The Way I Feel, Part 2

To find Part 1, click here.

Sophie is just about a month older than Will was when I did this with him, but the discussion of feelings is no foreign topic to her. We talk about feelings often and, since borrowing that book with Will a couple years ago (The Way I Feel by Janan Cain), I purchased it very shortly after in board book form for us to own.

(Please excuse the post-nap hair.)

Here are Sophie's interpretations of some of the feelings we've discussed.

Silly
Scared

Happy

Sad

Angry (there was growling involved here)

Excited

Another Excited

Thoughtful

She did so well!!! I love these!

And she's pretty sensitive to others feelings as well. An important lesson!

Holiday Parade

On Saturday morning, the kids and I joined my sister's family and my mom for a trip to downtown Toledo for the annual Holiday Parade. Several people had called to tell us about this parade because it was in the paper that "Dora & Diego were going to be there" and that, of course, would be reason enough to go. ;-)

Low and behold, as we approached the crowded streets where the parade participants were preparing to line up, Dora & Diego were there greeting the children and taking some pictures with their excited fans. Weee!

My ever-cautious Sophie didn't want to get to close, but Mya could not take her eyes off Dora. So none of my pictures included all four kids posing. But hey... that's usually the case even without their favorite TV characters present. I wasn't expecting perfection. Haha!

Haha - look at Mya. So enamored.

Map & Backpack were there too, of course!

Pink Panther said hello to Will, too.

Busy streets and bands lining up.

These little, red cars made me a tad nervous with how fast they were swirling all over the place reeeeally close to spectators.

But Will thought they were cool. :)

Sophie with Uncle Dub

Nana & Stella

Me & Will

After awhile, the blustery wind was getting to us and we ducked inside one of the store fronts as we'd seen many other people doing. This happened to be a radio station but the hallway was wide and empty. No else picked this building to stay warm in so we had our pick of wide open windows.

Here come Diego & Dora again!

Another view of the packed street.

The kids watching the giant Rudolph balloon pass.

And, finally, the guest of honor: Mr. Clause & his reindeer!

The music and the festivities have certainly put us in the mood for the holidays!

What's For Dinner? Week 3

Veggie bag for November 8th:

Contents: 1 spaghetti squash, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, bag of green beans, bag of radishes, 2 tomatoes, 4 potatoes, 1 red onion.

Aren't these little radishes so cute? I love getting my food with the root and greens attached. Just feels more real.
{Menu for November 12-18}
Carrot pancakes for weekend breakfast. We've also been doing a LOT of oatmeal in the crock pot too.

We did Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches again - Emeril's recipe as suggested by my friend, Melissa.

I made my white bean dip for lunch over the weekend and Craig asked why I never make a Mexican bean dip. So... I did. And we had a family movie night and floor picnic to eat this. ;-)

Recipe:

1 1/2 (16oz) cans refried beans

1/2 cup taco sauce
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

8 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp mayo
1/4 tsp garlic powder
assorted veggie toppings

Directions: mix together beans and taco sauce and spread on bottom and up sides of 13x9 pan. Mix shredded cheese, cream cheese, mayo and garlic powder and spread on top of bean layer. (Note: EVERY time I've ever tried that it ends up smearing and looking totally sloppy and I just get frustrated. So I just mix ALL the ingredients together and spread as ONE layer in pan.) My mom tops her bean dip in diagonal rows with chopped tomatoes, pitted, sliced olives, green onions, green peppers and cheese. It looks super pretty that way and, when I make it for a function, I do that. But at home, I just sprinkle a little of everything all over and sprinkle cheese on top so that you get a little of everything in one bite. You can also drizzle more taco sauce on top. Serve with tortilla chips.

For good measure, since this may not actually be considered a "meal", I made up a few quesadilla wedges (bean & cheese) and served with grapes too.

Also this week, I made winter squash soup again to use up my butternut squash... and breakfast for dinner another night consisting of scrambled eggs, fruit and whole wheat waffles.

Our Weekend With Clifford

Clifford, the big red dog, is one lucky pup! He gets to take turns spending the weekend with each of the 2nd year students (the older class) at our preschool throughout the school year. He comes with a packed bag that includes several books, his blanket and two pillows, and mini stories written by each of the families summarizing their ventures with Clifford. The stories often include photos, pictures drawn by the student, and mini journal entries for each day/activity. Mrs. Skees said that families have really stepped it up recently in their record-keeping and are now far more detailed and creative than they ever used to be!

I found out we were going to have Clifford for the weekend on the Friday that he came home with Will (November 11th). Will's first activity idea was to bake chocolate chip cookies with Clifford. He's actually been asking to do this again for weeks now, so I guess this was the perfect opportunity to finally get on that. We got down to baking after dinner that Friday night.
Will showed Clifford how he uses the mixer and adds all the ingredients.

Then, after bath, Clifford got to enjoy a warm-from-the-oven cookie and some milk with Will. (Actually, he just posed in front of daddy's cookie. :) Daddy and Will enjoyed their treat together while Clifford watched.)

The next day, we had to attend a funeral in the morning. But after nap, Clifford, Will and Craig drove over to the farm to meet Papa Riedeman and take a ride in the combine with him while he harvested his fields.

On Sunday, our cousins Cora & Lincoln came over to play and Clifford was there to watch. I was too busy catching up with Molly though to remember to take any pictures. So Craig and Will just worked together to draw a picture instead. Then, on Sunday early evening, I printed some of our pictures and made our little, weekend journal on some card stock I had laying around.

(Craig sketched Clifford, of course.)

It was fun to include Clifford in our weekend as though he were a real, visiting guest. And it's neat to see what other memories the students have shared with Clifford in their own homes.