Back to School Dry Run - And a New Meal Plan

Seriously?  Fall is closer than I'd like.

I looked up the other day and realized our summer break is almost over.  Yikes!!!!  How in the world did that happen?  So, now we're thinking back to school... 

This week our schedule slightly resembles the school year.  The girls have a three day dance camp (Pinkalicious Princess Dance Camp - seriously, does it get any better if you're a little girl?)  Both of them will be out of the house for a two hour block, which is close to our school year schedule because Miss M's kindergarten class will be a similar length.  Mr. A and I have a chance to practice having a little time just the two of us.  I think it's been kind of hard on him to constantly have his sisters vying for attention, even though he's loved having them around to play at the same time.  I have resolved that this week, I will I will just enjoy my time alone with him rather than doing housework. 

Unfortunately, we do have to spend some time grocery shopping today.  Since I've started meal planning my trips to the grocery store are faster because they're focused (and I make a lot fewer of them because I'm better prepared in general).  Now that I'm also trying to organize my list by category I'm practically zooming through the store!  So, while I don't get to spend the whole two hours playing with Mr. A, I should still have time to do something fun just with him. 

The Week at a Glance page is updated with a new meal plan!

*If you're unfamiliar with Pinkalicious and you have a little girl in your world, you must live in a cave.  Ha Ha!  Just kidding.  Seriously though, this newish series of picture books has everything little girls love.   These are our favorites.

   

Sometimes You Have to Follow Their Lead

Yesterday was a success - sort of.  Mr. A more than happily grabbed his pirate book and settled in for a good read.  In fact, we had to read it twice, which I was more than happy to do.  He's totally engaged with this book.  He points out the shark eating the soccer ball every time, and loves the pirate cat.  After the second reading I asked if he wanted to color a picture of a pirate.  Mr. A yelled "YES!!!" I thought I was really on a roll.  I broke out the coloring pages and crayons.  It turned out he only wanted to watch me color, not actually handle the crayons himself.  I got exactly three black lines on a jolly roger before he was ready to move on.  We went outside to play instead.  That was alright because even though he didn't want to color, we got to read and have just-the-two-of-us time.  Those were my big goals for the day anyway.

Today, we're going to do more of the same.  I filled the wading pool this morning and I'm thinking the little guy will have more fun in it when his sisters aren't splashing him to death.  We'll break out our large collection of balls again, and have fun floating them and throwing them and whatever he wants.  And since I am still encouraging his interest in books, just before it's time to head in for nap time I'll teach him to jump like a frog.  We'll jump and ribbit till he's tired of that, then get ready for a rest.  If I'm lucky he'll be excited about this froggy book before he goes to sleep.

Here's to growing a reader and enjoying our time together!