Miss Makayla Grace is 4 years old!

Already 4 Years Old!!

 

Makayla is 43 pounds, and that is at the 91st percentile for weight.

and she is 42.5 inches, and that is at the 93rd percentile for height.

Favorite Toys, Games, and  Dolls: Princess tent and flashlight, Daddy's Kindle,Vtech Innotab, watching movies on the Kindle, Starfall online, Puzzles, Hairclips and Bows, Princess Snowwhite and Tinkerbell doll, and looking at books!

Favorite Shows: Team Umizoomi , Dora the Explorer, Little Bill, Tree Fu Tom, 7^th Heaven, House Hunters, dancing shows, and Caillou

Favorite Movies: Up, Finding Nemo, Tinkerbell, Tangled, Christmas Caillou, Strawberry Shortcake, and Monsters University (which I took her to see on her birthday!).
Favorite Colors: PINK and PURPLE...oh and anything "sparkly" or "shiny" :-)

She can write her entire name and we have recently started working on the sounds of each letter in the alphabet. She starts Pre-K in August so I know she will be learning a lot of new things in preparation of learning to read.

Makayla also likes to sing sings. So many times I have caught her singing a lovely tune she made up by herself. Her songs are mostly about God and always sound so sweet. She really wants me to get her a microphone, but I’ve been considering the sheer extra volume of noise it will bring. Lovely noise mostly, but man it’s already rowdy around here! Lol. She loves stickers, hair clips, bows, and flowers; nail polish, and dresses. She’s a girly girl but she also doesn’t mind getting dirty playing outside. She's really been enjoying the Mommy/Daughter days we plan together. It's such a neat time just hang out with her. We like to go to the movies, splashpads, and parks.
 

I took her to the movie theater on her birthday, then out for Mexican food, next to her daycare to eat cupcakes, then home to open presents and eat icecream sandwiches. She really did have a blast and fell asleep in the recliner that evening.

 

 

 

 She had a wonderful birthday party at the park this year. Thankfully the rain cleared and the morning was beautiful. Daddy surprised her with beautiful balloons. She was so excited. Even during the busy summer season, we still had a lot of people come out to help us celebrate her special day! We feel blessed to have such sweet family and friends in our lives. I know she felt like a star.

 

Blessings and Much Joy,

Shawna  

Back to Work

The first official day back to school for teachers is tomorrow morning and I’m not gonna lie, I would rather summer stick around a lot longer. I have so many mixed emotions about going back to work. Yes, I like teaching. Yes, I think I’m a good teacher. But, I just wish I could stay home. I know-I know-I’ve written the same thing every August for the last 3 years. Well, that just tells you that it hasn’t gotten any easier for me. I do what I have to do.  I hope this school year is less stressful. Last year was tough…really tough. I could write an entire blog about it but it’s in the past. Quite frankly, I don’t want to relive it so I will skip the part of explaining. I spent last week sanding, priming, and painting some of my bookcases. They looked grungy and I needed the room lightened up. I totally rearranged everything. I get bored with the same old set up. I switch around my room every year. This year I bought new décor-it looks fabulously refreshing. Is fabulously a word? I still have a ton of stuff to do and zillions of copies to be made. I’m sure those things will get done at some point this week between meetings and lunch with my fellow teachers. I can’t wait to catch up and see how everyone’s summer break was. Mine was terrific! We didn’t go anywhere special but we didn’t need to; we had each other and that was perfect enough.

So let’s chat about daycare. The kids started transitioning to daycare last week and that went well. I think starting them on half days a week early helped out. The kids are doing great so far. Makayla will start the Abeka curriculum in a few weeks and I’m looking forward to that-I know she is! I thought Jackson would have a really hard time because he craves one-on-one attention, but he seems to be adjusting well. I am so thankful that both my little munchkins are adjusting well. They are my sweet little rays of sunshine and I just want them to be cared for and loved. I know they will be well cared for at the daycare.

So I’m off to bed now. Do you like how I start so many paragraphs with the word ‘so’? You would think that I wouldn’t since I’m a teacher but I just tend to write however I feel like it on this blog. Not to mention I am deliriously tired tonight. Goodnight & God Bless.

Shawna

We Love the Zoo

We make it out to the zoo several times a year. It’s such a fun place to go with the kids, plus teachers get in free! This was the first time the kids got to play in the new splash pad at the zoo. I was impressed with how big and nice it was.

Look at that face. :-)

My favorite picture of him in the water. Do you think he had fun?!

Having a blast!

Close up view of the elephants

I guess he was just chilling.

My Favorite Pick-Me-Up Snack

My favorite summer time snack is an apple. I love Gala, Braeburn, and Sonya apples the best right now. I'm sure that if I stopped by a farmer's market that I could find a new favorite. My kids love apples too. I can rarely eat an apple to myself because the kids come over for their bites. And what can beat an apple with fresh homemade peanut butter. Apples with peanut butter remind me of those delicious peanut caramel apples I would get at the fair as a kid. Homemade peanut butter is one of the easiest things to make in the kitchen. I was really happy when my husband told me that my peanut butter is better than any store bought peanut butter.

Homemade Peanut Butter

2 1/2 cups of unsalted peanuts
4 tablespoons of peanut oil. You can use whatever type of oil you have on hand.
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
salt to taste

Directions
Place peanuts into a food processor. Turn on and let run until the peanuts are well ground. I leave mine with a little crunch. Pour in the oil. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and replace the lid. You will probably have to do that step several times With the food processor still on add the honey and brown sugar. Season with salt according to your taste.  Store the peanut butter in an airtight jar in the fridge.

One apple and about 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is a great pick-me-up snack; especially between meals when I'm hungry.It gives me just the amount of energy I need.

Happy Summer! :-)

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

I've learned that I love to dabble in the kitchen when I have time. I'm a little obsessed with photography so photographing food is fun. I've been trying cook mostly fresh foods this summer, but I know that when school starts back it will be a challenge. Well, I searched high and low for a good veggie burger. I don't like the frozen ones that taste bland and heavy, and are filled with unnecessary  ingredients. I found a veggie burger recipe using sweet potatoes! I changed it up a bit and it turned out fabulous. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers
makes 7-8 large patties

2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
1 large sweet potato, baked/peeled/mashed (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp of hummus or tahini
2 tsp honey
1 tsp of mequite seasoning or any kind of "burger" seasoning you have
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of black pepper
1/4 cup wheat flour

salt to taste if needed

plentiful bread crumbs or Panko crumbs
oil for pan- you can use whatever kind you prefer

Directions:

1. Bake or cook sweet potato in microwave. Peel, place in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer to combine beans and potato together.
3. Add all te oter ingredients and blend until tey are mixed together well.
4. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form a patty from mixture and coat in breadcrumbs. Then drop the patty in the pan. Repeat until the pan is filled. Cook until browned on both sides.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.
7. Serve on a toasted English muffin.  I added Vegenaise®, fresh spinach, tomato slices, onions, and avocado. It was simply delicious...well 'simply' is probably not the best word to use because there are so many flavors going on with this sandwich.

This recipe is adapted from Healthy Happy Life.
You can bake this too. Bake at 375 until golden brown. I think you will need to flip it.

First bite! :-)

Honestly I didn't need or want anything else to go with this veggie burger. No sides. It was filling by itself.

Father's Day 2012

We love this time of year, minus the heat. It's a time of playing and just spending time together as a family. I couldn't ask for anything better or more fulfilling. Here are some pictures from Father's Day. It was a great Day. We also went to Tim's parents house but I couldn't get any pictures there because my indoor flash on my camera is broken. Great, great day!!

Happy Happy Father's Day!

She's not holding up the peace sign. She's saying "I'm 2 years old".

Jack with his Nana

Annabel

Jack playing with sticks

Grandad and Daddy cleaning Jackson's knees. He fell and got 2 booboos. This is nothing new-that kid is all scraped up. 

Joe and Summer pausing so I can snap a picture.

MG and Jackson love playing in the garden and getting dirty.

Makayla adores her Granny (actually her Great Granny) and I think the opposite is just as true.

Here's Granny getting a little sugar from Jack. She's holding the flower he brought her from the garden.

MG playing with Dakota

Happy Father's Day to my Dad! You've taught me the right things in life, and I love you so much for it!

Happy Father's Day to Tim! You're an awesome daddy to the kids! (and an amazing husband)

Father's Day Prayer Lord, please bless our fathers,
these men who mean so much to us,
who are greatly responsible
for who we are and who we are becoming.
Bless them for having the courage
to do what's necessary to keep us out of trouble,
for making us do the right thing,
for helping us build our character,
even when it makes us angry;
and bless them for pushing us to do our best,
even when they just want to love us.
Bless our fathers for being our protectors,
for leading us through stormy times to safety,
for making us believe that everything will be all right
and for making it so.
Bless our fathers for quietly making a living
to provide for those they love most,
for giving us food, clothing, shelter
and other necessary and not so necessary material things,
for unselfishly investing time and money in us
that they could have spent on themselves.
Bless our fathers, Lord,
for saving some energy for fun,
for leading us on adventures
to explore the outer reaches of ourselves,
for making us laugh,
for being our playmates and our friends.
Bless them for being our secure foundation, our rock,
for holding on tight to us...until it's time to let us go.
Lord, bless these men we look up to,
our role models, our heroes,
our fathers.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. (By Joanna Fuchs) 

Best Friends

p.s. Thanks to Aunt Summer for their adorable 4th of July outfits! :-)

Outdoor Fun

God has blessed us with gorgeous weather this weekend; perfect weather for hours of outdoor play! I haven’t been able to make many pictures lately because both of my cameras are “sick” but I managed to get one working for some outdoor shots (the flash is broken and the settings are off so I’m trying to figure all that out).

Makayla loves the big slides and Jackson’s favorite is the swing. I think he could swing all day if we’d let him. Watching my kids have fun and play is the best part of summer! I am so glad I get 2 entire months off working to regroup and to focus more on enjoying every moment. While I was editing the photos (love) I was reminded just how much my kids have grown – I am motivated to find the time to write an update on just how much they’ve grown and learned lately. Hopefully I will post that this week sometime. Until then, I hope you enjoy these pictures; they are little glimpses into my life’s journey as a mom.

Shawna