Classroom Makeover

So I was BEYOND tired of the penguin theme in my classroom. It was cute when I was "Miss Pepe's Penguins" but after 5 years of the same thing I was ready for a change of scenery.

Here's the Before (this is from A REALLY LONG time ago)

Here are the after shots.

I added table group signs that hang from the ceiling, and supply caddies to each group.

I changed up the homework board & the Mrs. Mahan board behind my desk.

I changed the calendar area as well

The file cabnet labels are fun

Our Job Chart and reminder magnets

My favorite is the bookshelf I painted. It used to be this awful bright yellow laminated wood, now it's a cool ocean breeze color

I also changed our outside board where we display all our fabulous work. It says "Look What We Did"

The last thing I did was take down our "data center" and put up an "I can" board. There's also a little basket to store their "I can" journals in. Here's a close up of the journals.

Just call me Gerber

So now that Molly's 6 months old she's ready to start "real" food. So Saturday afternoon we went on up to Sprouts to get everything we needed to make her food. I bought apples, pears, green beans, peas, a butternut squash & carrots. Although once I got home and started getting everything ready I peeled the sweet potato and realized I'd grabbed a parsnip by mistake. Oh well. For now I want all her food to be organic and homemade if I can keep up with it.

First I washed, cut and peeled everything.

Then bagged it up to steam. Then dumped each one into the magic bullet with a little water. This is about the time that I managed to burn the entire palm of my hand.

Once they were all pureed I spooned them into ice cube trays. Don't they look so pretty!

Here she is trying her first few bites of Parsnips.

Project 365 Week 4

6 Months

Molly,
I absolutely cannot believe that it's time for this post already! That means we've made it through your first holidays and we're getting ready for another session with Brandi.

It also means we're ready to start "real" food. So far you've had rice cereal and seem to like it ok. You eat one "big" bottle in the late morning and 3 small bottles the rest of the time you're with Miss P. (I can't believe you two have already spent almost a month together!) You're getting better at napping for her and playing by yourself. You don't like to spend much time in your swing now but really like your walker (even though you can only go backwards) and excersaucer. You'll play with your feet forever if I let you. You really like to pull off your socks and chew on them. When we go out to dinner you like to chew your Sophie or play with spoons.

You're getting better about sleeping. You go down around 8 & you only get up once at night around 3:30 or so. Most nights you'll eat and then go back to sleep but some nights you want to talk and play with mommy's nose or glasses. On those nights most often we end up sleeping in the big brown chair until mommy's alarm goes off.

You're still wearing size 2 diapers & 6 month clothes (we still roll the sleeves up for you). Your 3 month close def. don't fit any more but a lot of your jammies are 3-6 months and they fit perfectly. Bath time is your favorite time. We sing "rubber ducky" while you get all cleaned up. You had your first cold this month but we're on the downhill side of it now. I'll add your measurements once we get back from the dr. on Monday.

You've started to yell loud to hear yourself. It makes you smile. You also played "opossum" for the first time the other morning when I tried to wake you up. You'll pull all the drool in your mouth to the front of your lips and then make a buzz noise so its flies out. This month you met your Great Great Aunt Rosie & Uncle Bud.

I love you so much Peeps. I'm excited for all the new things to come. Happy half birthday!
Love Mommy

Weigh In Wednesday...On Friday

So I have gotten into a rut and only have a few new "favorites" for this week. If you have any suggestions for quick easy things to toss in my lunch box please pass it along!

I know it's silly to pay more for an apple that's already cut but it's the only way I like them! I eat them with 2/3T of peanut butter.

These lean hot pockets are super yummy & are an easy breakfast! They make bacon & sausage.


Recipe for the Week
Cordon Bleu Panini
Slice of ham
Slice of chicken
mustard
Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge
Pickles
2 Slices of Bread

Ok I know a Panini is just a fancy grilled cheese but this was sooo yummy! Just spread mustard & laughing cow cheese on bread. Add pickles and meat then press in the panini maker. YUMM!

Stats for this Week
(feel free to leave yours in the comments section if you want to have another source of accountablilty)
lost this week: 1 lb
total loss in 2 weeks:7 lbs
Lbs left til Pre-Molly Weight: 11

Smiles from Miles Away

My sweet friend Sarah was needing a pick me up this past week. So I wanted to make her one of the great care package that I'd seen floating around pinterest. Only thing was that she's lost 13 pounds and I didn't want to send her a basket of "junk". I wanted it to be something that she could use to help her on her journey, not sabotage it. I'm someone who puts a stop to my weight loss efforts at the drop of a hat so I wanted to send a supportive pick me up. So this is what I came up with. Inside is a WW magazine, a pedometer, a bag of hair bands for workouts, a Biggest Loser Workout DVD, and Crystal Light Mocktails (only 5 calorie margaritas!).

BBQ, Bald Eagles & Birthday Cake

After church this week we jumped in the car and headed to Llano for some BBQ at Cooper's. It was A-MAZE-ING! If you havent been out there it's everything people say it is. Their slogan is "It's all about the meat y'all" and let me tell you as someone who's a fan of all the other stuff (beans, potatoes, bread, cobbler, etc.) it really was all about the meat.


After lunch we stopped by the roadside to see the bald eagle nests. It really is an awesome site to see, these eagles and their babies just hangin out in the nest along the side of the road.





Our last stop of the day was my parent's house to celebrate my little brother Joe's birthday. We had a nice time eating cake and opening cards.