Muffins

This Pinterest website has been taking up way too much of my time.  Sometimes it's productive, like finding teaching tools and ideas or recipes.  Working with that productivity, I found a good, healthy recipe for muffins.  Muffins are one of Sam's favorite breakfast foods and sometimes the only thing we can get him to eat.  When we have exhausted all possibilities in the house and then I have to rush to work, I tend to give in and get him a muffin if I pick up a coffee.  I hate the idea of dropping him off hungry, basically because we're trying to feed him five minutes after he wakes up, when he's really not ready to eat.
I realized this may have become a habit when he was driving his little men in a toy car the other day, and when I asked, "where are they going?"  and he answered, "Drive.  Coffee n' muffin!"
 I finally realized that the alternative to this would be to make healthy, "nutritious" muffins and freeze some, so we always have a back-up.
Here is the healthy recipe that I then tweaked and make less healthy ; )

3 large bananas, well ripe

2 teaspoons of butter

1 bigish egg

1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cup wheat flour 
1/2 a cup of oats1/3 cup applesauce 


Step 1:  Mash bananas, add cinnamon and egg - beat it a little. Add apple sauce and mix. Top with the dry, mix together, mix into the wet.   

Step 2:  Scoop batter into muffin trays.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.


I was so tempted to put chocolate chips in them, but restrained myself!  

Exploring Snow

The brief time the snow was on the ground was a great time for exploring, with all of our senses!

                                       What does it feel like?

                                            What does it taste like?
(I don't usually think Sam looks like my side of the family, but I definitely see my brother in these photos.)

Snowballs

Yesterday the weather warmed up, and after Sam and I got home there was still enough daylight to be outside.  We stayed in the front of the house, where the sidewalk had been cleared, since he didn't have his boots on.  The melting snow was the perfect consistency for making snow balls, so I showed him how to make and toss them.  He was delighted with this new thing to throw.  We threw them on the sidewalk, at the fence, I tossed one at his belly, and we threw them high into the air to watch them "fall down!!"
Then a car drove by. He looked up at me mischievously, "I throw snowball car!" and pulled back his arm.
I cannot understand where that connection even came from!  Another innate "boy" thing... I swear that never would have crossed my mind!

Snowy Day

     
After the snow of last year, this winter has been relatively mild and warm.  At this time last year, we had over 42 inches of snow, most of which was still in heaps on the ground.  It was snowing about once a week.  This is the third snow this year, and the first two didn't leave anything that lasted long.  Sam was delighted with the snow earlier this week, "Sammy walk on snow!"  It took me about 5 to 10 minutes to get him into the car each time we went somewhere (like work/daycare).
Today, we have about 4 inches.  Chris is out shoveling and plowing and Sam "helped" him as we left for music class this morning.  We spent a good hour at Starbucks after class, watching plows and snowy cars, and people running into the attached Whole Foods.
Sam's observations, "oohhh!  Man run!  Man run get coffee!!!" (wonder why he would make that connection?)
"oh!  Snow plow!!!  More snow plow?  Sammy stand up (on chair), Sammy see snow plow!"
"Sammy no stand up on chair.  Sammy no fall down.  Sammy no bang head, doctor."
"Snow dirty.  Mama, snow dirty."
"Man shovel snow.  Man shovel!  I shovel.  I help!"

                     

Chalkboard Buses

drawing and erasing