Just a Little Taste....Take 2

OK, I'm still juggling and I have not yet conquered the Marriage Post. It is in the works though. Seems like we are just running, running, running (and just started potty training)!

I was able to get a couple of my latest recipes up on Tracey's Kitchen if you're interested ....

Sweet Potato Tray-Baked Chicken (click on link)










Papa's Goulash (click on link)

Just a Little Taste....

I am trying so hard to get 3 different posts done for my blog(s) but they just aren't done yet. One is my weekly book reading post, a recipe post for my Tracey's Kitchen blog, and finally a personal post. I thought I'd share a few lines just to give you a taste of how my personal post is starting out, and hopefully I will have it finished soon!

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So it's been a while since I did a personal post ... this one has been in the making for a while. I find that I don't often share a lot about my marriage. I think partly that's because it hits so close to home. Well this is a little from the heart. ***more to come soon****

Daddy Time Friday

There is a fun blog hop I'm joining up to created by a fellow blogger and Tot School mom, Patricia. Come join in the fun over at My Tot Learning Time where we get to thank our hubbies and share a little of what daddy is doing with our kids each week.

I was able to capture some really neat play this week with Daddy and J.












































We got out our Backyardigans Memory game this week after realizing we had it. I got it probably over 6 months ago at our local thrift store. Lately, J watched some of this show at my sister's house and really loves it so it was great to do this game. Daddy got involved helping to learn matching. We were teaching what an "exact" match is. At first, J was just matching the characters but then learned how to find the ones that matched exactly.
































One night J crawled up on daddy's lap for some impromptu dinosaur/animal figure play. I had so much fun watching these two play. I also got a cute little video.

We Like to Play and do Tot School

I love being a stay-at-home mom and feel so blessed to do so. I also love taking pictures of all the things we are doing. Instead of doing separate Tot School and Play-Time posts, I decided to combine them this week. So some of our time is more geared more toward play, and some of our time is geared more toward intentional learning activities.

**J is 32 months old**

Come over to play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up:

**J is 32 months old**

CD-Rom and Using the Mouse





























I got a Reader Rabbit CD-Rom from the library that J is just ga-ga over. He is finally getting to learn to use the mouse. They have this software at the library and I noticed how J just loved playing it. It is very toddler-friendly and all J has to do is wiggle the mouse around. He doesn't have to click it.


New Binoculars and Bird Watching





























Almost every time we go to our play group called Pal Zone, I notice J really enjoys playing with the binoculars. I found him a pair and now we are doing bird watching together. He'll look at all kinds of things with the binoculars going around the house, but he really enjoys the birds. He's getting pretty good at naming the few who do come and visit, like the sparrow, chickadee and blue jay.


Packer Football





























We invited some friends over to enjoy some football and J had so much fun clowning around. He just loved the attention! Somehow he got the idea to hide the football under his shirt so we joked that he was having a baby.


Dumping and Sorting





























This is always a favorite activity. In particular, he likes to dump things into the dump truck (makes sense). This time it was little stones we got from the dollar store. Then he enjoyed sorting them into little jars.


Matching - Backyardigans Memory Game











































I picked this game up at our Saver's thrift store at least 6 months ago before I knew anything about the Backyardigans. J was really excited to play it this week. He saw this show at my sister's house and he really enjoys it so we were so happy to realize we had this memory game. Daddy even jumped in and helped him match. We worked on the concept of an "exact" match. He started out just matching up the characters, but then we taught him how to find the pictures that matched exactly.



Do A Dot Art











































We hadn't done dot paint in a while so I got them out and he had a lot of fun. I absolutely love how many free printables are out there on the internet. Most of mine I got were from this site, Making Learning Fun. J was coloring them faster than I could print them! I don't know if you can see from the first picture, but I love how he puts his little tongue when he's really focusing intently on something! He made more than 10 different pictures using green, purple, red and blue.


Fun with Forts











































It has been pretty cold lately, so one day while staying inside we built a fort. J wanted to call it a "jungle safari". I described that you "build a fort" yet you "go on safari" yet he kept insisting what we made was a jungle safari. So it was. He brought in his dinosaurs and pointed out the ones he wanted me to play with and we just made up stories and had a lot of fun.













































We had a blizzard this week that dropped around 14-18 inches of snow in just 24 hours. We got outside to enjoy it and ended up making a snow fort. J also wanted to bring his toys out to play with inside the fort. Oh, and can't forget that he brought his little lawnmower out too. Lots of fun.




Check out what's happening this week at a few other places I like to link up.....

See the fun things other moms are doing at the Weekly Wrap Up, another place I link up.

Thanks for stopping by!!

The Blizzard Hits!

View Outside Our Window; hard to see but total whiteout

















So it really is time for me to get some rest ... just sitting here wrapping up email/internet time and can just hear the wind howling and the snow swishing against the house and the windows. Around 4pm today the snow started coming down and the wind has steadily been picking up as the snow continues to get heavier. Little J was asking to go to the library tomorrow but I let him know most public places are closed tomorrow because of this blizzard we're getting. He asked me what a blizzard was so I went to the window to show him, and he started talking about the fire trucks and ambulances that will have to help the cars get through.


Picture of the snow-covered windows





























The windows look so pretty like I sprayed "fake snow" all over them. The wind has piled up after being blown through the screen. Plus the wind chill is below zero and the wind is gusting at more than 40 miles per hour.



















This is what it looked like when I opened our front door. We have a screen door with the storm windows put in, but it's hard to even tell this should be a view of our front walk. I couldn't even open the door since the pile of snow in front of it is blocking it.


Just a little view into our world here ... as the country is getting hit by this whollop of a storm. I can't believe the school district where my husband works as a custodian canceled school but are making the custodians come in to shovel and clean. I pray the Lord keeps him safe! Hope you all are staying safe, those getting hit by this storm. Take care.

A Few New Recipes

Here are the latest recipes over on my blog called Tracey's Kitchen. Hope you enjoy them!


Corned Beef and Cabbage Slow Cooker Meal


Dad's Chili


Quick Chicken with Saffron Rice Meal

Daddy Time Friday

There is a fun blog hop I'm joining up to created by a fellow blogger and Tot School mom, Patricia. Come join in the fun over at My Tot Learning Time where we get to thank our hubbies and share a little of what daddy is doing with our kids each week.

Last week Patricia wasn't able to post Daddy's Time Friday so this is a week old.....

We were on vacation without daddy, so I don't have many new pictures of daddy with J. But...I did find these two cute ones that I took one night this week when daddy was reading J some books before bed.

Enjoy the linkup!