Hi ho hi ho...off we go!

The food is in the cooler, the clothes are in suitcases, the toys are boxed... and off we go for a mini-vacation. Jeff and I are taking Brayden for four days in Hocking Hills, OH. I have made my lists, checked them twice, packed from the list, checked everything again... and STILL forgot to buy bagels! Honestly, I'd forgotten how much planning and packing it takes with a two year old. I've run so many "what if's" through my brain that it's spinning. My biggest concern is clothes -- there is no washer and dryer at the rental house. And the weather right now can swing from 50's at night to 80's in the day -- so I have to be sure Brayden has the right outfits for the weather and the activity. Then I have to have inside/rainy day toys vs outside/play on the beach toys. Portable sides for the bed because there's no crib, and a gate to keep him from going up and down some very steep stairs. Bandaids for boo-boo's, Tylenol for teething, sippie cups and a booster seat, the monkey blanket for diaper changes and picnics, the favorite pillow, a toy to cuddle, games and music to play in the car -- Now you see why I made lists! I have, as usual, over-organized our trip -- planned and written up an agenda, have a notebook with phone numbers, maps printed off for locations -- and we'll get to our rental house, unload the car, forget about schedules, and just enjoy ourselves. Whatever I forgot can be purchased just 2 miles away from the house. I'm so looking forward to having fun with Brayden and Jeff. I hope the weather holds up for us -- rain is forecast 2 of the 4 days, but that's OK... we don't melt and I've packed rain jackets and umbrellas. Two year olds LOVE walking in the rain, splashing in puddles, and carrying an umbrella. It's all good. As Brayden says, we're going to have "TOO MUCH FUN!" Now if I can just remember my camera... Wait.. where's my list?!?

Pre Pre Pre Preschool

Welcome to the first Toddler Tuesday! I hope to find fun (and often frugal) activities you can do with your Toddler, and share them here. If you have activities you can also share, please list your blog or web page in the "Mr. Linky" below. This could prove to be a great resource for all us grandparents, parents, babysitters, daycare providers, aunties, and anyone who is blessed to have a Toddler in their house, whether full or part time. Today I'm sharing a web site and activities that I plan on introducing to Brayden (my 2 1/2 yr old grandson) this week, as we're taking him with us on a 4-day vacation and I was searching for some quiet activities to do with him. (Physical activities will be well taken care of with trips to the lake, a scheduled pony ride on a farm, a county fair, hiking to see a waterfall, and more!) I also needed to make sure I have indoor activities for him in case of rain. (Please no please no please no...) The web page I found is called Letter of the Week, and it's a wonderful, well-thought out Lesson Plan for preparing Toddlers (ages 2-4) for future preschool. Each week has a theme, such as cows, cars/trucks, rain, sun, eyes, kittens, etc. For each week's theme, the web site lays out a plan of age appropriate books to read, poems to read, a related nursery rhyme, and a craft or activity. It also includes activities to familiarize your child with shapes and numbers each week. What a treasure trove of great ideas on this one web page! Week 1's theme is "cows" and we happen to be visiting a farm while we're on vacation, so I thought I could easily tie in the theme. The first thing I did was check my local library (online) and see if they had the books listed, and put them on hold to pick them up tomorrow. I have also printed out the cow pictures, and packed crayons and scissors and some extra construction paper for the squares used in a second project. I've printed out the poems and songs, and we can do some of these in the car. I also cut a "Letter A" out of a piece of sandpaper and glued it on a piece of construction paper. We can talk about the Letter A in the car, and (hopefully) find signs with the letter A! There are many more activities on this web site. Do check it out! She even makes theme-related print-outs available. It can't get much more frugal than this! Now it's time for you to share your toddler activities! Please link directly to the Blog post. In order to make browsing as easy as possible, please link to your individual blog post on Toddler Activities, instead of to your main home page. You can do this by: right click on the title of the post you want to link to, click “copy shortcut” and then paste it into the form below. If you wish to use my Toddler Tuesday banner above in your blog, simply right click on it, copy it to your computer, and upload to your blog.

Introducing - Toddler Tuesdays!

I'm so lucky to live near my 2 1/2 year old grandson, Brayden. I babysit for him at least two days a week and he adds a whole lot of joy and fun to my life. He is funny, loving, active and curious -- everything you want a toddler to be! Because I'm not just a visiting Grandma, but an active babysitter, I feel a sense of responsibility to make sure Brayden's days with me take advantage of his wanting to learn new things and his curiosity about the world around him. I try to make all activities fun and in line with what he is currently curious about. For example, for the past several weeks, he has been enamored with construction equipment. We visited a construction site, read a book about trucks, played in his sandbox with scoops and buckets, etc. We both learned a lot! In this vein, I'm initiating a series on my blog called TODDLER TUESDAYS. It's for anyone who deals with toddlers (age range 2-4), whether you're the grandparent, parent, babysitter, or neighbor. These will be fun activities done in a frugal manner (little or no cost). At this age, 2 to 4 year olds are little sponges. They are full of questions, they love to learn, they love to have fun while learning. They are eager to learn new songs, read new books, try new things. And it's our job, as their caretakers, to ensure their activities not only meet their physical needs (what bundles of energy they are!), but also their mental and sensory needs as well. It's also an excellent opportunity to lay the foundation for their upcoming preschool years. So I hope you'll join me on Toddler Tuesdays, post your own Toddler Activities on your blog, and come back here and add in a link to your post. This could be a great resource for all of us! Each Tuesday there will be a place to post a link to your blog with toddler activities. It is NOT a prerequisite that activities be "frugal". See you tomorrow!

Frugal chicken recipe - Curried Chicken Salad

I've mentioned before that when the local grocery store (Kroger) has whole fryer chickens on sale for .88 a pound or less, I stock up. Although not as meaty as a roaster, I can usually get 3-4 meals out of the chicken, plus a good hearty chicken soup. In the summer, I put the carcas in the freezer for soup in the winter. A few weeks ago, I was looking for a new chicken recipe, when I found a recipe for Creamy Curried Chicken on the McCormick (spices) web page. I printed it off and filed it away for future use. I cooked the chicken as a roaster on Saturday, and we had a nice meal of roast chicken, Asparagus salad and Brown Rice. Sunday, obviously, meant leftovers, and I remembered the curry recipe I'd printed out. The Creamy Curried Chicken was a hot dish, and I was looking for something more along the lines of a summer salad and wanted it low-fat. This is what I came up with and it was wonderful! CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD (serves 2-3) 3 cups chopped cooked chicken 2 stalks celery, chopped 1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt 2 tbsp canola oil mayonnaise 1 tsp Curry powder 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/8 tsp ground black pepper Sprinkling of toasted slivered almonds Except for almonds, mix all ingredients. Place serving on bed of lettuce and sprinkle with almonds. I served this with a fruit salad made of cantaloupe, watermelon, blueberries, raspberries and pineapple, which was the perfect accompaniment. I also served each of us a Wasa high fiber Crispbread, to use to scoop up the chicken salad. Wonderful!!! I wish I'd taken a picture of this one -- it was a pretty dish!