Update on Our Mighty Joe

If you are somewhat new to Preschoolers and Peace, you may not know the story of our Mighty Joe. In a nutshell, he contracted a nasty virus when he was 7 weeks old that caused liver failure, kidney failure, heart damage, and brain damage. I have the best readers in the world, and when Joe was fighting for his life, Preschoolers and Peace readers were praying and spreading his story around the internet. If you'd like to read from the beginning, you can find it here. But today I want to share with you an email I recently sent to friends and family, so you'll know how our little man is doing: ♥ When Joe was fighting for his life after he contracted Enterovirus, we were told we could expect anything from a vegetative state to complete blindness to deafness to constant seizures to diabetes to a whole host of other issues. So far, he is not a vegetable, his sight is perfect, he hears everything, he's had one seizure, and he hasn't developed diabetes. Praise God! We have, however, been concerned about what we thought were some developmental and speech delays. Today we had him assessed by a team of 4 therapists at a local early intervention clinic. Here's where he stands, and note that he is currently 33 months old, so these stages denote his development in months: Social Development: 33 months (on target, but given his crazy social household, we're not terribly surprised!) Communication: 22 months (expressive), 26 months (receptive) Self-Help: 31 months (amazing, since his sisters wait on him hand and foot) Gross Motor: 33 months Fine Motor: 20 months Cognitive: 21 months What all this means is that he'll be getting some therapy in the next few months, and we'll likely need to watch him as he develops. It also means his willing siblings need to back off and let the little guy fend for himself every once in awhile! Thanks for loving Joe- Kendra

Mighty Joe's StoryKendraFebruary 25, 2011 Comments

Lunch Baskets

My mom gave me these little baskets and I am so enjoying using them. Very rarely do they need wiping down after a meal, so it's just a simple toss of the napkin and lunch is cleaned up! Definitely useful for breakfast and dinner, too.

Home Organization, ResourcesKendraFebruary 20, 2011 Comments

It's Time to Simplify

Educating at Home, Resources, School OrganizationKendraFebruary 16, 2011 Comments

Where Has Preschoolers and Peace Been?

Hellloooooo? Yeah, that's how I feel when I look at the home page of my blog right now. A cavernous silence bounces back at me :)

That's my Mighty Joe- ooh, those chubby hands!

Actually, I've been writing plenty about preschoolers, just not here. The current issue (Winter 2011) of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has a meaty article on homeschooling preschoolers that features lots of different writers, and I had the serendipitous pleasure and privilege of putting the whole thing together. Additionally, I'm working on an ebook for The Old Schoolhouse Store that will feature 12 articles on preschoolers by homeschooling moms and dads just like you! When it goes up in the store, I'll post it here and we'll have a little contest to give some away. Yay! So yes, I've missed you all, and yes, I have some posts in the works for next week. I'm even getting around to answering your lovely and thoughtful questions. Stay tuned!

Educating at Home, Life with Preschoolers, ResourcesKendraFebruary 13, 2011 Comments

Double Duty Meals: Steamed Oatmeal and Oatmeal Scones

We've been steaming steel-cut oats in the roaster overnight, waking up to scrumptious warm oats in the morning. The method is simple: 1. Set two cups of steel-cut oats (not rolled) in a bowl and add 6-7 cups of water (the discrepancy in water amount is because I add more water if it will be cooking for more hours). Set the bowl in a slow cooker or roaster and pour water around the bowl- enough so that it reaches about halfway up the outside of the bowl of oats. Turn the slow cooker on low and go to bed. I do two bowls in a roaster and that feeds 8-10 of us for breakfast. You can do one bowl in a slow cooker if you're feeding fewer people. BUT... You can get two breakfasts out of the oats if you make extra. After everyone's had their fill, I set aside a cup of the cooked oats to make Oatmeal Scones for the next day's breakfast.

I cut them after I bake them because I like them to be soft on the inside. If you like them crispy, cut them first and bake them individually like cookies.

I make a glaze with powdered sugar and something- either vanilla, milk, lemon juice, lime juice, cinnamon, or in this case, orange juice.

Oatmeal Scones Jenny Sanders

Serves 8-12

2 T butter 2 T honey 1 cup cooked oatmeal 2/3 cup milk (I use almond milk successfully) 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour 4 t baking powder 1/2 t salt Melt the butter and honey together, and mix into the cool, cooked oatmeal. Mix in the milk, half at a time. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the oatmeal. The mixture is quite moist, but if it can't hold its shape at all, add more flour. Roll/pat into a circle (as above) or scoop into balls and flatten to 1" with dampened hands. Bake on greased cookie sheets at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

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