Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Lovin' the Weekend Blog Hops Week 48: Aug 31-Sept 2, 2012

Welcome to the forty-eighth weekend of Lovin' the Weekend Blog Hops.

Giveaway Linky is the bottom linky!

First things first:

Don't forget to check out my co-host's blog:

I also randomly choose a Featured host each week from the Lovin' The Readers linky. This week I would like to introduce you to Julie from Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk.

I'm sure she would love some followers. Here's what she has to say:

"I am a mommy of an amazing miracle baby boy. Truly a miracle! I was diagnosed with cancer in my mid-20’s and was told I would never have children because of the treatments I had to undergo. Well, almost 15 years later. . . my miracle arrives! He is currently 2 1/2 and is the jewel of my life!

My husband and I have been riding the roller coaster of life together for 4 years now. We have been through some serious loops lately with our son’s health issues. Currently, we are seeing several specialists to determine the exact issue we need to address. His body maybe going through some delays but his mind sure isn’t!

I started my blog about 5 months ago to share our journey through early childhood development. My blogs name is the first few words I hear every morning, “Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk”! I believe that learning should engage all the senses and doesn’t always have to take place within 4 walls while sitting upright at a desk. We paint, make things, play, cook, read and learn while doing them all! Along the way, I also try to throw in some random and interesting facts that may also help teach us mommy’s something as well!

I hope you’ll join me on our wonderful journey!"

Please take the time to check out her blog, let her know you are visiting from the Lovin' The Weekend Blog Hops. Don't forget to link up to the Lovin' the Readers Hop if you would like a chance to be a Featured host next week. Please comment with a way to contact you, especially if there is not an obvious way mentioned on your blog. I would love to include a little write up about you and your blog in the next week's Lovin' The Weekend Blog Hop post, including a link to your blog. And you will get to include the linky codes on your blog. Sound fun? I'm looking forward to getting to know my readers better.

Here's how this blog hop works. I would appreciate it if you would follow myself, my co-host and my Featured Host via GFC. If you no longer have GFC please follow in some other way. After that there are three different linkys you can link to. Whichever one you choose to link to, please grab that button and share it on your blog (the codes are on my sidebar). I'd love it if you could tweet or in some other way share about this blog hop, the more people who know about it, the more potential visitors and new followers of your blog. I'd love to meet some new friends this weekend.

I have noticed that some people are more interested in just increasing their numbers, while others really want people who appreciate their blog and want to keep up with their posts. So, I decided to create two separate linkys. The third linky is for you to link up your giveaways.

If you are interested in increasing the number of followers to your blog via GFC, Linky Followers, email, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ link up here. I will follow you back if you follow me (just note which one you are linking to):

If you are interested in gaining followers to your blog who will read and comment and truly find an interest in your blog, link up here:

If you have family friendly giveaways to link up, here's your spot. Please make sure to include an end date for your giveaway.

I am so glad you stopped by. Please leave a comment if you link up and I will be sure to stop by and follow back.

Don't forget to check out my "Blog Hops" page for other great weekend blog hops!!

The Back to Preschool Blast ended last week.
I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of the winners.
I need to hear from them by tonight or I will have to choose new winners. Please stop by the Giveaway Post and check the Rafflecopter to see if you are a winner. I have also emailed all of the winners, so you can check your emails too.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen #23: Oreo Fluff

Time for Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen

(A weekly linky where you can share your special time in the kitchen, such a great place for learning. You can also link up Kid-Friendly Recipes)

The linky is at the bottom.

This week we have been reviewing all the Days of Creation.
I was actually going to make this last week to go with Day 6, but had something come up.
On day 6 of Creation, God made the land animals, and then he made man in His image.
We actually read further in the Bible to the details of how God made man, forming him of the dust of the ground.
" ⁷ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

So I decided we would make the Oreo Fluff to represent mud or clay from the ground.
The original recipe uses white chocolate pudding, but we needed chocolate to make it look like mud.

Oreo Fluff Recipe

(found at Food, Family & Finds)

1 small box white chocolate instant pudding (we used chocolate)

2 cups milk

1 small tub Cool Whip

24 Oreos, crushed

2 cups mini marshmallows

First we crushed the Oreos.

Then we made the pudding.

Then we added the Cool Whip...

...the crushed Oreos...

...and the marshmallows.

I set it in the refrigerator until dinner time. Then I put some in my pie dish and surrounded it my animals. We are reviewing Day 6 of creation after all.

Do you have your children help you in the kitchen? What lessons do they learn? Do you have any kid friendly recipes to share?

I'd love to see your posts, whether you have done something this week or some time in the past. Just link up below. This is a weekly linky.

I am linking up to:

And here is my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen linky

Free Sign Ups for Nature Pals

Here is another great Free Blogger Opp I found today.

This free event is for the Nature Pals mobile and Gymini! If you'd like to join this free even simply sign up here!

Wittle People Wednesday #2- August 29, 2012

Welcome to the 2nd week of "Wittle People Wednesday," the new linky hosted by Ashley of Ramblings and Photos by Ashley Sisk.

I decided this would be fun to link up to as I am always taking pictures. I use some for Wordless Wednesday, some for the Scavenger Hunt Sunday (also hosted by Ashley) and some in my homeschool posts (the weekly review and the Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen posts), but sometimes there are pictures I would love to share that just didn't find a way into a post.

Here are some I have taken recently:

Baby Harold has decided it is fun to play with the spoon while I am trying to feed him.

We spent our Sunday afternoon at Harold's three kids' graduation party.

The girls enjoyed the playground. I have pictures of Tabitha and Amelia on this same playground from 2 years ago. I wish I could find the pictures to compare. I remember one of my favorite pictures was taken there. Maybe one day I will find it, I searched, but I don't think I shared it on my blog in a post. I think it was a part of my old header (after reading something in an old post).

Harold with his first grandchild. She thought it would be fun to pet her Uncle Harold.

He didn't think so...

More messy baby pictures.

A Walk Down Memory Lane: Paper Towel Roll Subtraction

A Walk Down Memory Lane

I was searching through my posts for a picture of one of the girls when I came across this forgotten activity. This was something that came to me in the middle of the night a couple of years ago.

I used an oblong basket, some Styrofoam balls and a paper towel roll, plus made some construction paper numbers.

Check out this subtraction activity I definitely need to add to our activity table this year.