B is for Books - Book Nook!

My husband and I finally got around to finishing putting together our oldests new bed (the KURA from Ikea) and he requested the higher bed, so we decided to create a little book nook for him to hang out with us for reading or working on activities. We got it set up and he absolutely loves the bed and the book nook!

We have a little table for the lamp and doodle pad and underneath it a crate full of his favorite books, one of which he is reading The Wacky Substitute.

Where do your kids enjoy reading? 



Homemade Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs

 

 

In an effort to tie in our weekly Alphabet Series, my oldest, Landon and I are including cooking and using foods that correlate with the weeks letter. Since we are on the letter B  and I needed Bread crumbs for some Ranch Chicken Thighs I was making for dinner. These are super easy and delicious - you will never need to buy bread crumbs again!

 

 

This is the bread we buy from Costco, about $5.50 for two loaves! I used a half a loaf for the recipe. You can use stale bread or fresh, like I did and just toasted it and let it sit for a while so it could really dry out.

 

 

In addition to bread, you will need salt, pepper and about a half stick of butter. Sometimes I like to add some ranch or italian seasoning as well.

 

While the bread is toasting, melt the butter in a large sauce pan on low heat.

 



 Put your bread in a food processor. I threw mine in the Vitamix, worked great! Don't blend to much, you want to leave some texture. Pour your ground up bread into the butter, add seasoning and cook on medium heat until everything is coated and the pieces get nice and toasty. Let it cool thouroughly and pour into a container or heavy duty Ziploc bag. Store at room temp for up to 6 months!

 

Easy peasy & delicious!

 

 



A is for Alphabet - Suppliment

While Catti paves the way in our 26 Week Toddler Alphabet Series, I'm working with my 5 year old on an older version of the series and even attempt to involve my 14 month old as well.

A for Alphabet seems like the perfect starting point and while Landon is familiar with all the letters of the alphabet, we are now working on beginning to read which means: read, read and read some more! We headed to the library to begin the week and grabbed two alphabet books, but also included our own Arthur book and a bilingual Animal board book for Luke.

I've recently become intrigued with the Montessori style of teaching and found that when teaching letters, they emphasize the sound of a letter, versus the name of a letter. Since Landon knows the names of the letters, this series is the perfect starting point to work on the sounds of the alphabet and the early early stages of reading!



Other activities focus on Landon working on writing the letters (uppercase and lowercase). He has a couple work books with letter activities, but we work on the Fisher Price Doodle, drawing the letters in his sensory colored rice bin (which Luke dumped onto the carpet last night, need to make a new batch of rice!), play doh, even using his trains and train tracks!

Now that Landon is 5, his responsibilities have increased around the house, one of which includes deciding on one dinner a week to help prepare and cook. Landon and I picked up some Apples and Avocado for the week to incorporate in our meals and plan on tying in foods that begin with the coordinating letter each week.

 

We can't wait for the weeks ahead and hope you join us!

Project 365 - January 14

Catti's picture "Essence of a Household with a Toddler" inspired my own!