Week 16 of Pre-K!

We are half-way done with our school year!  I originally was planning on doing school this week but I think we might go on Christmas break early.  I know we'll take some time off once Grace arrives.  We just have a lot planned between now and Christmas.  I love that Caden loves school so much and learning.  The biggest accomplishment last week was he read his first stage 1 book all by himself.  I was super impressed! He memorizes books so easily that I never know if he's fully reading or just reciting. So I brought out a new book and he read about 90% of the words. He's really caught onto a number of site words and can sound out CVC words easily. I didn't read until I was probably 5 or 6. But every kid is different and Caden has always had an interest in language and words. I think he gets this from his dad. :)

Last week we did Unit 12: Goat from My Father's World Kindergarten.  The major point was Jesus died for our sins. We talked about how people used to sacrifice animals in the old testament for their sins and then Jesus came and he was sacrificed for our sins and we no longer have to sacrifice animals.

 

Verse: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16 NIV

 

I'll post some pictures from last week but not go into great deal about each day. Like I mentioned earlier, his reading is improving greatly and he's enjoying learning how to read and spell new words. We also talked about reading a clock and different animals found on a farm. Our magnet this week was a goat. We played a matching game where he matched baby animals with their mothers. We did some rhyming, sang songs, and had fun. The Hand-in-Hand Christmas party at church was last week so we went to that. Friday we ended with a field trip to see Frosty the Snowman with one of our homeschool groups. This was Caden's first professional play to see. He liked it. Collin was able to come with us and we ate lunch downtown after the play was over.

Writing words

Drew some pictures and wrote what he drew below

He wanted to draw a really big picture!

Handwriting practice

Cutting out some animals for our song

Mooo!!

Playing his instrument he made

Learning to read a clock

Animal matching game

He made an animal book

Riding on Daddy

Writing words

He tore up 116 squares of toilet paper, we counted them all!

Drawing pictures

He drew and wrote glass marble, glasses, grass, and balloon

My cute boys!

Frosty the Snowman play

Before the show began!

Reading sentences and matching them to the picture

Coloring

He lined up different contains and made a xylophone

34 Weeks! Nursery is coming along!

I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Baby is doing great! She's measuring 5 lbs, 4 oz. Her head was too low to get a look at her face. It looks like I might not be able to see her sweet face again until she's born.

 

This past weekend we got her nursery in order. This past week I've been washing some of her clothes. Her room was Caden's playroom.  I was worried that Caden might not like his playroom moved, however, he was so excited to find out Gracie's room will be next to his room.  We have moved his playroom mostly upstairs. I was debating whether or not to get rid of our guest room and move his playroom in there but it's nice to have an extra bed.

How far along? 34 weeks

Baby’s size? She weighs about 5 lbs, 4 oz.

Total weight gain/loss: 39 lbs! 

Maternity clothes? Absolutely! I've never weighed this much before! Sadly some of them are not fitting as well because I've "exceeded" the weight for them!

Stretch marks? Maybe a few new ones.

Sleep: Terrible! I wake up to go to the bathroom 3-4 times a night. I'm really only able to get comfortable laying on my right side since I can't lay on my stomach or back. When I lay on my left side, Gracie moves and kicks like crazy.  She's one strong baby! Also I'm starting to have heartburn and reflux. Thankfully Apple Cider Vinegar is helping but certain foods I cannot eat at night.

Best moment this week: Getting Gracie's room ready for her arrival!

Miss Anything? My pre-pregnancy weight. Love this baby but am getting uncomfortable.

Movement: Yes, all the time! She is very active!
Food cravings: Nothing particular at the moment.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Spicy foods at night cause heartburn which hurts!

Gender: Girl!!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks Contractions. They monitor me weekly for the contractions and it was neat seeing them on the chart.

Symptoms: Growing belly and lots of movement and kicking.  Having to go to the restroom frequently.

Belly Button in or out? Flat! Caden loves this!

Wedding rings on or off? Off!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!

Looking forward to: Meeting Grace.

Please pray for: A healthy baby and pregnancy.

Here are some pictures of her nursery. I just ordered her curtains and curtain rod. I'm trying to decide how to decorate her walls. I'll probably do some kind of custom wall decals or something. I want a verse on the wall above her bed with maybe her name. Then maybe some pictures or something on the other wall. I don't know yet.

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas

While we were iced in, I started craving Mexican food. Since it wasn't safe to leave our house, the roads to and from our neighborhood were literally a sheet of ice, I decided to make some homemade tortillas. I have wanted to make tortillas for a while but was just too lazy to try. They were so easy and delicious that it will be hard to ever go back to the packaged stuff from the store! I got the original recipe from here. However, to make it healthier, I modified it a bit. Here's what I did.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

2 cups Organic, Unbleached Flour

1 cup Organic, Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoons Baking Powder

⅓ cups Canola Oil

1 cup Hot Water

½ teaspoon Ground Flax

Directions:

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder with a fork. Add the canola oil and mix with your fingers until all the oil is incorporated and the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add 1 cup of hot water and mix until a ball is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. I left it for about an hour until I was ready to cook them. (You can also refrigerated it overnight).  This took literally 10 minutes to mix together.

Divide the dough into 12 balls and roll out one at a time on a floured surface, or what ever size you want. I made a few smaller ones for my son. I used whole wheat flour and it had a nice taste once cooked. Brush off excess flour. Cook on a hot, ungreased griddle over medium-high heat. Turn the tortilla when brown blisters form on the first side. Stack the tortillas and serve warm.

My whole family wanted to help. It took us about 15 minutes to roll and cook these, which was not long at all! They were worth it! They were so good to eat straight from the pan! Some of them I flattened with my hands, others we rolled flat with a rolling pin. I made some into cheese quesadillas. We cooked a big pot of beans and some rice. We had some avocados and tomatoes from our garden. It was the perfect meal! You can do this! Enjoy!

 

Dinner!

Collin took over rolling after a while, thanks, Love!

Cooking in a pan

Caden wanted to help roll it!

Very easy to do

Rolling it out

Doug to be divided and cooked

Snowy "Ice" Days

This past weekend we were going to go on a weekend retreat with some of our church friends to an awesome house in the country and celebrate something called Thanksmas. However, due to weather, Thanksmas has been postponed. Last Friday we woke up to a beautiful display of snowy ice.  In Texas, we are more likely to get ice that looks like snow than actual snow. This makes the ground very slippery. Just about our whole city shut-down and most people stayed home. In fact, Sunday, as our ice days continued, the shut down the highways for a few hours to try and make them safer to drive on. Our mail didn't come for 3 days, our trash wasn't picked up, and church got cancelled due to weather.  It was BAD.

Having lived in Germany, I got used to being "stuck" indoors for extended periods of time. Not that it wasn't safe to get out, because Germans are very good about clearing the roads and sidewalks. I just preferred not to get out in the cold. Although at night, I remember driving and sliding through stop lights on the ice. So even when the streets were cleared during the day, I preferred not to drive at night in Germany if there was snow on the ground.

 

We all enjoyed sledding and being outside. We also enjoyed time as a family. Collin and I were able to make great progress on Gracie's room which I'm so excited about! I can't wait to finish decorating it. I'll post pictures in a separate entry. I have a church baby shower this weekend. So after that I'll see what else I need and finish her room.

 

We also made homemade tortillas. I'll post the recipe later. We had a family movie night and watched The Polar Express, ate popcorn and drank hot chocolate. Overall, we enjoyed the extra days "iced" in as a family.

Here are some pictures from our ice adventures!