I decided it was time to switch over to different type of blog style! I just finished working on it. I see need to make so changes. Let me know if you like it?

http://playexploreandlearn.blogspot.com/

I just came across a really cute website! I just wanted to pass along the information. She has some really cute halloween treat ideas. I'm going to make the ghost pancakes for the kids tomorrow morning! So, check it out!

http://gourmetmomonthego.blogspot.com/

I came across this last year at a garage sale. I just had to have it! I remember playing with this same toy has a little girl. I pulled it out last night for Leah to play with! I don't remember having all the accessories but boy did Leah have fun with it! She even figure out how to ring the doorbell all by herself. She's starting to show an interest in little girl toys. She's mostly a tomboy!

My little man is really into doing anything with his hands. I caught him this morning working on his art easel. He was originally drawing a map of our street. He wanted me to help him draw the houses on the map. I tried to show him how to draw a square. He cried it was too hard for him. I tried to help him but he was fusturated. So, I decided to draw a flower pot and steam. I wanted him to paint in some flowers. He decided to use markers and draw his own blue steams. So, he finally decided to give watercolors a try. He ended up painting a couple of flowers and than he decided to paint a barn. He than decided to paint over it all with green paint. Logan got tired of painting and Leah decided to take over. She has to do what ever his brother does. So, I tried to help her but this is what she said: "Don't Help Me!" She did eventually let me help her with the paints which she did say "Thank you!" Logan is currently making a sciene experiement in the kitchen he wouldn't let me see it or let me help him. This could be scary big mess.

Tanyard Creek!

I picked up Landon from school and decided it was the prefect weather to go to Tanyard Creek. I can't believe it but we haven't been since last May. I grab my trusty camera and Arkansas bird book to do some bird watching. So, we finally made it to the parking lot! I got the boys bikes out of the back of the van and they set off riding their bikes. They almost ran over an elderly couple. Not really but boy did they give me some dirty looks. So, off we went down the trail. The boys were all over place. We didn't see any birds at all. I couldn't figure out where all the birds were at. Duh, most of the birds are flying south for the winter. So, I pulled out my camera and had Landon take as many pictures as he wanted too! He did a really good job. Logan did something amazing as well. We walked pass a tree and he correctly identify it. I was like what! He was like "look mom a walnut tree". I looked up and sure enough it was a walnut tree. I swear this kid is going to grow up to be a biologist! Landon really was cute! He kept putting leaves in the water and was calling them sailboats. He did it over and over again. We finally decided to make it down the trail which was not easy pushing Leah in the stoller. We finally made it to part of the trail that breaks off but loops around. I told the boys to go ahead and go on the trail by themselves. They made it about half way down the trail and freaked out! They came running back to the main trail. So, we decided to call it a day and head home. I'm going to try to take them back next week.

BOO, BOO, BOO!

After we did the counting leaf activity Logan wanted to use the color sticks. I thought he wanted to make shapes but he wanted to make a house with the color sticks. I decided to keep with the fall/halloween theme to make some ghost and trees to add to the haunted house. After, I took this picture Logan made the house even bigger. I gave him so left over sticks and stickers. He made more sticks to build his house and some more ghost.

Check out this new tray for School Time!

I came across this idea on the internet! I can't seem to figure out how to plug in internet address on my blog. I do want to give credit for this idea.

So, it's a leaf counting trees.

I cut out 5 trees and labeled them 1-5! I laminated each one and to my surprised Logan helped me cut them out. He actually started to cut them without even asking me. I left the room to get another pair of sisscors and when I came back he was already cutting the first tree. Its not easy to cut stuff out of laminate but he did a really good job. I was really surprised he could do it becuase he just learned how to use sisscors last week.

I had him lay the tree in order from 1-5!

I purschased these really cute leave foam stickers at Hobby Lobby. I had him count out the correct number of leaves for each tree.

I think it was a little bit to easy for him. I might go ahead tonight and make so more trees.

Its kinda funny but Landon goes to school all day and doesn't learn anything. He is soooo bored! So, when he came home from school. He went start to the school table and started to look at all the materials. He went right for the shape sticks! The only shape he could not figure out was Pentagon! I even had to look that one up on the internet to make sure I had it right.

Trying to figure out the pentagon shape!

As you can tell from the green sticks it isn't a pentagon yet but he eventually figure it out!

I purchased the sticks and round color stickers a couple of weeks ago. I somehow misplaced them and I finally decided to tackle the room downstairs and get it all cleaned up. That's when I came across them. I decided to set them up at the desk and Logan jumped in to help me put the stickers on the end of the stickes. I sat him down on the mat and started to explain to him how the color sticks work. He decided to make his own shapes with the sticks. I'm not really sure if he understand the concept but I will keep them on the table if he wants to work with them again. I'm going to have Landon try to use them when he gets home from school. Today, I had him catch the bus to school for the frist time. I was going to let him ride the bus every tue/thursday! He was up early and eating breakfest. I asked him if he wanted to catch the bus this morning. He said "yes". We looked every where for his bus pass but we couldn't find it anywhere. I finally gave it one more look and found it stuffed in the van. So, I had him run off and brush his teeth! I walked him across the street in the dark to catch the bus with the neighbor kids. I tried to take a picture but the camera wouldn't work. I was sooo disappointed! He climb up into the bus and find a seat next to Aaron are neighbor and he waved goodbye. It really made for a peaceful morning. Logan isn't really a morning person. He really likes staying home all day. Anyway, back to the activity. I placed all the sticks into a bag. I had him pull out the sticks and sort them by color. I then proceded to show him how to make the shapes.

Logan's working hard on putting the correct color stickers on each stick!

He really enjoyed this part of the lesson!

Trying to make a diamond!

Making his own shapes!

This is the final product!

Yes, Leah dressed herself in the photo. My kids insist on dressing themselves. Its so annoying!

Spicy Apple Twists
2 whole apples, peeled & cut into 8 pieces
1 pkg crescent dinner rolls
2 T melted butter
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c orange juice or water

Cut crescent rolls in half lengthwise. Wrap apple piece in each, starting at wide end. Place in a 9-inch square pan. Pour butter over rolls. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle on rolls. Add water or juice along side, not on rolls. Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes.

Katie's Notes: I used 1 large granny smith apple cut into 8 pieces and did not cut the rolls in half. I didn't use all of the cinnamon sugar (maybe all but a couple of tablespoons). I used orange juice.

 Susan’s notes:  I used 2 medium granny smith apples and did not cut the rolls in half.  I used 2 T melted smart balance light.  I used less than half of the cinnamon-sugar (actually used pumpkin pie spice as was out of cinnamon).  I used half water half OJ (ran out of OJ).  Everyone LOVED this.  Has 145 cals and approx 4.5 g fat with red-fat crescent rolls and the changes I made.

Lara's notes: AWESOME! I ran out of Cinnamon and used pumpkin spice instead. They smell heavenly and look great. Logan helped me make the whole dish. It was so incredibly easy to make!

Last night while in a deep sleep Landon came to my room to tell me he has a loose tooth. It was around 5:30 in the morning. I wasn't too happy about being waken up but Landon was really excited. He has been wishing for a loose for the past couple of weeks. His best friend from school just lost his first tooth so Landon was wanting to do the same things. So, all day long he has been wiggling his tooth. He thinks it will fall out in four weeks.

Now, for Logan. He has been doing this cute thing for the past couple of days. Everything we are about to go somewhere. He pulls out a piece of paper and a pencil. He will sit down and draw a map of where we are planning on going. Its really cute. He will even ask me to look at the map and ask me to tell him where the place is located on the map. He even made maps on how to get to grandma and grandpa's house.

Leah, its starting to go crazy over baby dolls. She loves to wear her brothers underware. Surprisingly, it fits her prefectly. I'm thinking about potty training her soon.

We decided to head over this morning to the library for storytime. The kids were super excited about painting pumpkins. The library was packed normally only a few kids show up but they had close to 30 kids. Leah managed to wonder off a couple of times. All the kids got their own caryons and coloring sheet to take home afterwards. Painting was a huge mess. Even Leah got in and joined the mess of painting. She will not be denied anything the boys are doing. She's quite the character. Several, ladies told me how she has such a personality on her. Boy, does she ever!

Story Time with Mrs. Kathryn!

Logan was able to sit right up in the front becuase this lady stole his seat. I told him not to leave his chair unattended. They had a really big turnout at the library for story time.

Waiting to start painting their pumpkins!

Look at their serious faces while painting.

Half way done!

Leah decided she was tired of watching her brothers paint and the she soon joined her brothers.

Yes, she can paint all by herself. She decided to stick with blue and managed to get it all over herself.

I'm surprised she can managed to dip the paint into bottle without spilling the paint everywhere. This girl as some serious abilities.

Today, Landon was able to get his very own library card. He just recently turned six! I had him sit down at the information desk and sign his own name first and last name to get his own card. I took the two little ones to the children's sections and left Landon alone at the desk.  He looks so cute and small in the chair at the desk. So, the next thing I knew he was giving me a big hug in the kids section. He was so proud of himself. He showed me this new card and he wrote his frist name on the back of the card. The librarian wanted to take a picture of landon but he refused. I was able to get a couple of shots of him checking out his own books. Sorry, the first one is blurry.

Yes, that is me sitting on top of a real live alligator!

The kids really wanted to go see the alligators. This was our last day at Gulf Shores and we were already planning on seeing the dolphins in the evenings. When we arrived to Alligator Alley they already had a demostration going on. The guy had brought out an alligator and was letting people sit on top of it. I really wanted Leroy to sit on the alligator but I could tell he wasn't crazy about the idea. So, I just got up and volunteer to sit on the alligator. I had no hestation on my part. Leroy was very surprised. I don't normally go outside my comfort zone. So, here are so pictures of our trip to see the alligators.

Dolphins, Dolphins, and More Dolphins!

The very last day of our trip to Gulf Shores we decided to go on a dolphin cruise. We have never been on a dolphin cruise so this was a first experience for everyone. When we arrived at the harbor to check in the guy didn't have the reservation. My mother said she had spoken with a gentlemen this morning and made a reservation. The guy asked who she had spoken with and she said "Neilson". The guy was like "Oh, that's me" I will go ahead and put you guys down. So, we ended up waiting at the outdoor bar area to load up on the boat. It was really nice evening. No clouds, no rain, and nice weather. We had to put all the kids in life jackets which Leah ended up hating. We eventually headed out of the harbor and out to the water. It really wasn't that long before we spotted a small group of three dolphins. It was very exciting. They had another boat line up next to our boat and they drove together at the same time. It ended up creating a wave and the dolphins were jumping and playing in the wave. So, if your in the area make sure to try out the dolphin crusises. It really wasn't that expensive and it was a great experince expect for Leah pitching a fit!

Another Fall activity. This time I decided to try to make a pumpkin with cut pieces of paper. I decided to stick with the Fall theme and had him cut out orange and green paper to make the pumpkin. He doesn't use scissors very often. So, this was a good activity for increases is cutting skils. I started off with him cutting up a piece a paper but he was really stugging. I decided to cut the paper into long strips which made it a lot easier for him. He didn't really enjoy this project. I kinda pushed it on him. I kinda regret doing that to him but he really needs some help with his fine motor skills. After, the glued dried I decided to cut out the pumpkin and we hung it up in the kitchen.

Way too hard for him to cut into squares!

Way easier for him by cutting out big strips of paper!

Learning to use scissors!

Placing the squares on the paper!

Finished Project!

I really wanted the pink tower blocks but they were so expensive to order. I asked my dad if he could make me a set of blocks for Logan. I sent him some directions and a picture of the pink towers. My dad decided not to paint them pink but different colors which was a good idea becuase Logan hate's girl colors. I set them up today for Logan. He is still stuggling to learn his colors and he had a hard time building the tower. His favorite part was knocking down the tower.

Logan was begging to do a craft this morning. I came across this idea somewhere on the internet. I just cut out a tree in green paper. I had him use his fingers and paint leaves on the tree. I used an old toliet paper roll to make the trunk of the tree. Leah just got busy painting on random pieces of paper and onto of some fall leaves. Oh, we went outside and collected some leaves that changed colors.

Logan wanted to color a bird to go with his tree!

We just got back from our awesome family vacation trip at Gulf Shores! I came back home to a huge disaster at home. I decided I'm going to try to spend more time at home. I really need to declutter and reorganize my whole house and life. I decided on the way back from our trip. I really like to go places and do fun things with the kids but it came with a hefty price. My home is not as peaceful as I would like it. I have piles of stuff every where. I just started throwing away huges piles of stuff. I hopefully, wouldn't regret later on. I know we are told to stock pile up on stuff incase of emergencies but I can't do it. I have no room and I can't keep any organized. Maybe if I could get rid of some junk. I could think about building up food storage. If things get to crazy I just shut down. I really need to go downstairs and clean up the room down there but I'm avoiding it by being on the computer. I'm slowly getting everything picked up and cleaned its not easy but hopefully I will be satisfied with my home. So, I'm not going to commit myself to any activities outside the home. I'm not going to baby showers, playgroups, or church activities. I feel pulled in too many directions and need to find my self again. Take the time to enjoy the everyday moments with my children. They are growing up way too fast. I just wish I could keep them little forevery. So, I gotta fix Logan another snack.

Broccoli Beef I

SUBMITTED BY: sal PHOTO BY: monstroxity

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PREP TIME	15 Min
COOK TIME	15 Min
READY IN	30 Min

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 pound boneless round steak, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger root
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 cups chopped fresh broccoli

• DIRECTIONS