L is for Llama - The Emperor's New Groove

L is for Llama.
Because llama has not only one L, but two.

Two spectacular llamas, Kuzco & Misty

THIS WEEK...
Church Theme: Love One Another

Primary/Church Song: 'Love One Another'

Preschool Song/Rhyme: 'Llama Llama nod your head' - turned into a finger play

Book: Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney
Movie: The Emperor's New Groove

We went to Disneyland on Monday so that we could visit some family that was there for the week.
It was pretty awesome!

Tumbling Tuesday:
We grooved to some awesome Christmas music while catching up on some much needed housework.

Wednesday:
L letter & math sheets
Worked on Christmas cards

Thursday:
We watched The Emperor's New Groove while eating this...

Kuzco's potatoes, llama bread & breaded chicken, Yzma's cheesy potatoes, bacon, salad, Kronk's creme puffs (since we don't like spinach), & acorns.

If we had Llama Snacks here, I would definitely buy some to go with this lunch because llamas are cool. Besides, who wouldn't want llama snacks, right?

Field Trip Friday:

We were going to travel to a petting zoo to see a llama.
However, it was chilly, breezy, & rainy out so we stayed home.
Silly weather threw off my groove!

xoxo

Cluttered Countertop-itis

I have a problem.

A huge problem.

In fact, I have such a huge problem that it has spread from not just my kitchen, but throughout my entire house. It's quite a terrible disease. It affects every flat, clean surface I come across.

It's called "cluttered countertop-itis".

If you've ever been to my house you know that I have a huge kitchen. I consider it both a blessing and a curse. You see, having a huge kitchen really comes in handy when trying to cook (especially on Thanksgiving or other holidays). I have PLENTY of counter space. There is no question about that. The problem is that I tend to quickly clutter said counter space. It usually starts with mail. Then I start to notice toys, garbage, cups, dishes, and miscellaneous items that are not where they belong.

So what's the cure for "cluttered countertop-itis"?
As far as I know, there's no real cure. However, there are a few ways I plan to prevent this disease from taking over my house.

Here's my list of preventative measures:
1. Get the mail before my hubby does & take care of it right away. There's a few reasons for this... If he gets to it first, I don't always see it. Sometimes he's busy & doesn't set it where I remember to take care of it. It's not that he hides it from me. In fact, most of the time he sets it somewhere where I am bound to see it. I just tend to forget to go through it when it's not in my hand, then it piles up. Then when I see the piles I feel overwhelmed & tend to procrastinate it further...

2. Throw away any trash that's in my hand as well as any trash I see on my way to the garbage can. By keeping trash off the countertops it instantly looks less cluttered... I know it is so much easier to just set it somewhere for 'a second' rather than walk to the trashcan; but if you're like me, chances are it will be forgotten & left there to clutter the counter if it gets set down. Trash is one of the first things I attack when fighting my cluttered countertop-itis. Why? Because it's simple & it makes everything look cleaner which gives me the motivation to do more.

3. Stay on top of dishes so that the dirty ones can always go in the dishwasher. I am not a fan of dirty dishes... I don't like seeing them cluttering my counters, but I really don't like seeing them in the sink. There's just something about dishes in the sink that increases the gross factor for me. This means that if I forget to empty the dishwasher, the dishes pile up on the counters since hubby knows I don't like doing them if they're in the sink. We always try to rinse them off right after eating so that the food doesn't get stuck on, and then we put them right in the dishwasher (if it's empty/dirty). By doing this, we would probably save water too since I am OCD when I rinse dishes. If they were rinsed then set on the counter I end up re-rinsing them and practically cleaning them before I put them in the dishwasher. Silly me...

4. Pick up and organize whatever clutter is remaining on counters at the end of the day. The catch? 15 minutes. Whatever I don't get done in that 15 minutes will simply have to wait until the next day. It's amazing what can be accomplished in 15 minutes though.

Hopefully this method will help me solve my case of countertop-itis...

K is for King - The Lion King

K is for King which meant there were plenty of directions I could have taken this week.

I want to talk about human royalty during the prince/princess week in the spring so I decided to mainly focus on the king of the jungle or THE LION KING...

THIS WEEK...
Church Theme: Keep the Commandments

Primary/Church Song: 'Keep the Commandments'

Preschool Song: 'Old King Cole'

Book: How Leo Learned to Be King by Marcus Pfister

 We ate wildebeest meat (chicken), a lion sandwich, asante sana squashed bananas, gummy worm grubs, pride rocks (I just used melted white chocolate chips & crushed oreos), & a zebra striped boston creme roll (I couldn't find any actual zebra cakes).

Tumbling Tuesday:
We pretended to be lions and worked on our roars

Word Wednesday:

K letter sheets
Lion King coloring pages

Think About It Thursday:

K math sheets
We tried to grow a gummy worm in water. I just got some generic ones from Target, but they didn't want to grow. We were checking every 5 minutes at first, then 10, then 20. After about an hour, there was barely a noticeable change. We ended up just playing around with textures & had plenty of fun trying to pick up the slimy worm. Then it was eaten...
Slimy, yet satisfying.

Field Trip Friday:

It would have been fun to go to the Living Desert or a different zoo to see some animals, but we had to postpone that to a later date when money isn't so tight, so maybe after the holidays... Instead we just delivered goodies to neighbors.

Hakuna Matata!

123 Brownies

These brownies are my fave & they are easy as 123...

I have my friend Kate to thank for these! She brought some to me at school my junior year after she found out I was moving to Arizona... Then I got the recipe from her & have enjoyed them ever since!

Ingredients:

Favorite brownie recipe (I just use a box)

Jar of marshmallow creme

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups chocolate chips

3 cups rice krispies

Directions:

Make brownies according to box or directions. Once completely cooled, spread entire jar of marshmallow creme on top. Melt peanut butter & chocolate chips together in microwavable bowl. Stir together, then mix in the rice krispies. Pour mixture on top of marshmallow creme. Store in refrigerator & allow time for top to solidify before serving.

(Thanks Whooping Crane! ♥ Little White Lab Mouse)

J is for Jungle - Jungle Book

J is for Jungle so this week was based off of... THE JUNGLE BOOK

THIS WEEK...
Church Theme: Jesus Died for Me

Primary/Church Song: 'To Think About Jesus'

Preschool Song: '5 Little Monkeys'

Book: Who is the Beast? by Keith Baker

Mango, sticky rice, dragonfruit, jungle animal crackers, banana, banana candies, & gummy 'snakes'. I thought about getting prickly pear, but I couldn't find any prickly pear out here right now.

Tumbling Tuesday:
We monkeyed around, marched around in an elephant parade, & balanced plastic buckets on our heads

Word Wednesday:

J letter sheets
Monkey tail J's

Field Trip Friday was Thursday this week:

We went to the park and played on the Jungle gym.

Think About It Thursday was Friday this week:

J math sheets is all we did since I was busy cooking & mashing a pumpkin... I ended up with 18 1/2 cups and now I have no idea what to do with all of it!

Check out other awesome muffin tin meals @ Another Lunch