The Train To Crazy

Attachment, attachment, and... other things

We had planned to take the ferry to a rare plant nursery on Saturday but the Edmonds ferry line was 2 hours so we skipped that. We headed downtown to the sculpture garden and then to Pike Place Market. We'd never been to the new sculpture garden so that was good to see. It really isn't that interesting for children. The girls enjoyed the beach at Myrtle Edwards Park and threw lots of rocks into the water. It was on this trip we realized it is time to get the stroller back out for Daphne. We have rarely used a stroller in the past year or so but she is definitely needing it now. She prefers to be carried, but only by Mom. Chop Liver won't do, he isn't Mom. The stroller is a great second choice though. Note to self, put stroller in car.

I got the camera out to take pictures only to find the battery dead. You'll have to bear with the pictures taken on the phone. They aren't that bad though.

I had never seen this statue before and we didn't know what to make of it. I'm all about art, but a naked man with outstretched arms to a little boy in water. I don't know. Had to get a picture though.

The market was super crowded with tourists and crazy people such as ourselves. We managed to get some hot doughnuts though. Yum. I don't usually like doughnuts but these were good. I can tell you though that I do not enjoy carrying a 25 lb. kid through a crowded market though. I don't really enjoy carrying a 25 lb. kid at all these days. I haven't actually weighed her in a while so I'm sure she is heavier than that but I'm reluctant to say she is heavier than her sister yet. She does have the same size feet though!

Since Naomi was very sad not to be able to take the ferry on Saturday we told her we'd take the water taxi to West Seattle on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great and we didn't know if we really wanted to go to W. Seattle with the threat of rain. I asked Naomi if she'd rather go to the aquarium and she did! Yes! Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the stroller again so there was lots of Daphne wanting to be held. Note to self, put stroller in car.

Since we're talking about Naomi... she has been potty training for about a year now. She has been wearing underwear for 8 or 9 months. The problem is the girl is scared of pooping in the toilet. I can write that now and make sure to show this to her as a teenager. Now that Daphne is potty training, and NOT afraid of the toilet, Naomi has decided to venture into the land of pooping somewhere other than a diaper. The problem is... she is still afraid of pooping in the toilet. However, she will go in the little baby potty we have. Daphne doesn't even use it but Naomi does. The rule is that she can only use it when Daddy is home. I don't know what it is but I can change a poopy diaper with no problems but when it comes to cleaning out that little potty I gag every time. Naomi never used it so I've never had to deal with it until now. I can't say whether it is the pregnancy or not but I'm not going to find out. After an "incident" we had today the girls said goodbye to that thing. I will spare you most of the details but let's just say after Naomi used it (yes, when Arthur wasn't home but that girl had a tummy ache, what was I supposed to do?) I lost my lunch and more while trying to clean it. Not a pretty sight.

Pregnancy is hard. Potty training is hard. I can't wait until it is all over. I can't wait until I am seen as equal in their eyes to their dad. I love being loved, but it is HARD being "MOMMY!!!!" Daphne didn't start going through this separation anxiety stage until around 15 or 16 months. I thought we'd get lucky and skip it all together. Fortunately she is ramping up just in time for the baby to arrive. I have no doubt it will subside when the baby comes but can't I get a little slack now? We call Arthur Chop Liver sometimes. She says it too. It is pretty cute when she says it.

Feeling out of control

I'm not sure what separates us from sanity and insanity but I'm pretty sure the line is thin. Just ask a pregnant woman, a woman with a baby who isn't sleeping, or woman whose job is so stressful she thinks about it all night long. I'm not excluding men, I'm just not including them.

Sometimes I feel as though I am hanging on by a thread. They say sleep deprivation causes all sorts of wacky things to go on with the body. My favorite two happen to be the body functioning as if it is depressed. Brain scans of the sleep deprived look just like those of people who are suffering from depression. And the second great one is that the body goes into a pre-diabetic state and people actually feel hungrier and eat more food. Great news, right?

While pregnant I often feel very agitated and irritable. I can't put my finger on why most of the time. I've felt this way at other points in my life as well. After Daphne was born comes to mind. I'm not sure if it was the hormones from just having a baby and breast feeding or if it was the complete sleep deprivation I experienced since she didn't EVER sleep longer than a 1 or 2 hour stretch until she was 3 months old. All I know is that I was a barely functioning, angry, tired, confused person. The line between insanity and sanity was thin. Probably nonexistent at that point.

I was reminded of all of this while I was shopping at the grocery store today. I first encountered this mother in the produce section. She had a young boy and girl with her, somewhere between 4 and 6 years old I would guess. They seemed pretty well behaved and she apologized when one of them was in my way. I hadn't even noticed. She should have seen me the day I let the girls each bring their baby stroller and baby to the store. We were in everyone's way. At any rate, I didn't think much of it until I saw her again later. I was in an aisle buying sugar when I heard her yell. I looked up and she was at the self checkout lane. Her kids were standing quietly beside her and she was angry. I'm not sure what happened before I looked up but she went on, and on, yelling at them about their behavior. My first thought was "clearly this lady must be having a hard day because these kids are not really misbehaving." Now, I don't pretend to know the whole story here, this is just what I see. I made eye contact with another woman in the aisle and she gives me a look like, "do you hear the crazy woman?"

At this point I realize that while I may never go *crazy* quite like that in public, I have been known to blow things out of proportion in my own home. Naomi reminded me of this today when I overheard her say to Daphne, "No, you are not LISTENING TO ME. Lis-ten-to-me." That last part was rather staccato and firm. My kids can't be expected to understand why I am not as patient as usual, or why I am *firmer* some days than others. I think that was what I felt most about this situation in the grocery store. I completely empathized with the crazy woman but felt like sheltering her children, protecting them from this stressed out mother.

So here I am, two months away from complete sleep deprivation again. And, don't get me wrong, sleep deprivation isn't the only thing that often pushes me over the edge to become crazy mom. Sleep deprivation is, however, looming over my head. It scares Arthur. Maybe I should have him write more about what crazy Andrea The Wife is like (but that would be WAY too revealing for me.) At any rate, it all makes me think about how we have to be conscious of the things we do and say, no matter how insane our brains may feel. I'm not sure how to do that. I know that calmness, quietness, and prayer really help me return to reality but I'm not sure how to catch myself as I'm falling off the edge. In reality, we are all close to becoming that mother in the store losing control.

I don't have all the answers but I know they lie somewhere between understanding I am only human, and knowing God is not. Of course understanding alone can only take you so far.

Sensory Tub: Packing Peanuts

These are something everyone gets in the mail at one point or another and wonders what to do with them. We feel bad throwing them away but we don't really want to store them because we may never need them. So now you have a use for packing peanuts.

I threw a bunch of jungle animals into the tub and covered them with the packing peanuts. Then I put an empty egg carton in the tub and let the girls go to town. At first they hunted for animals, then they discovered you can break the peanuts in half so the game turned into "breaking eggs" and putting the shells into the egg carton. Then they pretended they were tossing salad (which is the messy portion) but thankfully, unlike rice, packing peanuts are easy to pick back up and put into the tub.

You can put whatever you want into the tub with the packing peanuts. I'm sure kids can think of all sorts of crazy things to create. This is one of my favorite things in the tub so far. It held their attention well, was easy to clean up, and they were able to use their imaginations well.

Things of interest...

Wow, another great week of great things to read on the internet.

Here is the roundup.

Eugene Cho is sharing more of his journey to end extreme poverty in the world and invites you to join with him in prayer and (hopefully) with funds.

Still more warnings about the dangers of cell phone use. Are you using your hands free device yet?

Simplemom reminds us that cleaning things right when they get messy is the easiest way to keep a house clean. So true, yet not that easy (for me).

And as if you didn't have enough to do, here are 20 ways to train your brain for peak performance.

And if you don't know how to subscribe to blogs yet, you really should learn. Simplemom tells you how. It really will reduce the time you spend reading blogs. Unless, of course, your friends don't have a link on their blogs to subscribe... hint, hint.

And THEN I read this! Go ahead, go read it. Then get off the computer.

Downsizing? UPDATED

So, I've been thinking lately about how much stuff we have (and I like it all- well, most of it) and then hypothesizing if I had to downsize for some reason what I would keep and what I would get rid of. Just a fun little game in my head. I can think of tons of toys I'd toss... Seriously, how did we accumulate so many? Please don't give us any more!

We've lived in 4 places in the last 6 years. The first was a 500 sq. ft. apartment that was so conveniently (ha!) situated on 2 floors with a narrow metal winding ladder stair case in the middle. Next we moved to a seemingly enormous 2 bedroom condo where we lived for a short while before moving out west. The place we had in Seattle was in a great location but terribly laid out for children so we moved, yet again. This time to a giant (compared to our previous dwelling places) house, in the suburbs, with a yard. Ahhh... space. There are so many benefits to this that I am not sure I can name them all. For starters, we have enough space that our living area doesn't have to be taken over with toys. We have a garden, and fruit trees. We live on a culd-a-sack where a dozen neighbor kids play every afternoon. I'll write about the drawbacks of THAT another time. The girls' bedroom is on the same floor as ours. We have a laundry room. And, we have a nice big kitchen with enough cabinet space for all my junk.

So I've been hypothesizing about what would happen if we had to move back into one of those old places (trying not to think about the complete inconvenience of it all) but focusing on what I'd keep and what I'd get rid of. Amy Karol at Angry Chicken posted her favorite kitchen gadgets list and that got me thinking about what is really cool to have, and what can be done without. Like her, I love the apple peeler/corer, the tongs, cookie scoop, grill press, whip creamer, salad spinner, and a ton of other things. What do I really need though?

If I had to put it all in a couple cupboards this is what I'd bring;
1. Correll dishes (I don't have these but would have to get rid of all my heavy, large, pottery style dishes to make room for other things and Correll are awesome for being lightweight and space saving.
2. My melamine mixing bowl set. I don't have a link for these but they are nesting and have a rubber grip on the bottom which makes them awesome. They are really the only bowls I use anymore.
3. My silverware.
4. A set of glasses. We have some from Ikea that stack nicely. I need to get some more.
5. Our Take and Toss sippy cups. They stack nicely as well and are made from a #5 plastic.
6. Little stackable plastic bowls and plates from Ikea for the kids.
7. My onion chopper/slicer. Can't live without it. Cutting onions kills me. I've had other types of choppers before but this is definitely the best. Chops any veggie. I can dice an onion in a minute or two, which is priceless.
8. My silicone flippers. love them. Have them in multiple sizes.
9. My metal flipper. A must have as well for cookies and other times.
10. Tongs
11. My spoonula.
12. A wooden spoon or two.
13. A silicone wisk.
14. My Vita-Mix
14. My food processor
15. My toaster
16. Knives, though I'd buy a new, sharp set, where they all fit in the block.
17. My Kitchenaid mixer if I had enough space. If not I'll keep my hand mixer.
18. My new Anchor Hocking glass storage containers. I got them at Walmart.
19. Some stackable measuring cups and spoons.
20. My large glass measuring cups.
21. I love my cast iron griddle and press. I also have a large double grill that basically stays on my stove at all times. If I had the space I'd want them both, along with all my pots and pans.
22. As far as bakeware all I really need is a 9x13 baking dish, an 8x8 baking dish, muffin tin, cake pan, bread pans, a couple cookie sheets, my pizza stone, and a pie plate. All the other stuff is great but I really don't make cheese cakes that often and I rarely make anything that requires all the other shaped pans.
23. I have a bunch of serving platters and bowls. I'd need a few of those, along with a pitcher. I'd leave my wine glasses and milk shake glasses behind. They are cool but we don't use them much and if we need them the drinks will work fine in my Ikea glasses ;)
24. I'll need a juice pitcher.
25. The salad spinner can stay if it fits as well.
26. I'd love to keep my tortilla warmer.
27. I'll need a cheese grater. I have an electric one but my simple one from Ikea will do.
28. A couple wooden cutting boards.
29. My new $3 citrus juicer would be nice to keep.
30. I'd need to keep all my bulk food storage containers... hopefully they'll fit!
31. I can't forget my dutch oven and a couple casseroles as well.

UPDATE: I need my Zyliss ice cream scoop, my pizza cutter and my carrot peeler.

OK, I think that might be it! Did I leave out something vital?

What do you think? Which room in your house would be hardest to "downsize"? What would you keep and what would you give to people who actually need your excess? My poor neighbor (a sixty something widow) is trying to move into his house and has a few rooms less than he had before but can't seem to get rid of anything. Now, I understand the sentimental value of everything, don't get me wrong... BUT... he can't live with boxes stacked to the ceiling forever, and neither can you in your new 500 sq. ft. apartment. What will you get rid of?

Feel free to comment here or just post on your blog and put a link in your comments.

Something to dwell on...

”If you have two coats, give one away... do the same with your food.” Luke 3:10-11

Great Food Friday: Breakfast Foods

It is Friday again! Please join us in posting a favorite recipe so we can all enjoy! If this is your first time here please read this. Once you have posted your recipe on your blog put your name in the auto-link below and put your recipe's URL so we can all go check it out. Feel free to add to these at any time as well. If you can't get to this on a Friday, no worries!!

I love breakfast foods. This week I have a few recipes. I couldn't narrow it down. The first is an oven omelette. I'm sure most of you have eaten one or made one at one point or another. They are super easy. I usually make them for dinner (as with most of my breakfast foods).

Oven Omelette
I got this recipe from my friend Laurie a while back

16 oz. pepperjack cheese
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms
3 diced bell peppers
8 oz. cheddar
12 eggs
1 cup milk

1) Grate pepperjack cheese. Spread evenly on bottom of un-greased 13x9 baking dish. Stir in flour.
2) Slice mushrooms and peppers (you can use any veggie or sausage if you want.) and spread evenly on top of cheese.
3) Grate cheddar and spread evenly on top of veggies.
4) Beat eggs and milk together and pour into dish over cheese and veggies.
5) Bake at 350 degrees (preheated) for 45 minutes -1 hour. (The casserole should be relatively firm and golden brown around the edges.)

This is a great way to get veggies into your breakfast foods. I love this with peppers but spinach is actually really good too. If you don't like pepperjack cheese you can use a different kind. Of course, you can cut down on the cheese too and it still tastes good. I usually cut this recipe in half for the 4 of us.

Blueberry Buckle (think crumb cake)
This recipe is from my friend Leslie

2 Cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups blueberries, well drained
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup softened butter

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8x8 pan. Blend all buckle ingredients (except topping ingredients) for 30 seconds. Spread into pan. To make topping, mix the topping ingredients. Sprinkle topping onto the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.

Apple Oven Pancake -this tastes way better than my picture makes it look!
From the Essentials of Baking

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 cups diced, peeled tart apples (3 medium)
2 Tbsp firmly backed golden brown sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon strained
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Position rack in lower third of oven. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt 2 tbsp of the butter. Add the apples and saute, turning as needed until just tender, 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, lemon juice and connamon and stir to combine, remove from heat. Place 9x13 baking dish in the oven to heat for 5 minutes. Remove the dish and add the remaining 2 tbps of butter to it. Tilt the dish to coat the bottom an sides with the butter. Spoon the sauteed apples over the bottom of the dish to make an even layer.

In a bowl (or food processor), combine the eggs, milk, flour, vanilla and salt and mix until blended (2 or 3 pulses in a food processor). Pour the batter over the hot fruit. Bake until puffed and golden brown 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

Enjoy! Next week's Great Food Friday is called "Company's Coming." What do you cook when people come over?

Add your name and recipe's URL below. It might be helpful to put what your recipe is in parenthesis after your name. Example: Andrea (apple oven pancake)

Educational Toys: Counting Bears

Counting bears are a great tool for learning colors, counting, sorting, adding and subtracting. We got a great little book at Target for $3 with 10 counting bears and a book with it to help inspire. The book has math problems like "3 yellow bears got on the bus at Cindy's house, 1 purple bear got on at John's house, 2 green bears got on at Juan's house. How many bears are on board?" Then goes on to say something about 2 yellow bears getting off the bus at the library, how many are on board? There are about 20 different pages with different problems.

Both girls are able to do the putting the bears on the bus part. Daphne then prefers to send them all flying. Naomi can count them all. This is a great activity for learning to following directions as well.

You don't need to go buy counting bears to be able to do this at home. Here are some other examples of things you may have around the house already. We've also used our jungle animals and our books to improvise this activity. We have a few great books with outdoor scenes that we put the animals in. I'll say "put 2 zebras, 3 giraffes and a hippo in the watering hole" and then we count how many there are total.

When playing "kitchen" or "restaurant" you can add this little game. Most of you have colored spoons, forks, bowls, plates, etc. Just ask for a certain number set at your table and then count how many pieces total you have. Do some subtraction as well. Play food will be a great addition to this game too. Not all learning experiences have to be like "school." The kids can learn while playing and not even know it.

A while ago we made a bunch of bean bags. I sewed some scrap fabric in 4X4 inch squares, turned them and the girls filled them with beans. Then I sewed up the opening. Easy. There are tons of things you can do with bean bags but counting is one of them. I used a bunch of different fabrics so we have 5 different patterns for our bean bags. Here are some of them.

I'll share some more bean bag ideas in another post.

Still So Many Things To Do...

My list is still in tact.

Here is what I accomplished today- note I didn't complete anything from my list;
1. Went to the doctor. The baby is seemingly healthy and doing well. Unfortunately it has been confirmed that I am now the weight I was on the last day of my first two pregnancies. If you are familiar with a calendar you will notice I still have 10+ weeks to gain weight until the baby arrives.
2. I watered the garden (always a good thing)
3. Took pictures of the kids' toys to use as labels on their toy drawers and bins. It occurs to me that they cannot read the labels I have on everything. While this wasn't technically on my list of things to do this week it is something I've been wanting to do for a while.
4. Made my weekly meal plan and bought the food at the grocery store. I'm making a bunch of breakfast foods for dinners so I can actually have pictures of my recipes that I'm going to share for this week's Great Food Friday. Start thinking about what you are going to share! Let's see if we can get more than 3 people to participate ;)
5. Ordered fabric to make training pants for the girls- though can you mark something off a mental list if it really just creates more things to do?
6. Bathed my children. Yes, this is an accomplishment.

To do tomorrow:
1. Apologize to Naomi for telling her it was her fault she fell on her head when she was pulling her pants down. She was doing it in a way to prove to me she couldn't do it (see mom, I need help going to the potty) even though I was showing her how to do it- yes she can do it. She was exaggerating her movements and fell. I could have been more empathetic. OK, I wasn't quite as bad as this sounds.
2. Clean the kitchen
3. Cut Arthur's hair
4. Clean the office/sewing/exercise room
5. Organize the kids' cupboard
6. Be less grumpy in the morning. Or at least not take offense when Arthur tells me I am grumpy.
7. Read another chapter of my book.

And here is something for your viewing pleasure...

So Many Things To Do

It is Monday. I had a list of things to do this past weekend and not many of them got done. I did lots of things NOT ON MY LIST though. Probably trying to avoid cleaning up my office space. I bought tons of new flowers and planted most of them yesterday. I worked for probably 4 or 5 hours in the yard. I couldn't find our shovel so I had to use a little hand shovel to dig through the rocky clay we call flower beds. I got about 30 pots planted but have about 18 left. Yes, I bought a lot of plants. Thankfully Arthur cooked dinner last night so I didn't have to. My sore hands need a break for now though. Here are the things I HAVE to do this week;

1. Finish the first half of Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child for my book club Thursday Thanks for informing me Emily that I do indeed have a whole extra week to procrastinate on this one!
2. Clean my office/sewing space
3. Finish planting
4. Organize the kids' craft cabinet
5. Make fishing poles
6. Return library books
7. Print mailing label and take box to UPS to return clothes to ON
8. Finish sewing Naomi's skirt
9. Return table to Ikea and get the one I thought I had bought!
10. Pick up new van, AIR IT OUT

Things I need to do before baby arrives

1. Finish 5 books I am in the process of reading- post reviews
2. Sew baby's blankets, bibs and diapers
3. Finish sewing smocks and skirts for the girls
4. Organize N & D's preschool lesson plans for the fall

O.K. Now, make sure I get these things done! I clearly cannot be responsible for myself... And here is a little secret some of you have been asking about. I can write a post on typepad anytime and set it to post on any date or time I want. So, when I post something 3 times in one day a couple hours apart, chances are I wrote them all the night before, or possibly even a week before, which isn't unheard of. One more reason I love typepad.

Things of interest...

Here are some things I've read this week that I thought interesting enough to pass along.

The Environmental Working Group released a report this week on a toxin called Triclosan. You can read a summary at Safemama

Tom Davis' article on beliefnet about Why Christian's Suck

Simplemom has a guest writer, Emily, who writes about how to Keep Your Home Clutter Free

Simplemom quest writer, Rachel, writes about the 7 Benefits of Imperfection and these are definitely worth a read. She states, being imperfect helps us show our children that they don’t have to be perfect either–a very powerful lesson.

And while we are talking about Rachel you should read her blog, smallnotebook. She is in the middle of a no spend month and it is fascinating how little money their family is spending. Only $86 so far!!! And she shops at Whole Foods!!

Frugal Dad has a great article about 75 Tips to Survive a Down Economy. Definitely worth a look.

Find farm fresh veggies and fruits near you! Your kids will love going to the patch to pick them and they are cheaper than in the store. This is a link for Western Washington but you can follow the website to other states and locations.

And here is an article Tony Snow wrote a year ago about what he learned from having cancer. Tony died on July 12th, 2008.

Sewing: Smock

I know I said I'd post more pictures of the things I've been sewing so here is the smock I made Naomi a couple weeks ago. I made it a bit big so it should fit for a while. I still need to make one for Daphne though... some day. I have a whole laundry list of things I need to sew before baby arrives. I guess that means I actually need to clean up my sewing area so I can accomplish this. Maybe next week...

The things they say...

Well, we did it. We bought a minivan. I'd always said I never wanted a minivan but, well, I guess things change. We bought it today but can't pick it up for a few days. When I was telling Naomi that we couldn't take it home she said, logically, "yah, it is way to big to fit in here! It is too big to carry too. You can't carry cars. Unless they are toy cars but you mostly push those." So true.

Educational Toys: Balance Boards

Naomi got this balance board last week. It is one of her favorite things now. The first time she got on it we had to explain to her how to put her feet on the board so that they are in a good position for balancing. Since that point she quickly figured out how to rock herself back and forth and then balance her body on the board. It is a great tool for helping preschoolers and early elementary age kids to master their physical selves.

I can't think of a "do it yourself" way of accomplishing this unless you are good with wood. I know there are other toys out there with a similar goal of helping kids learn to balance. Of course there are the no toy methods of putting a tape line on the floor and having them walk carefully on the line. You can also have them practice balancing on one leg and then the other. Naomi loves doing this. We have one of those hop along balls but it is still too big for her to use. She is also very excited about jump ropes but that will be a while before she can actually do it herself the way it is meant to be used.

It is also fun to sing and dance while balancing.

Daphne also enjoys the balance board but we usually have to help her adjust her feet and then hold her hands while she tries to balance. Surprisingly, she has been able to balance herself a couple times without holding on.

Sensory Tub: Suds n TP

The rice has finally left the tub! After hours and hours and hours of messy fun I've finally put it away for a bit. Today we created what I call suds n TP. I'll tell you what we did and I'll tell you how it could be improved upon.

First we grated a bar of dove soap. We put that in the tub and then tore up a whole roll of toilet paper. If you are opposed to the idea of wasting that much toilet paper then I suggest you don't do this activity.

After shredding the TP, add some warm water to make a gooey mess. We added about 6 cups of water at first and then Daphne added another few cups later.

This created enough suds n TP that you could probably do this in an XL salad bowl. We added some bowls, measuring spoons, shovels and buckets for a good time.

NEXT TIME I will have them tear up the toilet paper before they get their hands on the grated soap because it was much more interesting to play with the grated soap. Along that same vein, we will shred the paper a little better next time.

Naomi played in this for about 10 minutes (compared to hours and hours in the rice) because she isn't a fan of messy hands. Even though I tried to convince her that her hands were actually clean because it was soap.

Daphne, on the other hand, probably played in it longer than she usually plays in the rice. This morning she played in the rice for about 15 minutes before she wandered off and this afternoon she played in this gooey mess for a half an hour until I got her distracted with pictures on the computer inadvertently.

I'm not sure how long this concoction will stay "fresh". I put the lid on the tub so we'll see...

Great Food Friday: Zucchini!

This is the time of year when zucchini is in abundance. Ours still aren't big enough to eat but soon enough I'm sure we'll have more than we can figure out what to do with. Everyone makes zucchini bread but what else can you do with it? Post a recipe of yours that includes zucchini (of course bread recipes are good as well) on your blog and then put that URL in the auto-link below. If you can't get to this today, please do it sometime. I'd love to see more than just a few recipes!! Don't have a blog but want to add a recipe? You can just put it in the comments below or start your own blog just for these recipes! It is easy (and free) to have one here.

These two are my mom's recipes.

Zucchini Brownies
2 C. grated Zucchini
1 1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1 egg
2 C. flour
1/4 C. cocoa
1/2 C. nuts (opional)

Mix all together

Bake in 9x13 greased pan at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Frost with thin layer of frosting if desired.

Zucchini Cake
2 C. flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 C. cocoa
3 eggs
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. oil
3/4 C. buttermilk (1 Tbsp.vinegar to 1 C milk, let stand 10 minutes)
1 C. grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C. chocolate chips (opional)

Mix all together

Bake in greased 9x13 pan for 45 minutes at 350.
Frost with thin layer of frosting if desired.

I posted this vegetable lasagna recipe before but it definitely needs to be included here because it calls for FOUR zucchini.

Veggie Lasagna
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
4 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (5 cups)
2 (8-oz) packages of presliced cremini mushrooms (or any mushrooms)
3 garlic cloves minced
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 1/2 cups fat-free ricotta
1/2 c grated fresh parm, divided
1 egg
5 cups marinara
12 precooked lasagna noodles (or use the no boil kind- much less work!)

Heat large dutch oven (or saute pan) over medium-high. Coat with cooking spray. Add peppers, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms. Saute for 10 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender and mushroom liquid evaporates. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds.
Combine 1 1/2 cups mozz, ricotta, 1/4 cup parm and egg, stir well.
Spread 1 cup marinara on bottom of 9X13 pan coated with cooking spray; top with 3 noodles. Spoon 1 cup marinara evenly over noodles. Top evenly with 1/3 of cheese mixture and 1/3 of veggie mixture. Repeat layers twice, ending with noodles. Top with 1 cup marinara. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes. Eat.

And I haven't actually made these, so maybe I shouldn't post the recipe, but these zucchini cookies from Baking Bites look so good. I would definitely swap out the raisins for chocolate chips though.

I also love to grill zucchini. Just slice it in half the long way, then cut it into 1-2" chunks. Toss with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and grill. Don't over cook zucchini or it will become mushy. You can toss it with some freshly grated parmesan when it is done if you want.

Of course, if you want to be overwhelmed with recipes you could always look here.

Next Week: Breakfast Food

By the way, if you have a category you want me to include some week please let me know. I've brainstormed a ton but input is always great. Also, invite your friends to participate so we have more recipes! Thanks!

Click the link below to see all the recipes! Sorry, for some reason the auto link is different this week.

Teaching Character?

I have written a bunch about educational toys and activities and what not. I haven't written a whole lot about the more important education- character education. So we could debate all day how much you can teach character, and how much is genetic, but let's assume for the moment that your children are blank slates (which they aren't). I haven't found a whole lot of "toys" specifically targeted at character development. However, the use of regular, every day toys and situations, is an awesome way to teach these principles. There are teachable moments and modeling moments everywhere you look.

Many people comment on how "good" my kids are. This is where I usually stop them and say something along the lines of, "they were born that way." The truth is that they were definitely born with strong personalities but I think we've probably done a little influencing along the way. I get sad when I hear comments like one I heard the other day. I was telling a woman that we were taking our kids the the street fair last Saturday and her response was, "that is a good activity to call up the grandparents and ask them to take the kids." I kind of joked it off and said it would be fun and then she said, "yah, but my kids aren't like your kids." Seriously? That is sad (not that they aren't like my kids but that she thinks like this).

So, how can we influence our kids behavior and ultimately their character or internal thought process? I'm no expert so I can't tell you. I CAN tell you what I've learned over the years working with kids and my few years with my own. The most important thing you can do is to understand that they are not their behavior. Meaning, your kid isn't "bad" because they behave badly. See the difference? Please, never tell your child they are bad or any other demeaning thing. The looking glass self is a real issue. This doesn't mean that you have to be all positive all the time but just be aware.

Back to teachable moments... These are so easy to do! When your kids are playing they will supply you with hundreds of opportunities to help them think through problems and situations or for you to point out different ways they could have handled things. Use a calm, steady voice, and do it while you are at their level playing with them. Yelling things from across the room isn't really considered a teachable moment. I can remember my dad using TV shows as teachable moments a lot while I was growing up.

Modeling behavior is an amazing tool. Don't expect your kids to be honest if you lie. If you leave the grocery store and realize there was a can in the bottom of the cart you didn't pay for, take it back in and pay for it. What do you think your kids will learn if you say something dismissive and just go along your merry way? Think about how you relate to other people, how you treat strangers and friends alike. What tones do you use at home? Of course, looking at yourself in this way you'll probably get depressed at all your failings and shortcomings so give yourself a break and then focus on small things you can work on. There is nothing wrong with teaching your children that we are all human and fall short. Show them you are not above apologizing.

Discipline is also a way to build character. There are as many methods of discipline as there are parents in the world. Discipline can definitely cross a line and become harmful to a kid. Lack of discipline is also harmful. There has to be a balance and the only way it will actually teach a child anything is if it is consistent. Not just that you are consistent, but that all parents are consistent with each other as well. Tall order? Maybe, but like any of my other advice I'd say talking about it with your spouse or whoever your children's mother/father may be is important. It is possible to get on the same page. If you are in totally different ball parks then I'd suggest seeking outside help.

I have tons of ideas to share but those will have to wait...

Educational Toys: Dressing Frames

I wish I could remember which blog I saw it on but someone gave a head's up that this store had a massive clearance on their dressing frames. I jumped over there and bought them considering they usually sell the set for $70+ for a set of five and they were on clearance for $9. They still have a few individual ones left if you are interested.

They are WAY over Daphne's head at this point. Though, she does enjoy putting the open ones over her head and shouting "window!" Naomi really enjoys the snap frame. She is fascinated by the safety pin one but hasn't attempted it (thankfully). I think she could actually do the hook closure one but that and the buttons she gets intimidated by and won't even try. Needless to say, this activity is probably best for advanced 3 year olds through probably 5 or 6 years, maybe more.

Naomi has a dressing doll she got for her 1st birthday that has a snap, zipper, button, velcro and shoe lace. Unfortunately that one isn't very easy to do because the doll doesn't quite stay as still as she would like when she is trying to work on these new skills. She learned to do a zipper on her own sweatshirt much easier than on the doll.

Clearly these are not must have items. I'm sure you have clothing with buttons, snaps, etc. that your kiddo could practice on. It really helps with independence issues and builds self confidence when they can do it themselves so don't forget to teach them how to do it.

A Children's Street Fair?

Wallingford was having a kid's street fair last weekend so we went to check it out. It was kinda sad. There were only a few vendors and not a whole lot of kid stuff. Naomi found an awesome crown for $5 though so that was great. They also had pony rides. It surprised us when Naomi asked to ride the ponies. This is from the girl who is afraid of dogs, cats, birds that are walking, bugs, etc., etc. Daphne even said she wanted to go (though once on the pony she quickly regretted that decision). The girls had a very short but *fun* ride. We got them off early when Daphne got beyond the point of just a bit upset she was on the pony. You can't tell from Naomi's face in any of the pictures but she says she really enjoyed it.

You can tell from her face after the ride that she had fun.

After the pony rides we skipped the rest of the street fair and headed to the park. Much more enjoyable.

Car 4 Sale

We are trying to sell our Mazda so we gave it a good bath on Sunday. The girls loved washing the car. Well, Daphne loved washing the car. Naomi loved playing in the bucket.

Naomi gave her car a good washing as well.

By the end Daphne was soaked from head to toe. So much fun.

Educational Toys: Puzzles

We love puzzles at our house. Our kids first get interested in them around their first birthday. Of course at that point they can't put them together by themselves at all. We got some Melissa & Doug chunky puzzles as hand-me-downs and those are probably the best ones to start with. The pieces are very large and the knobs are big enough to to fit in little hands well. I like the shape puzzles because they help kids learn about shapes and geometry at the same time as learning spacial skills. Of course, my kids love the animal puzzles as well. We have a few puzzles with the tiny little knobs and those are good to move on to after your child gets the idea about what to do with the puzzle pieces.

We love name puzzles. We have one for Naomi and need to get one for Daphne soon. It helped Naomi learn how to spell her name. Plus they are just fun since it is so personalized. We got ours at One Step Ahead but I've seen them other places as well.

Attempting to clean up clutter, I started putting all of our wooden puzzle pieces into the same plastic container. We have 5 wooden puzzles I think. What started out as an organizational tool has ended up being an added difficulty level for puzzles. The girls love putting all the puzzle boards on the floor and then picking a piece out of the box and deciding which puzzle it goes to and then finding the right place on that puzzle.

Sometime between 18 months and 2 years your child will probably be able to move onto other types of puzzles. Of course, their ability to accomplish them may take some time. We bought these for Naomi around 18 months and they were WAY too frustrating for her until around 2.5 years. Daphne can do them some now at 22 months so you have to take your kid's abilities and temperament into consideration. I like these puzzles a lot but the kids don't get them out as much as other puzzles.

Three dimensional puzzles are a next logical step. Daphne is starting to enjoy this one we have. The trick for this one is getting all the pieces into the box to fit, and to stay in, since there are open sides. It is a bit frustrating for her at this point but she is so patient she just keeps working at it.

Melissa & Doug See & Spell puzzles are my absolute favorite. We bought these for Naomi when she was around 18 months and was just mastering recognizing her letters. Now, at 3 years old she loves learning how to spell words. She now looks at the picture of a frog and sees the word next to it and can tell me you spell frog f-r-o-g. Daphne is at the point where she gets excited to find the letters she needs for the puzzle. She'll see an "i" on one puzzle and excitedly says "I need an i" and looks through the pile for one. I highly recommend these. If your little one still likes to put things in his or her mouth you need to supervise this puzzle well since he pieces are a bit small.

The next logical step in learning puzzle and spacial skills is to move on to regular cardboard puzzles. They make tons of these in various sizes. Naomi has a couple with 20 to 40 pieces and loves them. Unfortunately (for me) she needs a lot of assistance. How many times a day do I need to do a Pooh puzzle? Too many. I’ve been trying to work on her logic and spacial skills by “thinking” through the puzzle in different ways each time. Sometimes we start by putting all the edge pieces in a pile and all the middle pieces in a pile and put the whole edge together before doing the middle. Sometimes we just look at all of them and see what fits together. Sometimes we chose a particular scene (for instance, the cow) and put it together then chose another part of the scene to put together. I’m hoping this helps her build those critical thinking muscles.

Then of course, you can move on to pattern blocks and boards like these.

Choose the Cutest Pic

I can't decide which one I like better. Which is your favorite?

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Or Number 4

Educational Toys: Visual/Spatial Relationships

There are a lot of different pattern blocks and boards out there but we really like the Mighty Mind ones. We have the magnetic version, which helps Naomi focus on the patterns and shapes rather than the fact that her blocks are sliding out of position (which is a deal breaker for her). There are all different shapes and sizes of the magnetic blocks. They come in red, blue, green and yellow. The pattern cards start off really easy on card number one and get very difficult by card number 30.

Here is card number one.

The early cards show you exactly which pieces you will need to complete the pattern.

Naomi's assistant usually guards all the magnets until they are needed. Then Naomi just asks for the color and shape she needs and Daphne will hand them to her. Learning for everyone! Through trial and error Naomi puts all the magnets together to create the shape on the card.

This activity is recommended for ages 3 through 8 but I'm sure a 2 year old could do the first couple cards at least. It will take Naomi years before she can complete all of them but she doesn't mind doing the ones she can do over and over again.

For the cost conscious parent you can probably cut out your own shapes out of cardboard or cardstock and make some patterns on paper yourself. You can "laminate" the shapes and cards with clear contact paper too.

Diapers, Diapers, Diapers

So, what kind of diapers do you use? We are nearing the end of our need for diapers, thankfully. Oh, wait. We aren't anywhere close to the end. While Daphne seems to be intent on potty training herself, I fear we may actually have to diaper number 3 since I am totally not into the whole EC (Elimination Communication) trend that starts at (gasp!) birth! Good for those people, I suppose, but I am just not that kind of gal.

Anyway... we use good old Pampers. You know, the kind you throw in the trash and curse the small size of the trash can every time you bring it to the curb and the diapers barely fit in. The kind that, as I learned about in the 5th grade, is polluting the earth and cluttering our landfills. Back in the 5th grade it was drilled in our heads all the harms of diapers and I think I was convinced to use cloth diapers. Then I came to my senses moments later when I realized that was way too hard.

Unfortunately, people keep telling me it isn't that hard. Should I believe them? I'm not into anything hard as I will have a barely 2 year old and a just 3.5 year old when this little human waste disposal machine shows up on our doorstep. So, tell me, what is the EASIEST way to cloth diaper? And don't say diaper service... I need all the details.

Mommy Wars

No, I shouldn't be writing about this. No, I don't actually spend much time thinking about this. Yes, it is an important topic. So, yes, I am going to put my two cents in.

Some of you are reading this title and have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. That is fabulous. This is for those of us that know what it means to be judged or critiqued because of the way in which we have chosen to go about mothering our children. Most often it is about the decision to continue working in the job market or to quit work for a while or forever to stay at home with the kids. Of course, there are those of us who try to play the middle ground and work part time as well to supposedly get the best of both worlds.

There are as many sides to this argument as there can be but they range from thoughts like this one from Law Professor Linda Hirshman in a 2005 article in Prospect Magazine;

An alarming number of college-educated women are leaving the work force to stay at home and raise their children, a trend that is a tragedy not only for the mothers, but ultimately their children and women as a whole.

To the comments raging against mothers that work like comments from Darla Shine's Book, Happy Housewives

That is why so many women stay in their careers, because they just can’t cut it. You have to be strong, confident, and selfless to give up your career, give up your identity, give up a piece of yourself—all for your family’s best interest.

So why is this topic so inflammatory? I think it is because women are expected, by society, to be all things. Women, and our society, have worked hard over the past decades to bring more equality in the work place and in the home. People have busted their butts to ensure that I have all the same rights as Joe next door. Therefore, there is the idea out there that to take a step back in time (so it is viewed) and take women a step back in time so I can stay at home is selfish and stupid. Women are fully capable, fully equal, and therefore need to strive to meet the world's standards of success. The world measures success on your college degree, your job title, your salary, etc. So, damn it, go out there and prove that you are a successful woman! These ideas are often joined by comments about women losing their identities and becoming too entwined with their husbands and children's lives. These, I believe, are just some of the bullets used to help reinforce the original idea.

Women are also expected to be super moms. I don't care if you work or not, society expects you to cook, clean, educate, carpool, etc. just like the best of them. Women are nurturers and men are not and therefore it is the woman's role to do all of this. In this vain we have come a long ways, encouraging fathers to be fathers and involved with their children and with the home life of their family. However, the emphasis is still heavily laid on the woman's shoulders.

How about the individualist society we live in? How does that play in? What does our society say? I think it tells us all that we have to look out for number one (that is yourself) and be careful that all of your decisions are what is best for you first. Don't "lose yourself" to your marriage or your children. Maintain your own identity, your own money, etc.

Now, if you are a Christian, there are a whole different set of influences. What does the Bible say, or imply about women's roles? What do Christian organizations espouse? What does your church believe about this issue and the value of women? You see how confusing this issue becomes? Now add in all the guilt that women spew onto one another and you have one of the most soul searching, complex issues a new mother can face.

So, what do I believe? I believe that husbands and wives become one when they are married. Not one mind, not one person, but one entity. A team, if you will. I believe that children need love and nurturing, attention, stimulation, peace, and guidance, understanding and encouragement. I believe it is the responsibility of this "team" to ensure that all of these things take place for their child. I believe that children must be taught that the success that society will espouse is not the success they must strive for. Success by God's standards is much different. To have the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) are the way of life that we should strive for. To be willing to follow God's will in our lives and not our own. To become poor, if that is what He asks. To climb the corporate tower, if that is what he asks. We need to teach our children that God is not about blessing all his children with wealth and happiness. He makes life messy sometimes and sometimes bad things happen but He is still faithful. God has entrusted these children to us and these are the things we must teach them.

The world says that you are a bad mother by leaving your child in day care, or dropping him off with grandma all day. The world says you are a bad mother because you stay at home with your child and let your education and your status go to waste while being "unproductive" in society. The world says a lot of crap.

As mothers, as women, as God's chosen people to bear children, we must stop beating each other up. Women need to come together, to support one another and encourage each other in our journeys. Many of us have our values so rooted in the world's values, or so rooted in our own ideals, that we forget to see the bigger picture. The Bible is the awesome word of God, but nowhere in it, does it say mothers who get to stay at home are ideal, or mothers who work 14 hours a day are ideal. Let's look inside our thoughts and actions and decide why we are really doing things the way we are. Why are we so entrenched in our ideals? Why must we prove ourselves to one another? God doesn't want us to compare ourselves to our sisters. This is just another way, another tool, to bring us down. Don't play into it's hands.

My suggestion? Sit down, together, do some strategic planning. Not necessarily the kind where you figure out how to make enough money to buy that house in such and such neighborhood within 5 years, but the kind where you actually write down what kind of parents you want to be. What do you want to accomplish with your parenting? How do you want to go about instilling the really important things in your kid's life? How do you want to approach discipline? How do you want to teach your child about God? If you don't know the answers to these questions, get some help. Read the Bible, some books, ask your parents, friends, trusted mentors, pray, talk with your pastors, whatever you need to do to find out what you think God is telling you about these kids He's given you. NOW, figure out the best way to accomplish these goals. Simple. Done. Forget what other people are saying about your decision. Tune out what society is saying. Now respect how other people have chosen to accomplish their parenting goals.

The end.

Home Cleaning

I've been reading about making your own cleaners for different things in your house. Randi at i have to say makes her own laundry detergent. She says it has cost her $2 for two months of cleaning. I looked into it a bit more and I'm a bit concerned about using Borax so I think I'll pass on this option. While Borax is a natural product, it may not be entirely safe for humans so... I won't be saving money in this way.

I've switched laundry detergent to a more water system friendly one. Ecos can be found in giant size at Costco so I think it is pretty cost effective. In fact, I bought the container a couple months ago and I'm pretty sure I'll have it for 6 more months at the rate we use it.

I've also switched to an "eco friendly" dish washer soap, Ecover. I've used it off and on for a year and so far no complaints. I'd recommend it.

I use just vinegar and water on our wood floors and it cleans really well.

I've had problems finding bathroom cleaners that are natural or eco friendly that really work well. Do you have any recommendations? I have a Mrs. Meyers toilet cleaner that works fine but when it comes to my grubby shower, well...

Like I mentioned before, microfiber cloths, are a great way to clean without cleaners. Beware though not to wash them with fabric softeners (or linty towels). I am a bit concerned because I just looked at my laundry soap and one of the ingredients is a fabric softener. I'm wondering if that little bit will negate the positive effects of the microfibers. Hmmm...

What cleaning products do you use that work well? Please share!

As an update to yesterday's discussion on plastic and paper in the kitchen, Baking Bites had an article on biodegradable picnic ware, called Vegware. Interesting.

Great Food Friday: Mexican Inspired

This week's theme is Mexican food- or Tex-Mex or possibly Mexican Fusion if you will. All you have to do is post your recipe on your blog and add the URL to that post in the auto-link box below.

I made these Chicken Fajitas last week and they turned out very well. I started with a Paula Dean recipe but changed it so much you probably can't even tell it came from her. So here it is.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup oil
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
a few shakes of hot sauce
freshly ground black pepper
salt
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Orange Pepper
1/2 yellow onion

What to do

Combine 2 tbs. of the oil and the next ingredients through the salt. Put in a large sturdy ziploc bag and add the chicken breasts. Marinade for 20-30 minutes.
Grill the chicken breasts. If you can't grill, feel free to put them in a heavy frying pan on the stove. No need to add any more oil! Discard the rest of the marinade.
Cut up the peppers (you can use any color combination of peppers but this is our favorite) and the onion into thin strips about 2 or 3 inches long. Heat skillet with the remaining 2 tbsp. of oil and add the peppers and onion with a bit of salt and pepper and cook until tender crisp.
Slice up the chicken into strips. I like to serve black beans, shredded cheese and salsa with my fajitas. You can also add guacamole and sour cream if you like. Use flour tortillas- preferably the fresh kind you cook up on your stove but any will do.

Next week: Zucchini

Too many napkins

We use a lot of paper towels. Mostly because we never have any clean towels in the kitchen. Well, that and they are convenient. We do compost them, so they don't end up clogging our garbage can, but lately I've been thinking about our need to use more cloth napkins. I finally bought more kitchen towels so we *should* have some in the kitchen at all times.

Costco had a big pack of microfiber towels so I got those. Did you know that you don't need to use cleaners when you are using microfiber? All you need is to wet it down and the microfibers do the cleaning work. This is great. The ones from Costco are full dish towel sized so I need to cut a few in half for cleaning counters and sinks and such. Yes, I do that occasionally.

I have TONS of fabric pieces that I should be able to make tons of cloth napkins out of. They are super easy to make. I'm pretty sure you can buy them cheaply at discount stores as well.

So, what about packing lunches? We've made the switch to mostly glass storage containers for the fridge. I found a bunch at Walmart for pretty cheap. The problem is Arthur doesn't like to take the glass containers in his lunches. The other issue is all the plastic baggies we go through. I know you can buy some made out of corn starch somewhere. I saw a great idea somewhere to wrap sandwiches and fruit and stuff in cloth napkins or bandanas. OK, I know it would take some convincing to get Arthur to buy into this one. But seriously, it would save some plastic bags from the landfill or the incinerator.

What do you do in your kitchen to save garbage and waste?

Sewing Weekend: Placemats & Napkins

As I mentioned, I got quite a lot of sewing done this weekend. The first thing I made was a set of placemats and napkins for my niece's wedding present. The pattern is from this book. They were a bit more work than I had anticipated but they turned out fabulously. I wish I had some myself! I adore the fabric and can't wait to make something else with it.

I'm not an expert sewer by any means but I've been having fun doing a bit more lately. I have a few more projects I plan to do before the babe comes this fall when I am assuming I'll have no time to do much of anything for a year. I'll post more pictures of the other things I made this weekend soon.

Things of Interest...

There have been a few interesting things going on in the blogs and sites I read lately. Here are a few to check out.

Emily sounds off on being a housewife- or a Work At Home Mom, as she prefers

One Crafty Mamma has a tutorial for making felt breakfast food

And this is a new site I've found recently- Teaching Tiny Tots at Mommy School

Healthy Child Healthy World has a great article on the risks of plastics

The NYT has a list of 11 foods we should eat but probably don't.

Read this article about the best way to cook vegetables before buying this book.

Today's Harvest

The girls and I were able to gather some more food from the garden. Today we had 4 more peas ready along with our first strawberries of the season! Yummy!

A full weekend

What a long weekend! We spent the 4th with my brother, Scott, and his family. Scott and Cindy never fail to provide a full feast. We brought these as our contribution.

They were REALLY GOOD! I highly recommend them. Very easy and oh so good. I normally can't eat bananas but for some reason if I dip them in chocolate my body doesn't mind them. That is good news.

We spent family time on Saturday and then Sunday the girls and I headed up to "the farm" at my mom and dad's. We had a great time playing with some cousins and the grandparents and generally just running around. I had a lot of time to use my mom's awesome sewing machine without kids climbing on me. Double bonus. I'll post some pictures of the projects later.

We also had a chance to see Heather, who was visiting her parents from CO at the time. Yeah! We love seeing Heather. BTW Heather, after you got out of the car Daphne said "bye bye Header." And then promptly fell asleep.

Heather even played Ring Around The Rosey with the girls, which is always a hit.

Daphne and Naomi are really afraid of dogs. At some point they stopped loving them and just "got fear." My niece Mattie has a little 6 lb. dog, Simon, who they have always been afraid of. My grandmother came over on Sunday with her little dog, Sunny, and put him in his little portable cage so the girls wouldn't be scared. For some unknown reason, Daphne took a liking to Sunny and asked to get into his cage! Naomi followed suit, a bit reluctantly. Here they are in the cage with their cousins petting Sunny.

Sunny took this opportunity to get out of the cage and the kids enjoyed staying in. He thought that was great.

We drove from Bellingham to Seattle this morning for my doctor appointment. Naomi was excited to go but a little disappointed again when she found out we weren't going to get the baby out of my "tummy" yet. I tried to explain she has to wait 3 more months but that is a very long time for a 3 year old. Ok, let's face it, that is a very long time for a 30 year old to wait. And no, we have no name picked out yet. All of your suggestions are wonderful, but we don't like them ;)

A Little Perspective

Naomi asks a lot of questions. A lot. She needs to know the hows, whens and who's about every situation. Every morning she makes sure to ask what exactly we'll be doing for the day, not to leave out any details. If any details are a bit hazy she asks for some clarification. If I say "we are going to Grandma's house to spend the night" she'll say "who is going?" Then she'll follow up with, "and what are you going to do?" Which means "Will you be leaving me there?" Then she'll ask more specifics about sleeping arrangements, what we'll be eating, who will be coming over, etc. etc. While I usually get a little tired of all the questions, I know she is just filing all the information away in her brain to make sense of her surroundings and her life.

These questions always get me thinking about what it must be like to be a young little person in this world. How scary and uncertain it must be sometimes. I've tried to make our house a bit more kid friendly by making some artwork at their eye level, providing step stools where they need them, having child sized furniture, etc. I'm sure there are many more things that can be done. I know it is important to make your movements thoughtful, not rushed, so that the kids have time to react to your movement (i.e. not get knocked over in your rush) as well as so they can watch and learn from your movements. Since kids learn from modeling, it is important to allow them to watch the steps you take to complete a task. Talking through your actions is also really helpful to eliminate some of the confusion. Don't forget to explain things in detailed ways. You may know a subject like the back of your hand and not even realize you are explaining things WAY above your little one's head.

Now, imagine what your life would be like if you were 3 feet tall and just trying to figure out what is going on. How would you want things explained to you? What would you like to know? Probably everything! And I know one thing is for sure, if you were 3 years old you wouldn't forget any details of what is told to you! If someone tells you at 8 a.m. that you can have a popsicle after your nap, you can bet that will be the first thing on your mind when you wake up!

Peas Please!

We ate our first peas! There were about 6 pods ready and they were delicious. There are a few strawberries that will be ready in the next day or two as well. The girls are very excited about that. Naomi has been waiting patiently for months for the strawberries and peas. I am so glad they are one of the first things to ripen. She doesn't care for the lettuce that is already ripe. Everything else is slow growing this year.

Here is another great picture of the garden.

Clean Water

Rusty and Brandi have both highlighted Redeeming Waters International in their recent posts. If you are at all interested in helping bring clean water to orphans in Africa please check them out. They are a new organization started by two women who recently adopted children from Liberia. Take a moment to see what they do and search your heart about donating to this cause.
Thanks.

Great Food Friday: Bread!

It took me a long time to come up with a name for this little recipe game. Well, at least 3 minutes. I wanted to express the idea that this isn't just good food, or canned food, or quick food, but GREAT food. OK, no guarantees you'll agree with me about what is great but let's just agree not to put any recipes here that include cream of mushroom soup, ok? So now post your recipe on your blog and add your post URL to the auto-link below. Feel free to use my Great Food Friday pic in your post if you wish or make it a button on your blog.

I love making bread! Recently I have been really into yeast breads but I think I have to post this banana bread recipe. I have tried quite a few different recipes and this one works very well and doesn't require ingredients I don't usually have like buttermilk.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 medium/large bananas, smashed
1 tsp vanilla
a handful of chocolate chips (optional)

Putting it together
Preheat oven to 375F and spray a bread pan.
Beat egg and sugars together then add in the smashed bananas, vanilla and melted butter. Mix well.
Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. You'll know it is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with a few crumbs but no batter on it.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
Wrapped well, this should keep for several days, if it lasts that long. I also freeze mine if I have too much and it keeps pretty well wrapped in foil in the freezer.

Be thinking about next week's theme: Mexican Inspired

Within Your Means: Budgeting

The whole idea of living simply is buzzing around lately. I'm sure we are definitely not on that bandwagon. We buy things we want, when we want them, and don't feel guilty about it (for the most part). But, of course, that is a decision we've made, for good or for bad. The trouble most people get into when they have this attitude is that they don't actually have a budget to work within. Both Arthur and I are serious budgeters. We have been since we got married. We've done it a few different ways but always come back to the Quicken method where we put every penny that we spend into the computer so we know exactly where our money is going and if we are staying within our set budget. The other method that has worked for us is the cash only method where we get out cash for the week and set a certain amount aside for each category and when the money is gone you don't buy anything else.

So, what happens if you want to live simply, or even live within your means, but you don't know what exactly that means because you don't track your spending? It means that if you are indulgent, as we are, you probably over spend. The most important thing is to be on the same page as your spouse. Sit down and do this together. The first thing you need to do to is to find out how much money you bring into the house each month, after taxes and benefits are taken out. Then you need to write down all your fixed expenses like your rent, mortgage, loan payments, insurance, non-negotiable utilities like electricity and sewer. Don't forget things that you pay for every 6 months or every year, like insurance or maybe taxes. This amount is something you can't really budge so subtract that from your monthly take home income.

Still with me? The next important thing (and some would argue this is the first step though it doesn't really matter where you do this as long as it is before the discretionary spending portion) is to figure out how much you want to give away to church or other non-profit organizations and how much you want to save for yourself and kids for a later use.

Next, figure out how much credit card debt you have. If you carry a balance you NEED to pay this off as soon as possible. Paying this off should come before any discretionary spending you have. It is totally great to use credit cards, but if you have a problem over spending it is time to give them a rest. If you are using a credit card you should be able to pay it off EVERY month.

Now figure out how much you spend on all of your "discretionary" expenses. This is the tricky part. Chances are, if you haven't been keeping track of your spending, you don't actually have a good idea how much you spend in each category. I would guess that most people will underestimate how much they spend on food, phones, dining out, entertainment, etc. Little things add up! It doesn't matter if you don't know how much you spend now because there is a really easy way to figure this out- write down what you spend! Use a a notebook or Quicken or whatever works for you. If you don't know what you spend, keep track of what you spend for a month and look at your old bills to see what you spend monthly on your cable, internet, phone, garbage (yes, garbage!) etc.

Once you have an idea about how much you spend in each category, decide how much you want to spend. See the difference? If you have $1000 to work with you might want to cut your phone bill somehow or cancel your cable and get a smaller garbage can, among other things. Make a list of all the spending categories you can think of. Some examples are groceries, gas, auto expenses, household miscellaneous, etc. Some people find it really helpful to have a set amount each person can spend each month on whatever random things they want like clothing, books, games, etc. If you don't want to spend it you can save up for bigger things. This worked well for us for a while that way nobody gets upset when the other persons splurges on things because it is coming out of their portion of the budget. Make sense? This is especially helpful if one of the two of you is really into video games or designer jeans and the other person sees it as a waste of money.

Another helpful "tool" we've implemented is an account for "special expenses" like furniture or vacations or iphones or whatever you think to be special, out of the ordinary expenses. You can save a little money in this category every month to save up for big purchases.

There are entire sections of book stores written explaining budgeting but this is just my two cents. What works for you? What hasn't worked for you? If you are just starting this process let us know how it goes.

Great Food Friday: Introduction

I am starting what I like to call Great Food Friday. The general idea is that I'll choose a theme and post a recipe based on that theme to share. You can post a recipe on your blog (don't forget to mention where you got the recipe from) and then put your name and the recipe's link in the auto-link box in my website so everyone can view your recipe. I'd love for you to put a link back to this meme on your blog with your recipe so your readers know where to come find more recipes, or participate if they want!

This meme is called GREAT Food Friday so let's try to keep this narrowed down to recipes you really love. Try to stick with recipes that call for more unprocessed foods! Thanks for participating!

Sensory Tub: Plain ol' White Rice

I bought a 50 lb. bag of rice the other day and poured about 1/3 of it into the sensory tub today when some of the cousins were over. Daphne, who is still 1, Naomi (3), Sophia (5), and Gabe (8) played in the rice for hours! It made a huge mess and there is rice all over the house but who cares! I put some scoops, shovels, measuring cups and a couple sand toys into the tub and they stayed very busy. I plan to dye some of the rice for future projects but for now this plain rice is loads of fun. It will probably stay in the tub for at least a few days. I still have to find a bag big enough to store it in when I take it out!

Paper Mache

We had a few friends over today to do some paper mache with us. I wasn't sure how well Daphne or Naomi would be able to do it but I know they'll enjoy painting it once it is dry. I used the recipe from this book. I mixed 2 cups of flour, 1/2 a cup of sugar and some water to make a thick paste. Then add the rest of a half gallon of warm water to the paste and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly until the paste is translucent and thick. Remove from the head and then add another 1/2 gallon of cold water and stir. Easy. I'd really recommend cutting the recipe in 1/4 or less. A gallon of paste is enough to paper mache a room. I am attempting to freeze our leftovers. I'll let you know how that goes.

Naomi wasn't fond of getting her hands messy, neither was Daphne. Naomi was able to have the attention span to paper mache about half of her 1/2 gallon milk container that I cut the top off of. I finished it for her because I knew she'd love painting it in a couple days. I had Daphne work on a flat piece of cardboard I cut from a cereal box. She had the patience to do about 4 or 5 pieces of paper (with help).

Our friends were a bit older and the 1st grader definitely enjoyed this project the most. Here he is concentrating on his work.

Here is Naomi working on her project.

I'll let you know how well this paste dries. It cleaned up easily (just clean up before it dries on your table and in your pan). I used little styrofoam cartons I buy sliced mushrooms in to put a little paste in for the kids to easily dredge their newspaper strip in. Make sure they get the paste on both sides of the paper and then wipe off the excess. This project is doable for the 3 years and up age group but probably less parent help is needed if you get to 5 years old and above. Either way though, it is fun to create.

Is your sunscreen safe?

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has tested nearly 1000 sunscreens for their safety and effectiveness. Considering more than a million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. every year I'd say it is important to check this list out. Don't forget that some of the chemicals in some sunscreens are NOT GOOD FOR YOU. They made a ranking list for all the sunscreens. Find yours and then find a better one!

Sensory Tub: Straws

My girls are not proficient with scissors. Daphne can't open and close them at all and Naomi has a fairly difficult time figuring them out. In her defense, I haven't done a whole lot of cutting exercises with her, and she is just three... This sensory tub activity is supposed to help with scissors skills. I put a couple hundred stirring straws into the tub with a couple pairs of scissors and let them have fun. Naomi cut for a while and Daphne held the straws and told me where to cut. I've read that the straws will morph into another activity when they become little pieces. I've also read it is good to have multiple sizes of straws so the kids can do things like put one inside the other, etc.

Of course, once they were tired of cutting they moved on to this

And this

I plan on keeping all the straws in a large ziplock bag. When they are too small to cut anymore we can use them like we would rice in the tub, or use them for artwork. I am assuming the giant bag of them that I bought at Costco will last years.

Generosity in all ages and sizes

We have a great neighborhood. We live at the end of a large culd-a-sack that the neighborhood kids use as their second home. We have 3 young neighbor girls (sisters) that love coming out when our girls are playing. They range in age from 8 to 13. They came over on Sunday to ask Naomi and Daphne if they wanted to help them with a lemonade stand they were going to do on Monday. My girls don't care either way but I offered their help. We went out yesterday around 3:30 and joined their lemonade stand. They had also made a bunch of foam flowers they glued to painted popsicle sticks and were selling them for 10 cents a piece. They had intended to write inspirational Bible verses on each of the sticks but I think the time got away from them so they didn't get that done. They sold large red plastic cups full of homemade lemonade for 25 cents (because "we don't want it to cost people too much"). We were probably there for 15 minutes before Naomi said she was too hot and wanted to go home and play in the pool. So we headed to our yard and climbed into the pool. An hour later the neighbor girls knocked on our gate and handed me $2.50. They explained that was Naomi and Daphne's cut of their profits. Wow, how generous! First of all, they didn't help out at all. Secondly, my girls would certainly never miss the money. I invited the girls to come play in our little pool so they ran home to ask their mom. They came back ready to "swim" in our 3 inches of water and I'm pretty sure they had as much fun as my girls.

Later, I asked Naomi what she wanted to do with the money they earned from the lemonade stand. I told her she could put it in her piggy bank if she wanted but she told me she wanted to "buy more mosquito nets" with it. I'm pretty sure she has no concept of money, and she really has no use for it at this point in her life, but I was happy that she seemed to grasp the idea of buying something for others with her own money.

Here are my girls enjoying their slide into their pool.