Recipie and an awesome deal

Wednesday night I was really depressed about going to school. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay home with my mom (Steve had to work at the Dentist office) and bake for Sadie's bake sale which is today.

Well, my mom met me up at Taco Bell to eat and pick up Sadie and I must say it was some of the worst Taco Bell food I have ever eaten. I am getting nauseous just thinking about it. I really can't pinpoint what was wrong but it just was gross.

Well, after that nasty meal I left my mom and Sadie and went to school. Walked all the way in...to find a sign on the door saying class was cancelled! Woot, woot! So excited! So I ended up going to the Dollar Tree and Christmas Tree Shop to look for some decorations for our church's trunk or treat.

Then we went home and started baking, till 10 p.m. when Steve got home.

So I conjured up a batch of one of my all time favorite sweets, Chex Muddy Buddies AKA Puppy Chow.

I absolutely love this stuff and I think I end up eating more of it than I donate. It is super simple and super delicious. The recipe is available on Chex.com.

Every time I have ever made this for the bake sale the teacher has said it is the first thing to go :)


So everyone knows I love a deal right? Well, yesterday, my friend Oprah sent me a coupon for 50% off at Payless! I was so excited because I have really been wanting/needing new shoes and I went straight there after work.

I purchases some adorable new winter boots!

Picked up some clearance slip on's.

...and got a new much needed purse, all for $30!

Thanks Oprah, love ya.

Also, as we speak my mom is at Old Navy taking advantage of the stuff and save and she was one of the first 50 in line so she gets 50% off! Can't wait to see what she gets!! - Thanks, It's Hip To Save.

Parents Night

So for those of you who don't know, I am a full time working mom. Let me tell you that this is not my first choice for parenting but the need for income unfortunately overrides my ability to stay home.

I presently work for a Diesel engine company that makes engines for semis and other large equipment. Here are some photos from when our family's got to tour the plant last summer.

So two days a week Sadie goes with my mother-in-law, one day with my mom and (since she was 6 tiny weeks) the other two days she comes to work with me and goes to the on site "school" (I would love for her to go full time but lets face it $250 a week is just not in our budget).
The school she attends is Bright Horizons Montessori school and let me tell you, I just absolutely love this place. The school is so very nice inside and all of the teachers and staff are amazing. Call me a "nerd" but the school is very cool and I wish I could have gone there when I was a kid. It is an all Montessori curriculum which are, in my opinion, very neat (come one when you see preschoolers make maps with all of the continents labeled on them that just has to impress you).

So last night we had open house at the school. Sadie is (sadly) moving out of the infant room and into toddlers, so we went to learn a little about what she will be doing in her next adventure.

The worst thing about this whole ordeal was that I drove an hour to work (yes people I drive an hour to work and an hour home every day), an hour to my mother-in-laws (normally around 45 minutes but thanks to traffic and construction...), an hour back to my work (since that is where the school is) and an hour back home. I was so sick of driving by the end of the night but Steve hurt his neck somehow (we have no idea how or when) and really should not be driving.

So we got in and dropped Sadie off with the other kids and then went down to the toddler classroom. I was sad and I didn't want to go in :( Why is my baby growing up so quick?

The toddler room was much more advanced than the infant room and there were lots of new things for her to "explore" (read: destroy). So the teachers talked to us a bit about what they do down in toddlers and the activities they do. They now have circle time, which requires the kids to sit in a circle (if they can get Sadie to sit still for any length of time then bless 'em). They talk about the weather, day of the week, more colors, numbers, etc during circle time. They also now have more "work" (all of the "toys" in a Montessori environment are called "work" and their are all aligned neatly with the pieces together on specific places on child accessible shelves) which gives them skills that enhance respect for others, their enviroment and themselves. Below is an example of what work shelves looks like.

The told us a lot about some of the work they will be doing and the most interesting one is called spooning. It is not what you think it is...

Spooning is taking one object from a dish to anoter dish with a spoon.

They always go left to right so this gets the child in the habit of looking at things (books and words) left to right.

The main mantra of Montessori is "don't do for the child what they can do for themselves." So this includes eating (even if it gets all over them), opening and putting away their own lunch box, putting on and taking off shoes, coat, etc., brushing their own teeth, putting themselves to sleep and so on.

They told us to bring several changes of clothes in the toddler area since most days she may get dirty or wet during water play, dirty during lunch (since she eats on her own, no sippy cups allowed), makes bubbles and other "recipies" (last week they made apple pie) and they go outside every day even if it is raining (they play under the patio and have music time).

So then one parent asked about discipline and how it is handled. Well, basically they do not do discipline yet at this level besides removing the child from the situation and telling them what they have just done and why it is wrong.

Then one parent asked about biting.

It was all over.

Apparently, there is a biter in the school somewhere and one father even refered to her as the "pitbull" and said that he wants to drop kick her because she has bitten his daugher so many times. I was like freaking out thinking it was Sadie and Steve was like giving me the look like "are they talking about Sadie?" So these parents went on and on and on saying that this kid should be kicked out for biting and they were all getting angry. So the director of the center comes in and says how hard it is not only on the parent with the bitten child but the biting parent as well and how they are trying to help this child through this stage and they have called in specialists to help shadow the child and find out why she is biting and all.
So I am like brainstorming on who it could be and the other parents asked if her child bit would they tell her and they said yes. I was so relieved that they have never told me Sadie bites. Sadie did get bit once but I just thought it was normal kid stuff and it has not been a recurring thign so I didn't think anything of it. Well, finally these people calmed down and I gave Steve the look "like get Sadie and lets get the heck out of here in case they think it is her or something."

I still have no idea who the biter is but I do know the following facts...

1. It is a girl
2. It is someone who is soon moving down to toddlers
3. It is someone with distinct lower teeth (that leave distinct marks)

Yikes, so I guess getting Sadie the follwing logo printed on a t-shirt for Christmas is out of the question, right?

Sadie in the fall and other Disney news

I just can't get enough of this little girl lately...

In other news, we made our Disney reservations today! How exciting!!!! I had my mom, mother-in-law and I all on multiple phone lines trying to get through, I ended up being the lucky one.

I totally need a countdown thing on my blog! 88 days to go and here is where we will be dining....

Saturday, January 23, 2010, Downtown Disney (everyone pick where they want, many options including Earl of Sandwich, Wolfgang Pucks, McDonalds, Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex and so on)

...and I will for sure be stopping at Ghirardelli's! Sunday, January 24, 2010, Dinner at Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic dinner buffett at 3:55 p.m. - Never ate here

Monday, January 25, 2010, Dinner at Le Cellier Steakhouse in Epcot at 4:25 p.m. - Never ate here and this is a Disney signature dining

Tuesday, January 26, 2010, Dinner at Rose and Crown Pub (hopefully on the patio to watch illuminations) in Epcot at 7:40 p.m. - Never ate hereWednesday, January 27, 2010, Character Breakfast at Liberty Tree Tavern (since sadly Crystal Palace will be under renovation) in the Magic Kingdom at 8:05 a.m. - Never ate here and I am uber-excited to get into the Magic Kingdom before park opening; hopefully, we will get some incredible photos Thursday, January 28, 2010, No parks this day
Friday, January 29, 2010, Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge at 5:25 p.m. and Wishes Cruise at 7:00 p.m. - Never ate at Whispering Canyon or been on the cruise!

(photo courtesy of http://www.wdwinfo.com/)

Saturday, January 30, 2010, Depart at 10:00 p.m. :(

Last time we were down (Sadie's First Trip) we ate at..

T-Rex at Downtown Disney (In our opinion the best of the trip! Atmosphere was very cool, food was our style and our price range)ESPN club and Bakery at the Boardwalk (a close second to our favorite)50's Prime Time (Just okay, we didn't have a fun waiter at all so that was a bummer)Garden Grill (disaster! this was when we found out Sadie DOES NOT like characters and the food was NOT our style, sorry Catfish and turkey with cranberries on a platter where everything touches everything else was just yuck.) ...and at Home (wasn't so bad making burgers, hot dogs and pizza the worst part was doing the dishes afterward).

So excited to try out something new and I just love planning our trips, for me it is half the fun.

This day in history

...and two years later they still lived happily ever after.