Kindergarten begins

I'm not sure who was most anxious this morning for Carolyn to start school.  I had a horrible time sleeping last night and James was up at 6:15.  Carolyn got up just before 7.  I made her a special breakfast of strawberry soufflé, which Carolyn put cheese on top of and had a glass of milk.  She took a banana as a snack.  Jon stayed home to put her on the bus, which was tougher than we anticipated.  We took many pictures and had to fight back tears.  She was just fine though and climbed onto the bus and sat right down.

While Carolyn was at school, I had time with James.  One of Carolyn's classmates came and played with him for a little while, allowing me time to put together a few more folders for preschool.  Once she left he asked to work on preschool right away, so we got down to work.  He can identify nearly every letter of his name and order them correctly.  We put together a 10 commandments train and then worked on some of his sequencing pages.  Once he reaches capacity for that, we gathered up all the pillows in the house and he crawled over them.  Then he made new patterns and crawled, jumped, and flopped around the room.  We were silly, pretending to hide from a monster, and just enjoyed our time together.  We went outside so he could pick berries to leave out for the birds.  And we read a book before heading to the bus stop.

James gave Carolyn a huge hug once she was off the bus and told her he missed her.  It was really cool to see.  We hurried inside since it was raining and went straight to make lunch.  As I was making lunch, Carolyn suddenly got upset.  Then she told me something "horrible" happened at school.  She had trouble finding the correct line to get into to go inside.  We talked about this for a few minutes and discussed how tomorrow if she has trouble she can look for some of her classmates.  It sounds like they didn't do much today, but she did get to meet the class guinea pigs named Cookie and Brownie.  So day 1 is over and she'll meet everyone in her class tomorrow. 

My little girl is getting big!

Wonderful Sunday

We had a terrific day today.  Although both kids woke up quite early.  We snuggled in bed for a bit and then read some books until I was ready to make breakfast.  I decided to try out a new recipe and made pancakes today.  Although I think I will add more milk next time to make the batter more runny, the kids devoured these.  I will need to make a double batch next time as well, because I prefer to have leftovers.  Next weekend or perhaps even on Friday this week for my birthday I want to try making waffles.  The blog I've linked to above has some awesome recipes, and if they all turn out like these pancakes it'll be awesome.  With finding these new recipes I've decided to institute baking Fridays with the kids while the weather is cold.  On Friday afternoons we'll pick a recipe and work together for a new creation.  They'll learn some math (James counted to 5 this morning helping with the pancakes!) and we'll get some yummy things to eat.  I'm looking forward to this endeavor and thinking I will end up making some alterations to recipes over time which I'll keep you updated on.  Although I'm really bad at using recipes for cooking, I swear by it for baking.  Can you tell I'm excited to get to bake again with my kids?

My dad treated us to Disney on Ice today.  Both kids loved it and I was taken back to bit of my childhood.  I ice skated to several disney songs and remember listening to the sound tracks all the time.  In particular, the songs from the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast truck a chord today.  I wish I knew what happened to the CDs I have of those, but they seemed to have disappeared.  I was impressed by some of the skating skills as well, as I don't remember seeing as many actual skating jumps last time we went.  Both kids crashed in the car on the way home and then James fell asleep on me on the couch while waiting for dinner.  When he woke up he got sick, but then ate some dinner so I think it's the - only have sugar in my tummy and am exhausted - rather than being actually sick.  If no further developments we'll still head to gymnastics tomorrow.

Looking forward to a great week ahead, although Tues/Wed will be interesting with trying to get to tutoring after Jon gets home.  I'm thinking about skipping my game on Thursday as well, as I don't want to deal with overtired kids on my birthday Friday.

Crepes, Compost, and Homeschooling

In our effort to eat more healthy, we are going to be planting a bunch of vegetables this summer.  Once it's planting season, we might see about getting a strawberry plant as well.  To help with this, we decided to make out compost bin and rain barrell.  These often run $80-100 each, which is really out of our budget.  But with some searching online, I discovered you can make both with a garbage can.  So Jon picked up 2 garbage cans for <$7 each.  He picked up some bungee chords today and we made the composter.

Garbage can with lid
Drill - 1/4-1/2" bit (we used 1/4")
2 bricks (still need to grab these)

Drill holes up, down, and around the garbage can.  Be sure to put some in the top to allow rain water in and the bottom for drainage.  Put compost into garbage can (we gathered sticks and leaves from our gardens for the "brown" material, will use food scraps for the "green"), add a little dirt.  Add water to wet mixture enough so it is damp, but not overly wet.  Secure lid with bungee chords, then roll around on ground to mix everything up.  Secure to something sturdy so it doesn't blow away.  We will add food scraps as we go and roll daily for a little while, less often once it really gets going.  I'm exciting to use this on our garden rather than store bought compost!

I also made a new recipe for breakfast this morning, crepes.  It's a recipe I found online, but really not a recipe at all.  Regular crepes are made with flour, but these are just eggs.  1 egg, 1T water, a little salt.  I used 4 eggs, 4T water, some cream, and some cinnamon.  They were good, but definitely very eggy.  I might try adding in some almond flour or flax meal next time.  I made homemade whip cream and we filled them with strawberries, dusted with cocoa powder.  Will definitely skip the cocoa powder next time.  It was a nice change from usual though.  The only breakfast thing I still need to figure out how to make is french toast.  Need to find a good bread recipe first though.

Off the food topic a little bit, I've been thinking more about homeschooling lately.  Carolyn has such an awesome attitude when it comes to learning and she's ready to go.  I am going to start putting units together so we can work on things that go together rather than just bits and pieces here and there.  We will start looking at plants tomorrow.  A part of me wonders though, if we do a lot over this next 1.5 years, that's she's going to bored in Kindergarten.  Let's be honest, she already knows all her letters and their sounds, and is starting to sound out words and has some sightwords.  She can legibly write all of her letters as well, including her name.  She is doing basic math as well, starting by using her fingers to add.  She can count up to 20 unprompted.  Her language is spectacular for a 3 year old.  On top of all of that, she's inquisitive and wants to know about everything.  And then she's strong - can almost do a full push-up already!  I don't feel like we've really "taught" her any of this either.  We're going to take advantage of her desire to learn before she starts school.  But with the emphasis on testing in our schools these days, I really ponder keeping her home.  If it wasn't for the social aspect, I think I would do just that.  Well, and I don't think Jon would be real excited about the idea either.  We'll see how life develops in the next year though!

More progress!

Weighed in again and I'm down another 1.5lbs.  This includes eating cake at my grandma's party last weekend and some candy this week.  Finally something that agrees with my body!  I'm not hungry all the time, nor do I have to count calories.  This is definitely something I keep up for the long term because it's SO easy.  I'm down 7lbs in 6 weeks, sitting at 187.4lbs right now.  I can see the 170's coming this summer.  Might just fit back into all of my pants by then.  It would be wonderful.  Won't take measurements for another week, but I'm excited to see where the weight is coming off, definitely somewhat from my stomach.  When I've lost 10% of my original weight, I'm going to go buy at least one new outfit.  If I keep up with this average, I'll be there by mid-May!  That would be a wonderful Mother's Day present.

Had a wonderful breakfast this morning and have found a new go to waffle recipe.  I did use heavy whipping cream in place of the honey.  Doubled the recipe so we could have some leftovers.  Topped them with strawberries, a little syrup, and sausage on the side.  Who ever said giving up wheat would be boring?  Not in this house!

Relaxing weekend

So we didn't do much this weekend.  Worked out yesterday morning while the kids enjoyed the nice, clean basement.  Jon took the kids to the store in the afternoon, where they bought the ingredients for my special birthday treat I'll make Tues/Wed.  Today they went to church while I worked at home as usual.  Trying to finish up the last of a project for my company.  Hopefully will finish up tomorrow and might even get a night or two of no work before the new month begins! 
Tried 2 new recipes today.  One was great, the other great but not so kid friendly.

Breakfast - Grain and Sugar Free waffles 
The kids really liked these.  Although next time I need to not forget to spray the waffle maker and I bet everyone will like them more.  Probably should double the recipe too to end up with some leftovers.  Should think about something for syrup as well.

Dinner - Wheat Free Stuffed Peppers 

Jon and I thought these were great!  The kids, not so much.  It sure doesn't help that I think James is getting his 2yo molars right now either.  Carolyn ate about 10 bites and then helped herself to a pear, which she ate nearly all of.  James had an apple, I'm still amazed that he's already eating them right off the core.  I think the hard but juicy part helps his mouth a little.

Tomorrow is "O" day and we'll be making Omelets for breakfast.  I'll update on how I get the kids to help me after we do it.  Two more brand new to us recipes coming later this week, so stay tuned!

Dizzy

Okay, so this is not going so well.  For the past 36 hours I have been dizzy on and off.  This fits into the almost unbearable column compared to previous dizziness episodes.  Combine this with the headaches that don't seem to want to go away and I'm not sure what to do. 

Last night we had a great dinner of ribs, salad, and frieds from Tommy's Red Hots in McHenry.  It wasn't terribly expensive ($17) and was pretty good.  Leftover salad even for today's lunch.  This morning we had waffles, made with a recipe found here.  It was very filling, only needing 1 waffle and some bacon for breakfast. The rest of the family didn't seem to be big fans, so we'll still be searching for a new waffle recipe.  Will probably try this as bread at another time.

Ready to be over this dizziness though.  I thought that was the one thing that would surely be fixed by going wheat free.

Using what we've got

So did I mention we did our grocery shopping this week before I decided to give wheat-free a go?  I had kind of planned dinners around the idea, but nothing else.  So today was a little challenge for breakfast.  I dug out some frozen veggies (green beans, carrots, peas, and corn), paired with hardboiled eggs, milk, and clementines.  Probably not something to repeat though as the kids didn't seem very interested in the veggies as a breakfast item.  Interesting since they usually gobble them up for dinner.  I am full though and ready to start what promises to be a long day.  Dinner tonight will either be a crockpot meal or leftovers, depending on how long the chicken takes to defrost.

Full tummies

So no improvements in sleep last night.  James was up twice before 10, although he did then sleep through until 5:15.  And he did go back to sleep with me until 6:40 after nursing.  Carolyn was up a couple times, bad dreams I suspect.  But we weren't really expecting miracles over night!
Breakfast this morning wasn't challenging at all.  I offered Carolyn scrambled eggs, but she asked for a hardboiled egg instead.  Since I already had some in the fridge, I obliged.  Looking like everyone has a full tummy this morning because James is a big fan of scrambled eggs and gobbled up his and some of mine.

Scrambled eggs with chopped green pepper and mozarella cheese
Strawberries
Banana (kids only)
Milk (Me and Carolyn)
Carolyn - hard boiled egg with sliced green pepper

Not sure what we'll do tomorrow since we're out of green pepper.  Might check out the freezer for some frozen veggie that would work with breakfast.  I ate so much that I was definitely full.  So perhaps there is some truth that you eat less when not filling up on grains.  Heading to the store tomorrow night and hoping to get some more veggies and maybe some nuts.  Thinking I might even let the kids eat some of the softer nuts like cashews.  They're both great at chewing their food and already handle all sorts of raw veggies, including carrots.

I think I'm going to fill one snack cup with Chex today and see how that goes.  While it's not ideal, it's gluten free and might help to wean them off their cups in the car. 

Here's to day 2 wheat free!

Carolyn amazes me

Really, the things my 3.5 year old likes to eat is amazing at times.  I always hear parents complaining about how their kids won't eat fruits or vegetables.  Well, my theory from the beginning was, introduce only what I want them eating and they won't know to ask for anything else.  So my kids don't drink juice, except for the rare juice box at a playgroup.  And only then does Carolyn take a couple sips before asking for her water cup.  Neither child drinks any pop, I only drink it rarely.  They both do well on water and milk.  James is still nursing, so pretty much only has water from a cup.  I made all of their baby food except for the oatmeal and multigrain cereal.  I never did the rice cereal, it just didn't seem appetizing to me.
Last night after dinner I found Carolyn walking around with her snack cup full of Cheerios, not 5 minutes after dinner.  She informed me she needed something crunchy.  She then happily exchanged the cheerios for carrots.  The most amazing things lately was today's breakfast, which she happily gobbled up.

Hardboiled Eggs (Carolyn refuses to eat the yolk)
Sliced green peppers
Clementine
Milk

Unfortunately, I am already feeling hungry.  So while I put dinner together (chicken soup in the crockpot) I stole some celery.  As I sort out portion sizes over the next week, I may just be joining the kids in some of their snacking.  We'll see how scrambled eggs fairs tomorrow for keeping me full.  We don't have enough veggies on hand right now for me to fill up on them, which is why I'm not doing this fully until next week.