My Life as a SAHM

I consider myself really lucky to have the job that I do. Although teaching kindergartners takes quite a bit of energy and patience (both of which I somehow have to dredge up reserves for when I start my afternoons with Munch), it allows me a good amount of time to spend with her. I know how quickly the time goes, so I try to make every minute count. Even our commute hours in the car are great opportunities to chat, play games, sing songs, and tell stories.
I've been home this week-Spring Break- and as usual, I've been busier than ever. Today was especially jam-packed. We started our morning with a tour of the Jelly Belly factory-

she loved seeing the Jelly Belly Volkswagen Beetle- the Beetle's her current favorite car and she loves trying to spot them on the road.

They were having a Mrs. Grossman Sticker Day, so we purchased a couple of assorted packets to do a little sticker art-

After lunch, a short workout, and a quick game of Mario Kart-

we headed to the library. It was Munch's first visit and they were having a special wildlife presentation. She got a front row seat for seeing some beautiful animals. Her favorite was the porcupine-


we also made sure to walk around the duck pond after checking out our books-

Once we got back to the house it was snack & project time. I decided to combine the two after Munch's interest in Purplicious and seeing the way pink and blue made purple at the end of the story.
We read the story, Mouse Paint, and I mixed up a small batch of white frosting. After dividing it into 3 bowls, we added a few drops of red, yellow, and blue food coloring to each.

Then we chose different pairs to discover what new secondary color they created.


Munch spread her colored icing on vanilla cookies to enjoy with some nice, cold milk.

Now, she's busy making imaginary cookies while I blog and get dinner together. I know I'll be pooped later, but what a fun day- I feel like we got good quality time with a lot of learning built in.

Hanging out at home

It's felt like such a lazy weekend, even though we had plenty to keep us busy. AudioDad's had laryngitis, Munch has the occasional sniffle & sneeze (and I'm drinking my DanActive like crazy to boost my immune system). It's really chilly and windy out, and all of us wanted to just stay in our jammies. After our warm bowls of brown-sugary oatmeal, Munch and I started the tackling the massive piles of catalogs that are arriving daily. She loves to sit and read magazines and catalogs with me-I think I have a budding online shopper. It was a shame to interrupt that mood to head out to gymnastics. (No photos of that yet- I tried my camera phone, but those pics turned out horribly. And I haven't seen another camera-wielding parent in our group yet...I'm not sure I want to be the first, but maybe for the sake of the blog...)
Dinner was yummy and simple- chicken, corn & black bean enchiladas.



I finally got Munch to eat a salad (the texture of lettuce by itself was always strange to her) and we shared a pomegranate for dessert.


Munch's dinner- i just love these cute little compartmented dishes!

I experimented with a new recipe this morning- streusel-topped eggnog muffins! I figure if I can get them a little moister, I can make little eggnog quick bread loaves for the holidays!



I didn't get much help from Munch this morning. She more quiet than usual, so when I checked in on her, this is what I found:



She's spent most of the day in her room, reading books, only coming out for meals. Can you tell she's our kid?



Taking a big bite...while Cricket stands by for any falling crumbs!