Morning Prayer

After a crazy morning with a Mommy who was doing a lot of yelling to get the children ready to head out the door, and two boys who did not want to get up and ready, we decided to pray on the way to school. "Dear God, please help us to make good choices and be good people. We ask that you be with us all day...amen."

Since Drew started preschool, he is very worried about Mommy leaving him. At Sunday School yesterday, I had the pleasure of tracing tiny hands and singing and dancing with 3 year olds, as Drew will not stop crying and becomes hysterical. It is becoming the norm for his teachers to hand him over to me screaming and crying, "MOMMY!" So, after our prayer about God being with us all day, Drew says, "Mommy, will you be with us too?" I'm sure he was thinking, 'Oh Mom, please don't leave me alone with God."

He's a challenging little guy, but truly is the greatest.

Signs of Fall

Tonight, Ashton stayed up late and was just hanging out with Mom and Dad...obviously enjoying the attention. I (being the obsessed teacher) mentioned that we should begin thinking about what he is going to bring for Show-and-Tell NEXT Wednesday. The assignment is to bring in one or two items that are "signs of Fall", I started saying, corn, apples, walnuts(from our tree), etc. when he stopped me and said, "Mom, I am going to take in a light bulb." I looked at him with a confused look and asked him to explain his thoughts to me. He said without hesitation, "In the Fall, the sun goes down earlier, and we have to turn on the lights on our cars and inside our houses earlier." Wow, I am a proud Mommy! I'm sure his teacher and classmates will need a good explanation when he whips out a light bulb from his bag. ;)

There is no doubt in my mind that Ashton has Grandpa Spud's creative mind.

It's the simple things in life that truly do mean the most.

Drew's Self-Portrait

Arms and hands coming right out of the head are about my favorite part of children's pictures. Love this!

More Granola Morning Pictures. :)

Our Granola Morning

Gosh, it has been a long time since I posted. It still seems strange to take pictures of the kiddos when Ashton is away, but I am beginning to feel better about it. Slowly, I will be adding our daily adventures again. This morning, it was rainy and cold and we decided the best way to spend the morning, was in the kitchen learning about following a recipe,( I only follow recipes when I am teaching the children about measuring) something I rarely do when baking. I like to add a little of this and a little of that, but today we did what the recipe told us and were very pleased with the results. *Recipe to follow*
While waiting for our granola to bake, we worked on our handwriting lesson using Mat Man and Drew and Darcy did great, I loved how they added nostrils instead of a nose. "He needs two holes, Mommy!" After building Mat Man, we worked on drawing a self-portrait(Drewby put his in his backpack right away and refused to take it out, so I hope to post a picture tomorrow) and I loved how Darcy made herself into a punk rocker with all the different colored hair on her head. :)
Drew and Darcy both started a Co-op preschool on Wednesday with several other stay-at-home mommies and I am really looking forward to it. I ended up staying in the classroom as Drew refused to stop crying for me. Once I was in the room, he did great! I was super proud that only him and one other 4 year old were able to cut out all the shapes to create a hen for the theme "The Little Red Hen". Drew will not stop talking about school and takes his backpack with him everywhere, even to bed. He is very proud and hopefully will be able to participate without me soon. I can't wait for my turn to teach...I am so excited about doing lesson plans again and being a part of this amazing program!

Recipe for Trail Mix Bars/Granola Bars

4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp honey
7 Tbsp quick oats
1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
1 Cup cheerios
3 Tbsp raisins or craisins
3 Tbsp peanuts or nuts of your choice
4 Tbsp dark chocolate chips
3 Tbsp sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and grease lightly. Set aside.
Put butter and honey in a small pan over low heat until butter is melted, stirring occasionally. Place remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir. Add the cooled butter mixture. Pour in the pan and press firmly. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is just firm to the touch. Once it is cooled, cut into bars and store in an airtight container. Yippeeee for yummy and healthy snacking. I served this with apples after school and the kiddos devoured it!