Can I do school work?

"Mommy, Mommy, can I do school work?"

I am very thankful I hear that statement at least once a day. Or that when I say, "Hannah, let's do school work," she gets extremely excited. I've done my due diligence this year to spark an excitement for learning in Hannah (who is 3 1/2 years old). Some days I easily kept her focused and other days I hardly kept her focused 10 minutes max.

In August last year I spent several evenings finding some kind of activities for every letter of the Alphabet. Thanks to Pinterest I was able to be "creative," or rather borrow someone's creativity. I tried to get enough things to spend a week on each letter and then placed everything I needed in a file folder so each day would be ready and easy to get going. I learned quickly the longer it took me to get things together the less interested my little tot was going to be in whatever I had planned for the day. I'm anxiously awaiting the day I can have a space with everything perfectly organized.

This is how I attempted to have our "school work" go each week:
Monday: Introduction of the letter, practice tracing the letter
Tuesday: Practice Numbers, find and count the letter of the week
Wednesday: Shapes and Colors: color the letter of the week
Thursday: Make an Animal with the letter of the week
Friday: Lowercase letter of the week, more practice writing, coloring or painting

Now I have three months to figure out what I'm going to do with her this year because she has progressed and needs that daily structure. Any extra tips or suggestions for a good curriculum of sorts for a pre-k learner would be fabulous. 

Spicy Vegetable Quesadillas

I have become kind of a lover of quesadillas. Chicken, beef, vegetable, Mexican flavored, Mediterranean flavored, or just cheese; all make me happy. I can't buy one if I'm out to eat though because they never match up to what I can make fresh. Even my husband agrees to this. I'm sure I'll post at least 5 different quesadilla recipes here before too long. Today I want to share an easy vegetable quesadilla. It is my go to lunch on many occasions especially if I'm fasting meat and cheese. 

Things you will need: 

Small skillet or frying pan to fix your veggies 

Either a cookie sheet to bake the quesadilla in the oven or a flat frying pan. 

Cutting boards 

Ingredients: 

1 chopped green pepper 

1 chopped red pepper or any color you desire 

2 cups black beans (rinsed canned or freshly cooked) 

2 cups of cooked corn or canned 

1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes with chillies 

Half an avocado 

Taco seasoning (I make my own, I will post that recipe soon) 

Butter or olive oil 

Half a chopped onion is optional 

First: place all peppers and onions in the skillet with half a tablespoon of butter or oil. Cook till crisp tender. Add tomatoes, black brands, and corn. Mix in a tablespoon of taco seasoning depending upon how spicy you prefer your food. Let it simmer on low while you prepare your tortilla shell. 

Second: slice the avocado (be sure to pick one a little softer in order to spread it on the tortilla shell). Smash the avocado with a fork in the tortilla shell and spread like it is sour cream. Add as much of the veggies as you would like on half the tortilla shell. Fold the tortilla shell closed. 

Third: butter or lightly oil the outside. You can back in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes on each side. Or use the flat frying pan and fry the quesadilla until golden and crisp, then flip and do the same thing to the other side. Be careful not to burn (this my preferred method) 

Fourth: cut into thirds or fourths and it should be crisp enough to eat without a fork. 

*the addition of any shredded cheese is absolutely fabulous! 

All the spices really get your metabolism going. Although there is no meat it does have protein and loads of healthy fat, perfect for fighting belly fat. 

I know you've missed me.

Today I answer the pull to join bloggers everywhere with a new blog of my own. I have changed quite a bit since I last blogged consistently, which would be at least four years ago. Quite frankly, it is astonishing how much a person can change in such a short time that felt like both a long time and a short time. Time is a conundrum in it of itself.  In that time: I have become a full time stay at home mom of two beautiful little girls, my body has undergone some wild changes with pregnancies, my favorite hobbies are now cooking healthy and running, my family gave up everything normal to plant a church, and I learned what it means to be sacrificial. All the while my spirit has been beaten down and built back up. My heart has lost hope of my dreams, later revived back to life. My darkest days are now my building blocks for the brightest future a woman could anticipate. 

So here I plan to type away those things that need to be pulled out of me, the things that need to get me writing again. Some days will be awesome recipes that I expect others will enjoy too. Other days will be about health and fitness, maybe a few about parenting, but perhaps my favorite blogs will be about the secret things my God is whispering into my spirit to share with anyone who dares to read. Thank you for taking a few minutes to read. My prayer is that someone is encouraged and touched through these simple written words.