A new use for plastic containers

Apparently, this container is great for keeping toddlers entertained! Princess Snifflefritz got into the container and played and played and was too cute for words.

Monday Mutterings.

I love this pic of my family.

It was a great day today. Princess Belle loved doing chores. It made her feel like a big girl and we got so much done together. She loved learning grownup things. She even enjoyed homeschool and asked if we could do this again tomorrow. It was nice to get so much done and to be on top of things.

Prince Charming was sweet and did research to find out what movie was playing in the theatre the night that we went on our first date 11 years ago June 25. How romantic that he found that out. Our first date was to a guy movie, "Shaft" our second date was to, "Me, Myself, and Irene". I will never forget those dates but mostly because of the feel of his arm over my shoulder, his hand in mine and the conversation as we walked home in the broad daylight from our first date and how hard he laughed at Jim Carrey on our second date.

Organizing

We had a very productive day. I went through the whole house organizing, cleaning and putting things away. The house looks really good now. I also created a new list of chores for Princess Belle and I as well as a new schedule. My schedule is simple and it has no times assigned, but it is perfect for us. Princess Belle was excited to see her new responsibilities (gotta love that new enthusiasm, I hope it lasts a while). She insisted we start the whole thing tomorrow, which was my plan anyway. It is easier to keep on top of things if you start from a good place.

I got my ideas from two places:

1. The Duggar's website (Hey if it works for 19 kids and their parents, it should work just fine for my little family of five)
2. The Maxwell Family Website:
   

I just looked their family schedules and used them as inspiration for my own. I have been unhappy with how disorganized I have been since the move and so I needed this to kick me in the butt and fix things.

I also instituted a scheduled nap time for both toddlers. Princess Snifflefritz napped every day anyway, but Princess Magpie rarely did. So this will be good for her.

I will put one little note in here that my simplifying the girls' wardrobes has done wonders for my laundry schedule. I am SOOO glad I did it. I still do laundry every day, but now I am on top of things for the first time in years!

Feeding the Ducks

Here are some pics of when we took the girls to feed the ducks and swans at the ponds. They were so cute and had so much fun throwing bread to the birds.

Our trip to the park

We had a great day at the park, I loved to watch the little ones set free outside to just have a blast. I love that the sidewalks in the park are made of the padded stuff. I love how Princess Belle took Princess Magpie around and played with her too. It was just a wonderful day.

Thankful Thursday

Had a nice night. I met with some other homeschooling moms with kids with Aspergers. It was nice to talk to them and to get their experiences. I am so unsure of what I am doing sometimes. I want to do right by her and I am not always sure I am doing it. It is nice to talk to other moms and to find out how they navigate these waters. I am so thankful that I moved here and that I have these contacts now.

#Autism

Wordless Wednesday - remembering 2 1/2 years ago

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Tuesday Talk

Headache again today. I am taking it as easy as I can and hoping that it eases up soon. We watched "How to train your Dragon" today. It was fun and Prince Charming even got a kick out of it. It left us all smiling.

I am looking forward to getting out more and more now that the weather is getting nicer. There are so many great things about living here that I really like and want to take advantage of.

For supper tonight I just roasted some chicken breasts in a pot with some onion soup mix and tomato sauce and served it over rice.

My supper was a quick vegetarian invention that tasted amazing and took minutes to make. It is kinda high in fat, but it was SOOOOO yummy! I light-heartedly called it peanut butter and jelly pasta LOL.

I cooked some thin rice noodles with some broccoli in the pot with it while it was cooking. Then mixed it up with a sauce I made with:
garlic powder
ground ginger
2 tbsp chunky peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
hot sauce to taste
1 tbsp red pepper jelly (you could use marmalade)
and enough hot water to thin it out.

Quiet

Sunday Sum-up

We had a fun day today. We went down memory lane and it was great. First we went by the house we lived in when we got married and when we had Princess Belle. We went by our favorite stores, the house where Prince Charming used to work and our old neighbours. After that we went by the neighborhood we lived in when we had Princess Magpie. It was so fun to see everyone. I really enjoyed seeing so many of our favorite people here in town!

(I am looking at trading my camera in for one that works better, so that way you guys will have more pics on here!)

Saturday Stuff

I am feeling better and I even had a productive day today, I am getting the house organized and making the best use of space, but I do still feel like this place is WAAAAY too small.

Here are some goals I have:

• When I can, I am giving away my kitchen table to replace with a smaller one or with a narrow island.
  
• When I can I am also replacing my washer and dryer with a stacking pair.
  
• Another goal is to get some pantry type shelves to put in our hallway.
• Get a weather-proof shed for storage
  

All of that will help, but this place will never be big enough to unpack everything we have, it will always be on a busy street that is not safe for my kids to play near and will always be three doors down from a restaurant that has a rat infested back lot.

just a note

I am having kind of a rough time right now. I had some friends come through for me to help me out and I am forever grateful for them. I just wish that this would all be straightened out.

Back from the Doctors

Well, I got back from the doctor's office. There were a few things he wanted to discuss. But apparently, he is most concerned about my cholesterol and my Triglycerides are high. He is pleased that I am a vegetarian and wanted me to make sure I watch my fat, sugar and carbs. I am a little shocked because I eat so well, but I am happy to take a look at my diet to see if I can fix things.

At this Moment (part 5)

At this moment Princess Belle is in her room having an indepth conversation with her imaginary friends about being raised by wolves (Hmmm . . . wolves??)

At this moment Princess Magpie is racing Princess Snifflefritz up and down our hallway and talking to an elephant.

Life is good in the imaginary world at this moment.

Edited to add: a few seconds later, I heard Princess Snifflefritz start to cry and Princess Magpie and Princess Belle came running to make faces and be silly and to get her to stop crying.

I also want to note that Princess Magpie refuses to leave her room until someone comes to get her baby sister out of the crib, even if her door gets opened.

Doctor Stuff

When I went to the doctor for my lung infection, he had me do some routine bloodwork as a part of becoming his new patient. He said to make a follow-up appointment for two weeks later. Well, I just got a call saying they have the results and they would like to see me on Wednesday! Okay, now of course, I go into panic mode. Why? What did you find?? I can be there in five minutes, if you like! I hate going to doctors. UGH.

(And I still have a lung infection!)

Sunday Sum-up

Not a bad day today. I puttered away getting things done. The house is starting to look better with all those boxes jammed into my tiny storage space. I will get to the rest when I figure out what to do with them. In the meantime, I have organzed things. The babies' room looks sweet with their Winnie the Pooh stuff and the Anne Geddes Pics I have up. Princess Belle's room looks so young adult and a LOT less child-like (which she loves). In the long run, I am going to try to come up with a nice light colored, girly, frilly bedspread and curtains for her. She loves that. I actually would like that for all the girls. I would like to move away from characters for their rooms and I really like girly and frilly and white and an accent or pink or something for little girls.

Tonight for supper for the family, I tried something new. I made a kind of Chili Pasta. It turned out really well. For me, I cooked some pasta and a vegetarian sauce.

For the Chili Pasta, I started out like I was going to make a pot of chili. I cooked browned some ground beef and then simmered it in about 2 cups of beef broth with 3 tablespoons of chili powder and some garlic powder. After it had simmered for a few minutes, I added about 1 Tablespoon of Cornmeal. When it had started to thicken, I added 1 large can of tomato sauce (although homemade would be fabulous here). After the sauce was heated through and all the flavors had come together, I stirred in an appropriate amount of a short cut pasta so that there was LOTS of sauce to pasta. It was a big hit with the family.

Saturday Stuff

Well, I am enjoying my less cluttered house and I now feel like I can breathe in my living room. I am coming up with plans to improve things even more.

I love how Princess Magpie (2 1/2 years) talks to Princess Snifflefritz (age 1 1/2) like they are the same age. She gets excited over something, "Look! Towi it's the ****!" or her sister has something she doesn't think she should have, "No Towi, give me dat!" and she hands it to me. She is so funny, she makes me laugh daily.

Princess Belle and I are using the math curriculum we bought from "A Little Garden Flower" She enjoys it so much! She actually looks forward to doing it!

Princess Snifflefritz is adorable. I love the sight of her trying to chase after her sisters. Her little legs just make me smile. She is getting used to Princess Magpie insisting on being in her crib with her. She is so sweet and doesn't complain now until she wants to go to sleep. Then she cries very loudly, and I open the door the sight of a 2 year old body flipping out of the crib and scrambling to be in her bed before I notice her.

I cooked Potato Ham Bake for the family supper. I cooked it longer than the recipe says and didn't really measure anything. I just layered sliced potato, ham, sliced onions, soup and grated cheese. they seems to like it. I was too lazy to cook something for me for supper, so I just made peanut butter bread and called it good. LOL

Potato Ham Bake

Ready In: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 medium onion, sliced and separated into rings
8 slices processed American cheese (I used grated cheddar cheese)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream
of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Directions:
1. In a greased 3-qt. baking dish, layer half of the potatoes, ham, onion, cheese and soup. Repeat layers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 1-1/2 hours or until potatoes are almost tender.
2. Sprinkle with peas. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Friday Five

1. I am having another fabulous day. Today, I got all our boxes put away in closets and in the little space we had our freezer in. It is piled high, but at least I can now try to get some semblance of order in the house.
   
2. I am exhausted but all this moving boxes has got the bits of stuff all over the floor, so now I have to go through and sweep and wash all the floors and because I have been busy working the family has been foraging and the kitchen is a mess so my next stop is out there to try to tame the kitchen beast.
   
3. For the family, I am making a baked ham with a glaze made out of orange and brown sugar. I will probably have rice and beans for my supper.
   
4. I am on my last day of medication for my lung infection. I would have thought I would be feeling perfectly healthy by now, but while I am feeling better, I am by NO means perfectly healthy.
5. The other day, we were changing Princess Magpie into a pair of pants and shirt and she started to cry saying, "NO a Princess!! A Princess Dress!! She has fallen in love with dresses lately and is completely convinced that anyone wearing a dress is a "Pritty Princess" and "butiful" She is just too cute for words and of course I have to oblige.
   

Thursday Thoughts.

Had a wonderful day for so many reasons:

1. Homeschooled using the new Waldorf math book and Princess Belle actually wanted to continue on! She loved it.
2. Someone came and took our horrible deep freeze so now I have a little room for storage!
3. I made a yummy teriyaki broccoli, tofu and rice for my supper that was really good and I made a chicken stew for my family that they enjoyed.
   

I have realized that I am probably going to run out of coffee at least a week and a half before Prince Charming gets paid and I can get more. This may be a good time to try cutting out coffee again.

Wordless Wednesday - One year ago

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what a day!

Well all in all it was a pretty craptastic day. If it could go wrong it did. I am trying to give away (for free!!) an old deep freeze that doesn't fit in our new house. It is old, but it works. You would think it would be easy to have someone come take it away so I can use the place it is for storage and clear up some of these boxes. In a moment of frustration, I decided to get out of the house, but I took the kids with me, who were apparently having a rotten day too and cried or complained the whole time we were out. Afterward, I left again for minute and I went to the grocery store to pick up a couple of much needed items and after finding what I needed, waiting in line and getting it rung through, I realized that I had left the money with Prince Charming. *sigh*

I don't usually spend a lot of time complaining but this day was really a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Monday Mutterings.

I have to say one thing about this house, I like it, it is pretty. I love the kitchen, I like the fireplace, I don't mind the small living room. But the house is WAAAAY too small. I am so frustrated with walking around boxes and trying to find places to put things. I am open to any suggestions you have on storage in small places. I am tired of boxes in every corner of my house, of turning sideways to walk down the hall or to get in my room, of losing things in the piles, of trying to have some semblance of nice in amongst all the piles. I have lost two bras, countless socks, and I can't tell you how much other stuff. I can honestly say if I had lived in town, I would not have gotten this house. *sigh* I am so frustrated.

TOS Review: Monki See

MonkiSee Baby DVDs offer a controlled language development program that will engage your baby through music, poetry,adorable puppets, and real life images for children ages 3 months to 4 years of age.

Babies are exposed to both written and spoken language as they learn necessary preschool skills. The short 30 minute videos introduce babies to things like body parts, letters, first words, colors, numbers, shapes and much more. Through the repetition of the program, the baby will begin to learn to recognize words and begin the path to reading success.

The creator of Monki See, Krista Guerrero, is a homeschooling mom of 6 who was inspired to create this program after reading Glen Doman's book 'Teach Your Baby How to Read'. She used the program with her children and thought of transferring it to videos in order to capture her children's attention even better than the cardboard flash cards would. Since then, the program expanded to the wide line of products it has now. On the website, you can find a wealth of information about teaching babies to read and other resources and articles. Howie and Skip, the two monkeys from the videos, are two howler monkeys whose story you can read on this page.

From the MonkiSee website:

What is MonkiSee

MonkiSee is a fun and entertaining collection of baby DVD's that expose babies to upbeat music, original poetry, lovable puppets and real world images. The MonkiSee collection teaches your baby to identify their body parts, colors, shapes and more, all while learning to read. The Monki See series is rich in language and has been proven to increase your baby's vocabulary.

The MonkiSee Baby DVD series is a fun way for your baby to learn necessary preschool skills such as color and shape recognition. The concepts are introduced in a fun and interactive way. Your baby will love to "monkey around" with the lovable Howie and Skip.

Each Monki See baby dvd volume introduces new concepts to your baby in a playful and entertaining way. The MonkiSee collection is truly learning made fun. You will be amazed at how much your baby learns in this enjoyable manner.

Guaranteed to be your baby's favorite series - the MonkiSee line of baby DVD's are products babies love and parents can feel good about.

For this review we received the DVD, Baby's First Words and the book, Know Your Monkey. The book with it's colorful images was a big hit with my two year old. She also loved watching the DVD and meeting Howie and Skip. I am not sure she learned many new words (she may have it we had devoted more time to it) but she liked it enough that we will keep enjoying it for entertainment purposes.



There are various flashcard packets, three videos and two books in the series.

Videos: ($19.95 each)

* Baby's First Words
* All About Colors
* All About Shapes

Books: ($9.95 each)

* Know Your Monkey
* Monkey's Like the Color

Flashcards: ($16.95 each)

* All About Me
* Colors & Shapes
* Around the House
* Word Pairs
* Sight Words


Reading Kits are available for $139.95 and include:

* 3 - MonkiSee DVDs
* 5 - sets of MonkiSee oversize flash cards
* 1 - A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read DVD
* 2 - MemoFlix Video Flash Cards DVDs Volume 1 & 2 which includes 80 categories and over 800 words and pictures and the Whole Word Phonics A B C.
* 2 - MonkiSee Book
* Ages 3 months - 4 years
* **Free Bonus** We will send you a link to download the Memoflix MP4 Files for mobile phones so you can teach your baby to read anywhere you go.

Do you want to get it all? MonkiSee is available in a complete kit! Regularly priced at $265.35, you can purchase the kit for just $139.95! That is a 45% savings! This price includes free shipping for orders withing the continental US. Here is what you get for $139.95:

3 – MonkiSee DVDs
5 – sets of MonkiSee oversize flash cards
1 – A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read DVD
2 – MemoFlix Video Flash Cards DVDs Volume 1 & 2 which includes 80 categories and over 800 words and pictures and the Whole Word Phonics A B C.
2 – MonkiSee Books

Ages 3 months – 4 years

**Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest opinion/review. For more honest reviews from real homeschoolers, visit the TOS Crew website.

Happy Mother's Day

Random thoughts

Well, I have been busy trying to dig my way out of these boxes. It is tough because this place is so small, I am just running out of places to put things. I honestly want to take the rest of the boxes and just put them to the curb. Oh well, once our freezer is out of our tiny little storage area, it may help.

Princess Belle has developed her annual rash. This year, it seems worse than usual. I am not sure what causes it but I need to do something, the poor girl is miserable.

Princess Magpie and Princess Snifflefritz actually sleep better together than they were before. Now that they are in the same room, I am actually getting 8 hours of sleep in a row!!! I hadn't gotten a full nights sleep for 16 months before we moved here.

I am going out to supper tonight. So it is nice not to have to cook anything. Last night I made a ham for the family and for me I made cabbage and noodles. The cabbage and noodles was FABULOUS! I enjoyed it so much. I just cooked up shredded cabbage until there were browned bits. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and mixed it with cooked noodles. It is so much yummier than you would think!

Why I am sick

Well, I went to the doctor today and suddenly I understand why I am as tired and sick as I am. Apparently I have a lung infection in both lungs and I have had it over a month. He gave me a big lecture about waiting so long to go in and get it checked out. He told me that even though I put the kids first, I need to take care of me too. He said that waiting to long could cause me to get scars in my lungs. I have several prescriptions and all I know is I will be glad to be able to have a conversation without coughing up a storm, or to sleep without my lungs making weird sounds.

Make no wonder this move was so hard on me, I packed up an entire house, moved and unpacked a house with a lung infection. I am WORN out.

Small World

What a wonderfully small world this really is! Today the local homeschoolers (TEACH) had put on a Creativity Fair and seeing as how the local homeschoolers played a big part in our decision to move here, I was really excited to take the family. It was fun to meet so many homeschoolers and when I mentioned to someone that my daughter was a high-functioning Autistic (Aspergers), she introduced me to another mother there who has a little boy who has the same diagnosis. I had a fun time chatting with her and when we decided to trade contact information, we came to realize that we read each other's blogs!! I was really excited to put a face to the voice behind: My Yellow Apple. And I found out that there is a smaller group within the larger group of homeschoolers who are parents of special needs children and now I get to make contact with them too. It is so nice not to feel like I am in this alone anymore!

Wordless Wednesday - Princess Poses

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For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 minutes for mom and 7 Clown Circus!

It's a conspiracy, I swear!

There are times I have a hard time being appropriately upset with my girls. It would be easier if they weren't so darned cute. It is mostly apparent today in our Mischievous Princess Magpie, but it happens with them all.

1. Princess Snifflefritz leans down for a cuddle and then leans in to my shoulder and bites, HARD. When I yelp, I look at her with her bottom lip stuck out, quivering, and then she starts to cry and I can't be mad.
   
2. Princess Magpie gets into the baby blankets, pulls them all out on the floor, making a huge mess and then wraps one around her waist and says, "Look a Pritty Princess!" and I can't be mad.
3. Princess Magpie is cranky as heck, whining and complaining and in general driving us all crazy, I pull her in for a cuddle to make her feel better and she falls asleep in my arms instantly. I can't be upset with her mood when she is being so darned cute.
4. Princess Magpie is supposed to be asleep, but she has pulled her mattress off her toddler bed (AGAIN) and she has taken the sheets off (AGAIN). I hear her knocking on her door inviting me in to watch a show with her. When I walk in to check on her and give her a drink, she has her mattress on the floor under the crib and she has pulled her teddy and her blanket by the door on the floor to sleep. My heart melts as I fix her bed, and she stands behind me waiting with her teddy under one arm and her blanket under the other.
   

Toddlers are to cute to get mad at. I swear it is a conspiracy!

Silly Girls

One thing we have been battling with the two toddlers in the same room is we can't get Princess Magpie to stop moving her bed over to her sisters crib and climbing in. It is kind of cute and it makes me laugh, but Princess Snifflefritz doesn't like it because Princess Magpie knocks her down. LOL I fully expect to go in there one day and to find them fast asleep in the crib. She does look so excited to be in there and jumps around and giggles and laughs an evil little belly laugh that just cracks me up and lets me know she is up to no good.

Supper tonight was pretty popular (at least with those who weren't picky toddlers LOL)

Chicken Pot Pie

Filling Ingredients:
5 cubed chicken breasts
1 onion
1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (maybe more, I never measured)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can creamed corn
1 cup skim milk
Salt, pepper, sage, savory

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan combine chicken and onions.
   
2. Cook until cooked through and then add seasonings, mixed vegetables, cream soups, creamed corn and milk. Pour into oven safe dish.
   
3. Combine biscuit ingredients until just mixed. Roll out on the counter and cut into biscuits. Place on top of Chicken Stew ingredients.
   
4. Cook in oven at 350 degrees until biscuits are golden on top and filling is bubbling.
   

Cold Thoughts

I am beginning to think that this cold is not a cold. I have in the past had allergic reactions that mimic severe cold symptoms and I have never had a cold last for 3 1/2 weeks. I am allergic to dust and when is there more dust than when you are moving and surrounded by boxes?? I am thinking that this cold is an allergic reaction that has settled into my lungs and probably caused my asthma to be reacting as well. I don't need this right now, I don't even had a doctor here in town. But on the other hand, it is getting really exhausting fighting for breath all the time too.

So that is the end of my complaining for today. I would have had more cheerful thoughts, but really that is what was on my mind at the moment. That and how completely adorable and cuddly my girls are, but you guys know that already.