced a LOT of tracing this month too.
this kid loves to trace.

on an end note.
michael was playing at the fridge the other day while i was making eggs for our breakfasts and i hear him singing about "E, eh, eh, Elephant! T, tt, tt, Tiger!" and i think it's just him tra-la-la-ing.
until i look over and see this:
he's matched all the letters to the animals by himself!  zero help or questions from mama!
impressive, no?
well, i'm impressed :)
(by the way, that's B for Brachiosaurus, little "l" for Lion, and "C" for Cockatoo!)

looking forward to this month!