Read Across America Week: Seussical Celebration

I love love love Dr. Seuss.  As most of you know, Saturday was his birthday.  That means that last week was Read Across America week.  Children all across America celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday at school.  Since we have been working toward a more preschool style routine at our house during the day, I figured my munchkins would love to get in on the festivities.  I had so much fun with all of this that I just had to share some of it with you.  I'll skip the hard learning parts and just share the Seussical parts!

I picked a different book for each day of the week.  Monday, we read Horton Hears a Who.  Tuesday, we read Go Dog Go (yes, technically by P.D. Eastman, but the boy loves dogs). Wednesday, we read The Lorax. Thursday we read The Foot Book. Friday we read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish....AND....The Cat in the Hat (of course).

Here are two of the projects we did.  There were others, but we were having so much fun, I forgot pictures!

We started out by drawing a hat outline on red construction paper.  Next, we cut stripes from white paper and glued them in place.  Once the stripes were in place, we cut out the hat shape.  We then attached the hat shapes to the fronts of our paper plate rings.  (before we started, I cut the center circles out of red party plates)  This project was easy and fun.  The boy didn't take his off ALL...DAY...LONG!

The pictures just don't do this cutie justice.  I absolutely adore hand print projects.  The hand prints just add such a personal touch and make things such a keepsake.  I plan to hand these out to the grandparents as we do more and more of them.  Anyway...this was just as simple as orange pieces of construction paper and yellow, white, and brown paint.  I painted his hands yellow and helped him stamp them onto the paper.  Then we used his index fingers to make the eyebrows.  After that, I helped him use round foam brushes to stamp on the white and brown making the eyes and nose.  I think I had as much fun with this as he did.  When we finished, I let him just stamp to his little heart's content on another sheet of paper.

There were so many other fun things we did.  Maybe one day I will post the rest of the projects and activities along with any others I come across. 

Happy reading, everyone!

Chalupa Roast: A 5 Ingredient Crock Pot Favorite

Growing up in a town near an Air Force base, you get used to people coming and going frequently.  As a result, you can experience many different things from all over.  My family picked this recipe up from an airman who visited quite a few years back.  I'm not sure where his family began making it, but I am sure glad that they did.

This recipe is easy to throw together in the morning to have a great meal waiting in the evening.  It has a really nice southwestern feel to it while still being kid friendly.

Here is what you need:
1 three to five pound pork roast (I have done this with different size roast and I have done it with beef roast...turns out great no matter what...we just prefer the pork roast...the roast pictured is actually with a pork loin roast)
2 cans Ranch style beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 small (4 oz) can diced green chilies

Here is what you do:

Layer all ingredients in the crock pot in the order listed.  DO NOT STIR! Cook on low in crock pot for 8-10 hours.  Shred roast and stir.  Serve over hot rice or over tortillas.

My family actually eats this two days in a row (sometimes three).  The first day we serve it over rice.  The next day, after the juices have soaked in, we serve it in tortillas with sour cream and other toppings.  My husband sometimes just throws it in a bowl and has at it.  Every family member has their own favorite way to enjoy this dish...but the point is that they all enjoy it!

I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine has!