tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75453981497530239132024-03-19T04:21:47.460-07:00Life is GoodJonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.comBlogger272125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-44821765235493681882012-06-04T19:55:00.000-07:002012-06-04T20:06:53.603-07:00Test Kitchen Tuesday: From Ground to Table<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This year, I decided to hold no expectations from our little garden. <a href="http://jonah-jonahsjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-not-grow-garden.html">Last year's garden</a> did not go well at all. So while I tried to learn from that experience, and carry over the knowledge obtained to this year's garden, I maintained that I was going to put the plants in the dirt, water them, weed them, keep them free of pests, and whatever happens will happen. This year, we kept it small, both out of necessity and practicality. We no longer live on the three acres that we had use of last year. Our yard is very small, and many people would not think of growing vegetables! I think this has been to our advantage, because it is not as overwhelming and I am able to care for the garden much better. We also are using a raised garden bed and other containers, giving us more control over the soil. And finally, we did not plant seeds this year, but bought young plants already started to transplant into our garden. Again, this served to keep me from getting overwhelmed, and allows me to get more familiar with the plants I am growing before trying to get them to grow from seeds. The end result to these changes from last year-sweet (small but mighty) victory. It might not look like much, but compared to our yield from last year it is bountiful. Okay, that might be stretching it a bit- so far we have three varieties of lettuce that we are enjoying, and this week- broccoli!<br />
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We have had an extremely warm spring this year. Actually, it seems in a lot of ways that we skipped spring and went straight into a very hot summer. A lot of produce has been ready weeks earlier than is typical for our area. So I wasn't surprised when I saw beautiful broccoli florets peaking up over the leaves. I was, however, surprised at how quickly they went from beautiful broccoli florets to beautiful flowering broccoli!<br />
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At first I was disappointed. No broccoli again this year. And that is the item that the kids really wanted to grow themselves. But wait! Why not!? Are flowers of the broccoli really inedible? We eat the buds, after all! So the kids and I did a little research and found that the broccoli flower is in fact edible, and furthermore- get this- it tastes like.... BROCCOLI! So we dove into this as a learning experience for not only the kids, but also the adults. As we filled our bowl with the stalks of tiny yellow flowers, I excitedly emphasized how cool it is that we planted this broccoli, and it grew into flowers, and now we were going to eat them! The kids seemed very excited.<br />
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Now the most tame way I can think of to try an unknown food, is a soup. Perhaps because it is an unknown within a substance that has come to be so comforting- who doesn't take comfort in a nice bowl of warm soup on a chilly day or when one is sick. So that is what we will do with it. We'll make it into a soup. This idea was inspired by <a href="http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1748,146191-231206,00.html">this recipe at cooks.com</a>. There were a lot of ingredients that I did not want to include in my meal, however, so we came up with a recipe that has a bit more of a whole foods approach.<br />
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<br />
About 4 tablespoons olive oil<br />
pat of butter<br />
1/4 small onion, sliced<br />
4 cloves garlic, minced<br />
about 6 large leaves fresh basil<br />
a few sprigs fresh rosemary<br />
fresh thyme<br />
fresh oregano<br />
about 3-5 cups flowered broccoli, stems and leaves included, chopped coarsely<br />
3 cups chicken stock<br />
2 cups whole milk<br />
2 tablespoons corn starch<br />
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt<br />
4 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese<br />
<br />
<br />
Finely chop the herbs and broccoli leaves together. Heat the oil and butter in the bottom of a stock pot, over medium heat. Once the butter melts and the oil shimmers, add the onions, garlic, herbs, and broccoli leaves. Stirring constantly, cook until the onions begin to turn clear. Be careful that your oil doesn't get too hot. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the broccoli and simmer for a moment. Slowly stiir in the greek yogurt and milk, reserving 1/4 cup of milk. Put the cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk the milk into the cornstarch using a fork. Slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into the soup and bring back to a simmer until soup is thickened. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. A little at a time, sprinkle the shredded cheese into the soup and stir until melted. If the soup is too hot when you add the cheese, it will turn out grainy and lumpy. Stirring in very small amounts at a time when it is off heat will allow the cheese to melt smoothly and evenly.<br />
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Ladel into bowls and garnish with more shredded cheese and a couple of the broccoli blossoms!<br />
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You can add other veggies like carrots and potatoes, and if you want you can add bacon too. But the thing I like about this soup is that its simplicity really let the flavors of the herbs and the broccoli flowers sing. I could really taste each individual ingredient, and I don't think that would have been the case if I added more flavors or a stronger cheese. But this is very basic and you can mix it up with whatever you want or like!<br />
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We served this with a salad of the greens from our garden as well, and sausages. I was worried that the kids would not eat dinner, but they continued to clean their plates and ask for seconds, thirds, fourths... until we had none left. Salad, flowers, and all. I think that is wonderful testimony to the notion that kids will eat vegetables that they've helped grow and prepare.<br />
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<br />Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-13887641610648498272012-05-27T13:18:00.001-07:002012-05-27T13:18:44.492-07:00Long Weekend FunThis holiday weekend is hot, hot, hot! And for the first time in my life, I am living with no AC of any kind. I have lived with central air, I have lived with window units in just a couple of rooms, and I have lived with a unit in just one room. But never lived without having the reassurance that there is somewhere to go to escape the heat.<br /><br />To cool off in our yard, we decided to break out the very popular water table. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to also try out sidewalk painting! It is very simple, and took all of our minds off the beating heat.<br />
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What you need:<br />
Cornstarch<br />
Water<br />
Food Coloring<br />
Paint Cups or other containers (yogurt containers or old empty play dough containers would be great!)<br />
Small bowl to mix the water with the color<br />
Paint brushes<br />
a good piece of sidewalk or driveway<br />
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In a small bowl, mix about 3-4 tablespoons of water with 6-10 drops of the desired color of food coloring. I like to mix the color into the water first, because that makes the color very even, and easier to mix in. In the paint container, put about 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch. You want there to be more water than cornstarch, however the consistency is up to your preferences. If you don't add enough water, the paint will be hard to spread on the sidewalk and will just kind of blob up. If you've<a href="http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/ht/oobleck.htm"> ever made oobleck</a> with your kids then you are already familiar with the reasons why! But you also don't want it to be too watery, because the paint will run all over and won't be much fun. At any rate, place the cornstarch into the container. Slowly add the colored water until you get a consistency that you like, stirring as you add. Repeat with as many colors as you wish to have. The kids had a lot of fun helping to make it.<br />
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Take it outside, and find your inner Picasso! Or, in my kids' case, Jackson Pollock!<br />
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As the sun dries the water from the mixture, the paint will start to look more chalk like.<br />
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A word of warning- food coloring WILL stain clothes. While making this and playing with it outside, I suggest the kids wear clothing that doesn't matter if it gets stained, or let them wear art shirts. This (just like sidewalk chalk) seems to be attracted to pants especially, so dress accordinlgy and don't send me an angry email that this ruined your child's best party clothes- I warned you! But this I can tell you, the FUN we had with this is worth every messy detail!Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-85494012253984273432012-05-01T11:47:00.001-07:002012-05-01T11:47:27.562-07:00Tuesday Test Kitchen: Graham Crackers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Graham crackers are something that I have been wanting to bake with the kids for a long time. I have made several other kinds of crackers in the past, but because the ingredients are somewhat expensive and not something that I generally keep on hand, I have put it off. But I finally decided, after mulling over the guilt of the ingredients list on most store bought boxes of grahams, that it is time to try. I used Alton Brown's recipe from <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/graham-crackers-recipe/index.html">foodnetwork.com</a> although that recipe meausures ingredients by weight. I thought this would be a wonderful time to let Jonah practice weighing things, until I turned on my kitchen scale and found that the batteries were dead. So I used the approximate volume measurements instead. Cooking with kids involves a lot of ingredients being spilled on the counter, half a tablespoon might end up oozing down the side of the bowl rather than in the bowl, and so on. So even though Alton is extremely precise in his measurements, I found that it is okay to eyeball things and adjust according to any ingredient mishaps. We also had to make some last minute equipment changes.<br />
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1 1/2 cup + 1 tsp graham flour<br />
1/4 + 3 Tbl cup all purpose flour<br />
5 Tbl sugar<br />
3/4 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)<br />
1/2 tsp baking soda<br />
1/2 tsp kosher salt<br />
1/2 tsp cinnamon<br />
6 Tbl unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes<br />
4 Tbl + 2 tsp molasses<br />
3 Tbl + 2 tsp milk<br />
1/2 tsp vanilla<br />
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In a bowl, combine the graham flour, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until combined evenly.<br />
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Add the butter and use your hands to incorporate the butter with the dry ingredients. This involves squishing the butter and flour mixture between your fingers, until it is evenly incorporated and about the consistency of corn meal. You can use a food processor to do this, but ours was found to be missing a part. Plus, this is more "hands on" for the kids. (wash their hands very well, and my general rule is that any foods the kids have had their hands in, is ONLY for our own family.)<br />
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Using a stand mixer (or continuing to use the food processor if that is what you already used for the butter) add the molasses, milk, and vanilla. Start on low and gradually move to a medium high speed and mix until the dough is starting to pull away from the sides of the bowl. It should take 30 seconds to 1 minute.<br />
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And of course, here is evidence of the "measuring mishaps" I was describing above! about 1/4 of the molasses did end up on the table, so I added what I thought looked like the amount that had been spilled. The taste was still very good, so don't sweat small spills.<br />
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Remove the dough from the mixer or food processor and shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap or place it in a zip top bag (we don't keep plastic wrap in the house, normally) and place in the fridge during naptime, or at least for a half hour.<br />
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Our dough ended up being in the fridge for quite a while- nearly five hours- because Jonah's nap went super late. When we removed it from the fridge, it was way too stiff to roll out. It needed to sit out for about 45 minutes or an hour before we could roll it. I don't think it would have needed to rest at room temperature like this if we had only let it chill for the recommended half hour.<br />
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Unwrap the dough and place it on top of a piece of parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of it. Roll the dough out into a rectangular shape, about 1/8 of an inch thick. I like to use my canning headspace measurer to make sure that my dough is rolled to the correct thickness. Here you can see that it is about half way up to the 1/4 inch mark.<br />
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Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into rectangles. Don't worry about making them perfectly even, or making perfectly straight lines. If you allow your child to help with this step, monitor them closely.<br />
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Using a fork, poke each rectangle about 3 times. This will allow air to escape and keep the crackers from getting large bubbles. The kids really enjoyed this step!<br />
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Place the dough and parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and bake until the crackers rise a bit and begin to turn a bit darker brown around the edges. The original recipe says 25 minutes, but ours were starting to burn around the edges at just 15 minutes, so keep an eye on them.<br />
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Break the crackers apart along the lines and enjoy!<br />
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I would like to try replacing the molasses with honey and bananas to create a cinnamon-banana graham cracker. This is a very basic recipe that seems like it would lend itself to a few variations, although with something as plain and simple as a cracker, the chemistry can easily be thrown off by ingredient substitutions. It is definitely going to be worth bringing back into our test kitchen on another rainy day!</div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-49538924958160533292012-04-27T06:00:00.000-07:002012-04-27T20:51:44.683-07:00A Few of my Favorite Things Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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1. When my toddler wraps her arms around me for a hug, and starts patting my back<br />
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2.The few moments before bedtime, when the whole family is on Jonah's bed for night time stories and lullabyes.<br />
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3. Belly laughs during an impromptu tickle session</div>
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4.Watching my children cooperatively set up a tea party, complete with pleases and thank yous</div>
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5. Seeing my son, who two years ago <a href="http://jonah-jonahsjournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-deal-with-jonah.html">was diagnosed as being autistic</a>, walk up to another child and say "Hi, I'm Jonah. Her is Evie. Let's play firefighters!"</div>
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<br /></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-47172666449798023332012-04-24T22:15:00.001-07:002012-04-25T06:59:12.275-07:00Fired From Oscar Meyer- No Weaners Here!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can sit here and tell you that the global average age for weaning is 4 years old. I can tell you that naturally, mammals typically nurse until they get their first permanent molars- around age six for humans. I can say that the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding children until the age of two years old, and that the American Acadamy of Pediatrics says that mothers are <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/02/22/peds.2011-3552.full.pdf+html">"encouraged to continue breastfeeding through the first</a> <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/02/22/peds.2011-3552.full.pdf+html">year and beyond as more and varied complementary foods are introduced."</a> Let me re-stress that: <b>Through the first year and beyond.</b> One more time<b>: and beyond.</b><br />
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I could tell you that she isn't ready. I could tell you that <a href="http://www.blacktating.com/2009/01/breast-milk-breakfast-of-champions.html">Michael Jordan was breastfed until he was 3</a>. I could tell you all of these things and then some. As if I have to defend the choices I have made for myself and my child.<br />
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The truth is, most often times, I do. Because this little girl:<br />
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Is no weaner. And she will also be two years old next month. Yes, I breastfeed my nearly two year old. My beautiful two year old baby girl. My <b>baby.</b> In many ways, emotionally, physically, and cognitively, two year olds are still babies. They still need the <a href="http://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/ebf-benefits/#nutrition">antibodies and nutrition found in breastmilk</a>. They still need the reassurance and emotional stability that breastfeeding provides. They still need the quiet bonding time with their mothers.NEED. As in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If other babies and mothers find other ways that help them with these things, then that is wonderful; it works for them. Live and let live, right?<br />
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Yet when people find out that I nurse my nearly two year old, I have to defend myself and my daughter. As it has been from the start, the game of nursing is changing for us.<br />
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For example, I try my hardest not to nurse her out in public, if at all necessary. Not because I am ashamed, or because I am a "closet nurser." But because I am unsure whether or not the laws that protected me and my babies when they were infants, still protect us now that my nursling is what society calls a "toddler."<br />
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When this picture was taken while enjoying a Cleveland Indian's game at Progressive Field, the law <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/breastfeeding-state-laws.aspx">was on our side</a>. I could breastfeed in any public place where both I and the baby were allowed to be. We were allowed to be in the stadium, in those seats. We bought the tickets legally. No one could ask me to leave that seat for the sole reason that I was breastfeeding.<br />
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Now however, I am unsure. I cannot find specifically that it protects a child beyond infancy. And so, to avoid awkward confrontations, I try to sway her attention to other things, or find someplace very private (but still not the bathroom!) Another reason is because she is beginning to read other people's emotions and reactions to things. When people see her asking to nurse, comments are made, glares are exchanged. I don't want her to think that what she is doing- the wholesome and natural and RIGHT thing (for her)- is wrong, just because other people say it is.<br />
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And because well meaning friends and family members have said to me "you just need to do it." Let me share with you, our attempt to night wean my dear daughter. I began wondering if everyone else was right. Maybe we would all start getting good nights' sleeps if she weaned. Maybe we would all be happier. I wouldn't be so stressed during the day. Maybe, just maybe. Worth a try, I thought. The plan seemed simple. I would create timeframes during which she could nurse at night. If she woke and fussed during a time that was not within the designated nursing time, then I would hold her, cuddle her, sooth her back to sleep. The idea was that this would help us lengthen the periods of time between night feeding. It seemed to be working, so we moved onto phase two. Knocking out one nursing session.<br />
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This is where it turned sour. She not only cried during the time she wanted to nurse and was not being allowed, but she started to scream and cry at the start of bedtime too. Before our attempts to wean, we would do our night time routine (which includes nursing) lay her in her bed, and walk away. When she would wake up at night, she would nurse for 10-15 minutes, climb out of my lap and go back to bed on her own. Now that I think about it, it was relatively easy. After our attempt to wean, she screamed while we were putting her to bed. She woke up within an hour and began screaming again. She developed terrible separation anxiety, and I would have to wait by her door for her to fall asleep. If I didn't, she didn't sleep that night. She would scream. all. night.<br />
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During the day, she became very clingy. Where she was once my independent and self confident girl, she became insecure and needy.<br />
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Her whole demeanor changed.<br />
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Because we tried to wean before she was ready. My way of coping with this was to give her what I could see that she needed. We began nursing through the night again. She has decided on her own that one nursing session at night is enough. She has gone back to putting herself back to bed after only a few minutes at the breast. We are all sleeping better. I am not as stressed during the day. We are all happier. Because we did what was right for our family. Because I followed my little girl's cues. Does this mean she will go off to college breastfeeding? No. I know there is such a thing as natural weaning. It happens every day. Does this mean that I am a "slave" to my child? I certainly don't feel that way. I enjoy the bonding time. I know that soon she will be grown up. She will be interested in shoes and hair and prom... So I will continue to do for her, what she needs now.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-85142311547658867332012-03-12T20:10:00.000-07:002012-03-12T20:10:31.284-07:00Pepper Shamrock Stamps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLpf95iRMaPzpunxr5YBQCKIkH9LNwErUU-ijEVKYFrSmoaKQAHWrQtKqqWhni8WqrzvxuHV-o2pyj2a0NZAhHuH_ztz4Q9Z5dbuRKpgppmsSDeocy3PU2A5fUypBuYYN9Qzn-sOHgMVY/s1600/DSC_0106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLpf95iRMaPzpunxr5YBQCKIkH9LNwErUU-ijEVKYFrSmoaKQAHWrQtKqqWhni8WqrzvxuHV-o2pyj2a0NZAhHuH_ztz4Q9Z5dbuRKpgppmsSDeocy3PU2A5fUypBuYYN9Qzn-sOHgMVY/s400/DSC_0106.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This morning we had eggs inside of pepper rings for breakfast, and we didn't eat all of the peppers, so I thought we should use them for a little "Luck o' the Irish" art. I have always loved St. Patrick's Day. Even though I have always lived in a place where winter lasts well into April and often even into May; even though my birthday is just two days after St. Patty's day and I was born in a blizzard... the decorations of vibrant green plants, shamrocks, spring rainbows, all lift me up and out of my winter funk. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most of our activities this week are themed around rainbows. I thought that would be a fun way to incorporate some learning activities into all of the fantasies of leprechauns and pots of gold. Of course as the children get older, we will be teaching them about St. Patrick, why there is a day to celebrate him. But for now we are having fun making pepper prints of shamrocks</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WlLJK6O8ZnbvFk2T9tr19bImeBly9QjQbWYC6ugeXn9aPONICLVwnzl8FqwkiQNXvJICDUOfEcrfpoK7zrsBWE4f98Y0pOD80y0XVMZNz9WA3wV4Qvz4paFHtJRwq1YK7IuUg4oNCOa8/s1600/DSC_0108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6WlLJK6O8ZnbvFk2T9tr19bImeBly9QjQbWYC6ugeXn9aPONICLVwnzl8FqwkiQNXvJICDUOfEcrfpoK7zrsBWE4f98Y0pOD80y0XVMZNz9WA3wV4Qvz4paFHtJRwq1YK7IuUg4oNCOa8/s320/DSC_0108.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div>Simply cut a pepper laterally, dip it in green paint, and use it to stamp the shape! It is a fun coincidence that the shape of the pepper, especially towards the bottom, resembles a shamrock.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXGJbjeSEmj2WARB_lFKFScA4CUPjKlnMW7XmiqbvYbmb843CQNjHuWDdJPPobMBiwHo4usb6CRqcCGk-R1zdkI3lpnEGqMOpD8j8FtXA9NzPRCJAL0Ifgn-X6y4eCqeeOIihIcix5cle/s1600/DSC_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXGJbjeSEmj2WARB_lFKFScA4CUPjKlnMW7XmiqbvYbmb843CQNjHuWDdJPPobMBiwHo4usb6CRqcCGk-R1zdkI3lpnEGqMOpD8j8FtXA9NzPRCJAL0Ifgn-X6y4eCqeeOIihIcix5cle/s320/DSC_0103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Keep some damp cloths nearby to wipe paint from hands, because the smooth skin of the pepper makes it difficult to pick up with slippery paint on your fingers! I thought about cutting the top of the pepper in a way that would make a handle, but in the end decided not to go through the trouble.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs8s37jj2RRLVnWfCP8Q3Jyhii428mKHNdxXRDvTDx5w1nuXUzS8siUpA44tZyhbIw9O6IfIvhEnh2jJrAYQ8zN9-JehpkXnX46KtaoN2Rb7HpwTcvdqrGwrz17N47pWRB_lM6Z1BR291P/s1600/DSC_0111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs8s37jj2RRLVnWfCP8Q3Jyhii428mKHNdxXRDvTDx5w1nuXUzS8siUpA44tZyhbIw9O6IfIvhEnh2jJrAYQ8zN9-JehpkXnX46KtaoN2Rb7HpwTcvdqrGwrz17N47pWRB_lM6Z1BR291P/s320/DSC_0111.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Although the kids are still learning what a shamrock is, they really had a lot of fun stamping the shape of the peppers.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQ_9qhoiIJllytFYdJoplOKnGpAR7C4bIOR3ZfNbB5f3fNLrEmOMd39YapHbnhGTsGYDzRCs2OjqbnLkqfFnM5MKNGPYbVOIXuNz3f7-C32auNcA4oliwPIlAawS2XYMrhcy12r3y6Cui/s1600/DSC_0113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQ_9qhoiIJllytFYdJoplOKnGpAR7C4bIOR3ZfNbB5f3fNLrEmOMd39YapHbnhGTsGYDzRCs2OjqbnLkqfFnM5MKNGPYbVOIXuNz3f7-C32auNcA4oliwPIlAawS2XYMrhcy12r3y6Cui/s320/DSC_0113.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-2730149030878502132012-03-11T21:05:00.000-07:002012-03-11T21:05:59.676-07:00Moments of Beauty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivK4WB9jsBQcKMb3oB71X9w12Jq2fLuKfvwvZnRj5JYMzKBnNnzvg0n5-9haiAe7OUDqkwedj453ftji9tbsQnGMxC19GNfgeL8-_HNijPX-cDzRWEyoI9iSHcO2ydPE099M1p7tw-A0cv/s1600/photo(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivK4WB9jsBQcKMb3oB71X9w12Jq2fLuKfvwvZnRj5JYMzKBnNnzvg0n5-9haiAe7OUDqkwedj453ftji9tbsQnGMxC19GNfgeL8-_HNijPX-cDzRWEyoI9iSHcO2ydPE099M1p7tw-A0cv/s320/photo(2).JPG" width="320" /></a></div>When I was young, the church that my family attended would have a time for congregation members to share "joys and concerns" for which they would like to have a prayer. Every week, one particular elderly woman who was known to be quite eccentric, would stand and share her "moments of beauty" with the church. Moments, small and large, that struck her as something that was God-filled. Moments when, even just for a fleeting second, she had something beautiful in her heart.<br />
<br />
Today was a beautiful day for a run. Mid 60's, sunny, cool breeze. My training schedule said I should only take seven miles, but instead I went for nine. And along the way, I had several moments of beauty that I would like to share. Am I becoming a kooky eccentric old woman? Well, I turn 30 this week, so I may well be on my way!<br />
1. Passing by gardens filled with purple, white, and yellow crocuses in full bloom; tulips and daffodils appearing to be nearly ready to burst open from their buds. A tad early this year, but beautiful just the same.<br />
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2. Hearing a group of children laugh as they played baseball.<br />
<br />
3. Running on a work of art<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcrSeXnIwzEF7dqQDXn-xYKmPaSs9WpJzbtsVwQFUnQPkJAXjx5fiw1a6BGn8LbPFfE3wJOpOKpqo7bW0ibYpNGWyJYzZJQTO7X5W6ID4LtiLzDfOA0iiF1bc3PvM1rm_lHs5UQ13Ae1h/s1600/photo(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcrSeXnIwzEF7dqQDXn-xYKmPaSs9WpJzbtsVwQFUnQPkJAXjx5fiw1a6BGn8LbPFfE3wJOpOKpqo7bW0ibYpNGWyJYzZJQTO7X5W6ID4LtiLzDfOA0iiF1bc3PvM1rm_lHs5UQ13Ae1h/s320/photo(3).JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
4. Being near the tennis courts and realizing how much I miss my tennis partner and best friend- it would have been a great day for a pick up game with a friend. It's always nice to think of an old friend when they are living across the globe.<br />
<br />
5. Seeing an elderly couple holding hands and smooching every now and then as they walked on the path in the park. I hope Daryl and I are as affectionate towards each other as we age.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-8263751710076039722012-03-08T06:00:00.000-08:002012-03-08T06:00:13.747-08:00Hat Counting Felt BoardFelt boards are often items that parents see in preschool classrooms and say "That would be neat to have at home!" It seems as though these fun learn-and-play items are only available to teachers or day cares. I want to show you how anyone can make a felt board for their playroom, and it only costs around $10! The one I picture below cost about $7 to make. I don't have any pictures of the process of making the board; I tried but technology hates me this week.<br />
<br />
Materials:<br />
~Large piece of sturdy cardboard (I used a board that I found with the posterboard at my craft store)<br />
~ply wood would work too, if it is thin enough to fit the frame, and would offer a more sturdy felt board.<br />
~Large frame with no backing or glass. My craft store has a clearance rack for frames that are just the wooden framing, for a few dollars depending on the size. The one I chose was $3<br />
~Large sheet of white felt. These should be next to or under the smaller sheets of felt, folded and in plastic packaging.<br />
~Hot Glue Gun <br />
<br />
Step 1.<br />
Cut the board to fit inside the frame. Cut the felt so that it gives a 2-3 inch border around the edges of the board (if you place the board in the center of the felt, there should be 2-3 inches of felt surrounding all sides of the board)<br />
<br />
Step 2.<br />
Lay the board in the middle of the felt. Cut a diagonal line from the corner of the felt to its corresponding corner of the board. Then cut a line that goes straight from each corner of the board to its corresponding straight edge of felt. So you are essentially cuting triangles out of each corner of felt, to help it wrap around the board a bit easier.<br />
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Step 3.<br />
Fold each side of the felt around the back of the board, so that the felt is tightly fit around the board. Hot glue each side as you go.<br />
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Step 4.<br />
Secure the felt covered board into the frame. If your frame did not come with fasteners, it can be stapled in.<br />
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You now have a home made felt board for your play room! To make the hats below, I simply cut hat shapes out of red felt, added white felt stripes with my glue gun. It was a fun counting activity for the kids during Dr. Seuss week! You can also make items for your kids to sort by color, size, or shape. And you can even create the characters and scenes from your kids' favorite books. Although that can be very ambitious, it gives children the chance to interact with literary characters and act out their story, or even change their story if they are feeling imaginative! It might not look 100%, but no one will be judging you. Chances are, your kids will be the only ones who see them, so who cares if your felt board has that "home made" edge to it. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgukOZUrSnhASQ66NFYF_CFNc6EMeBiDS5zHD7wY2AUK4ZCDa_dVGQ01O9PdCgLx9saEpIMItX3FuJy8wfpLHih_f1X4cl8zsj-UzTzZtGX01FfmZLDNZN-fN1UC0u7KewuZD42MqNiva/s1600/DSC_0054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMgukOZUrSnhASQ66NFYF_CFNc6EMeBiDS5zHD7wY2AUK4ZCDa_dVGQ01O9PdCgLx9saEpIMItX3FuJy8wfpLHih_f1X4cl8zsj-UzTzZtGX01FfmZLDNZN-fN1UC0u7KewuZD42MqNiva/s320/DSC_0054.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-59400902059681226352012-03-07T06:00:00.003-08:002012-03-07T06:00:09.198-08:00Yertle the Turtle Stacking Blocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Z03yULc91_gB6puTy0uSje5IQrPBwNsQ7THvWcU433D46Nv6sf1ooybAHREM5pnX34OC_y0pRrXc1uIFIeBKftG91auHtH-I6qQ7Al4RHlyC3U5uNYeTPT55DCSwKh2zODJykLtn-33v/s1600/yertle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Z03yULc91_gB6puTy0uSje5IQrPBwNsQ7THvWcU433D46Nv6sf1ooybAHREM5pnX34OC_y0pRrXc1uIFIeBKftG91auHtH-I6qQ7Al4RHlyC3U5uNYeTPT55DCSwKh2zODJykLtn-33v/s320/yertle.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>Yertle the Turtle is the story of a turtle king, who wanted to rule all that he could see. He ordered all of the turtles in his kingdom to stack themselves up, so that he could see more and more and therefor rule (so he thought) more and more.<br />
<br />
This book has been a favorite of ours this past week. The kids have been in love with turtles lately, so this seemed like a logical story to include in our Dr. Seuss week. They also have both been very interested in counting, and stacking things up. Wouldn't it be grand if we could combine all of these interests into one activity?<br />
<br />
Find a few boxes of varying shapes and sizes. You want the basic shape to be rectangular, but it was fun to have different dimensions of rectangles to stack. Wrap each box in green construction paper or wrapping paper. I ran out of green paper, and Jonah pointed out that the turtles in the book are actually a blueish purple color, so I started using blue and purple paper as well. The color variety was a lot of fun!!!<br />
<br />
I suggest covering the boxes with a top layer of clear contact paper. This protects them from drool, chewing, sneezing, ripping, and wearing down quickly.<br />
<br />
Cut turtle heads, feet, and fins from construction paper and fasten them to the bodies with tape or glue. You can laminate these and then glue them on for extra strength as well. Add googly eyes if desired. (I liked the eyes, but Evelyn was insistent on picking them off. she even snuck up to our playroom during naptime, picked the turtle eyes off, and came back downstairs to give them all to me!)<br />
<br />
Let the counting and stacking and knocking over begin!!! I made six turtles, because that was all I had the energy and time for. I am hoping to continue to add new turtles to our stack as time goes on!Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-80713631246250175072012-03-06T06:00:00.000-08:002012-03-06T06:00:09.036-08:00Thing 1 and Thing 2 craftI got the idea from <a href="http://littlekinderwarriors.blogspot.com/2011/03/read-across-america-dr-seuss.html">this site</a>, and I found it on Pinterest.<br />
<br />
This is a fun way to create the mischievous (and curiously beloved) characters from Cat in the Hat, Thing One and Thing Two. I also chose it because it provided a fun way to encourage Jonah to touch paint- something which he has quite an aversion to! <br />
<br />
First you paint the child's hand red, leaving out the ring finger and a small circular area in the palm. Help the child stamp their hand onto the paper. This is the Thing's body.Turn the paper around, so the print you just made is now on the bottom.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHh5o14XRSTzVIlakAcuOCVktNgJX1W6tcSya8JnXGuIm3gwWMlZ8Nsgq-ajEFyzC7htRZNA7kGOSP5pLTrmPIjdAYPP2yrANtJGZ59EcPOwwdXReTGX2x7bxkigUjpJoKjsNh5uYnaOg/s1600/things1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHh5o14XRSTzVIlakAcuOCVktNgJX1W6tcSya8JnXGuIm3gwWMlZ8Nsgq-ajEFyzC7htRZNA7kGOSP5pLTrmPIjdAYPP2yrANtJGZ59EcPOwwdXReTGX2x7bxkigUjpJoKjsNh5uYnaOg/s320/things1.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
Clean the red paint off of the hand and paint the palm white and fingers blue. You can also paint the very top of the hand where the palm meets the fingers, blue. Help your child position their hand to stamp it just above the body.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7oAMtgBfdu9MUOmGIK-6s5fj42xBWzi56DZfzITodmvaTx9W8X5w9qZbf5eondl-7yQpF_ovmilQM7Y_OsbaM4j7gEfOg5r3gFzDsRPtNxFRck9ilGF_L0vwWWms2w4LBgT6O_kgI3An/s1600/things2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7oAMtgBfdu9MUOmGIK-6s5fj42xBWzi56DZfzITodmvaTx9W8X5w9qZbf5eondl-7yQpF_ovmilQM7Y_OsbaM4j7gEfOg5r3gFzDsRPtNxFRck9ilGF_L0vwWWms2w4LBgT6O_kgI3An/s320/things2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Allow it to dry and then use a sharpie to draw the face. Paint a white circle into the open part of the red hand print. When that is dry, write either Thing 1 or Thing 2 in the circle.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNAnnVQngKsm4kro74Vzm050X-uJUAt6N5VhXseOBwMs-4kUNoNgpI58AL1JZWkhjqujfPV1OlAtVhsuTipZMoGv798P4YK3Fvzgs0XcIJJnE7E629xaAaLqKb8DlGmUMEfzQmenLDd64/s1600/418350_10100667640485144_23317623_51256428_503430840_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNAnnVQngKsm4kro74Vzm050X-uJUAt6N5VhXseOBwMs-4kUNoNgpI58AL1JZWkhjqujfPV1OlAtVhsuTipZMoGv798P4YK3Fvzgs0XcIJJnE7E629xaAaLqKb8DlGmUMEfzQmenLDd64/s320/418350_10100667640485144_23317623_51256428_503430840_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It appears in some of the pictures, that the paper I used is white. It is actually a pale yellow. Manilla, light grey or beige would also work. Something that is a bit more than plain white, but not too bright or dark or it will not work well with the bright colors.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-75943645298726502572012-03-05T06:00:00.006-08:002012-03-05T06:00:12.973-08:00Dr. Seuss Fun with FoodDo you ever play with your food?<br />
Do you find it puts you in a good mood<br />
to make gravy volcanoes out of beef that's been stewed?<br />
<br />
Then look no further, my chap<br />
because here's a plan with a map<br />
for ways that aren't rude<br />
to play with your food.<br />
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<b>For Breakfast, Green Eggs and Ham:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2TTxFf3YcL8lePH-098QOe8t4zSm0wAw3M8MiqU_w6Dap7GBAwMavreoum_L-Lh-G1ZnmuODXFkHAgTUxM0G2IZynQ80uThXLrtenGM0ubEM5-odWcifk5ySzdy0nnuO_fH5xolSSaAJ/s1600/greeneggs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2TTxFf3YcL8lePH-098QOe8t4zSm0wAw3M8MiqU_w6Dap7GBAwMavreoum_L-Lh-G1ZnmuODXFkHAgTUxM0G2IZynQ80uThXLrtenGM0ubEM5-odWcifk5ySzdy0nnuO_fH5xolSSaAJ/s320/greeneggs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
An oldie but a goodie! Use food dye to color scrambled eggs green. Add cubed ham, or make them into a ham omelet. It might be a good idea to include the kids in the coloring of the eggs. Some kids have an aversion to foods died strange colors, and it might help if they are the ones doing the dying!<br />
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<b>For Snack, Cat Hat Stacks:</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8i-BTmRYcP04Ppeb0QFw2dtTNaFzyFUM8DoPclXgacFS7a8UA9FsFhavJF82SGl56WIx_eirLa5fHjwLUJXl9rY0QBKX8ayREG68iEvhEMrDs61z6fLrQmMPvIP96-laBSlT8dQyV_42/s1600/Cathatstacks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM8i-BTmRYcP04Ppeb0QFw2dtTNaFzyFUM8DoPclXgacFS7a8UA9FsFhavJF82SGl56WIx_eirLa5fHjwLUJXl9rY0QBKX8ayREG68iEvhEMrDs61z6fLrQmMPvIP96-laBSlT8dQyV_42/s320/Cathatstacks.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I came up with this idea last minute in the grocery store when I had one child begging for bananas and the other one begging for strawberries. Wash and slice a strawberry, discarding the stem and leaves. Slice a banana, and reassemble the strawberry slices, placing a banana slice between each strawberry. Hold the stack up with a tooth pick. It was harder than I thought to find strawberries and bananas that were near enough to each other in circumference for this to work. If this is a major problem for you, these would be cute as fruit kabobs as well!<br />
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<b>For Lunch, Cat in the Hat Sandwich and his trusty sidekick "Fish":</b><br />
I am very proud of this. It took me a while to plan and execute, and I am very pleased with the results.<br />
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For the cat's face- I cut a piece of white bread into a squat oval. Then I trimmed a piece of white american cheese to be just as long as the bread, but a but more narrow. I also cut triangles to use for the ears from the scraps of cheese. I placed the cheese on top of the bread and toasted it in the toaster oven until the cheese had melted and the bread was starting to brown on the edges. I had hoped for the bread to get a bit darker when toasting, but didn't want the cheese to get beyond the "just melted" stage. After placing the cheese-bread onto a plate, I added raisins for the eyes and nose, very thin carrot sticks for whiskers, and a small piece of apple peel for the mouth. You'll see where I got the apple peel from in a second.<br />
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For the cat's hat- I cut an apple in half from stem to bottom. Then I scooped out the core and removed the stem and blossom. Using a butter knife, I scored horizontal lines across the apple skin. I then very carefully used the butter knife to peel the skin from the apple on alternating stripes. Because the Cat's hat is never empty, I put a spoonful of peanut butter into the hole where I scooped out the core.I placed this on the plate, right up against the top of the cat's face. I cut a second apple horizontally so that I had a round slice. I then cut the slice in half, to make a half circle, cut out the seeds, and placed this slice skin up, for the brim of the hat.<br />
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Serve with goldfish crackers.<br />
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<b>Dessert, One Fish Two Fish Jello:</b><br />
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Prepare a box of blue Jello as directed. Pour the Jello into custard cups for chilling in individual servings. Once the Jello is set, or after dinner, the kids can choose which gummie fish to "swim" in their fish bowl. Simply push the tails of the gummie fish into the Jello. This is extremely simple, but brings so many smiles! Tip: I got the frothy sea look in the two pictured on the right by using a fork to whisk air bubbles into the liquid before chilling, or you could gently pour it into each bowl for a more glassy look.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-3091859056260210312012-03-03T19:16:00.001-08:002012-03-03T19:17:48.335-08:00A Community in Grieving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTON-2hWahmUYbAsiWXV1Zyaf09vf76gAI4bLwtReSFja1AbfOgKRgzjhWJePxh4icAUjBNMzwoRYrMrOn-FPy12Oo-V8T47BfivFpZPCjLjnHaTGJfFDSoazgtHteraCCvexHvnYsBQha/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTON-2hWahmUYbAsiWXV1Zyaf09vf76gAI4bLwtReSFja1AbfOgKRgzjhWJePxh4icAUjBNMzwoRYrMrOn-FPy12Oo-V8T47BfivFpZPCjLjnHaTGJfFDSoazgtHteraCCvexHvnYsBQha/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
(Warning for sensitive content. School shooting and funerals discussed; offensive language used)<br />
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What can I say about today? Today I drove through a town, which is usually the source of pleasure for me and my family. A trip to Chardon Ohio has always meant apple picking, a trip to get fresh eggs or honey. It's an idyllic northeast Ohio town, just north to where I grew up. <br />
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Today however, the apple orchards were lined with trees adorned with black and red ribbons. Signs with hearts were scattered across yards. My car navigated the winding roads, passing makeshift memorials and home made tributes. The site of the town, which usually makes me smile, brought me to tears. Such pain today. Such loss.<br />
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I parked my car on Main Street and continued to walk the rest of the way to the church. Teenagers wept openly in the streets. Mothers held their babies a little more protectively than usual. In a town where you could walk the streets for hours and not see a cop, I lost track of how many patrols I encountered. I was attending the funeral for two reasons. The first reason was, like everyone else, I had an amazing sense of grief regarding the events that took place in the beginning of the week. I had to let go of my anger, my sadness over the senseless loss of life so young. I had to join the group in letting the community know they were not alone in their grief.<br />
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On Monday February 27th, the unthinkable happened in Chardon. Mothers and fathers dropped their children off at the high school. They probably discussed the after school schedule for the day, whether or not lunches were forgotten. Maybe they talked about grades, or choice in clothes and music. Maybe they remained silent. Some of the families said good bye to their students either at home or in the school parking lot, and it was the last time they saw their child alive. Moments later, before classes began, a boy opened fire in the cafeteria. Three students were fatally wounded. One remains in serious condition and another has just been released from the hospital.<br />
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As a mother, I had to stand with this community so close to home. I cannot begin to fathom dropping my child off at school, and an hour later learning that he is dead. It is a thought that is too immense for my soul and heart.<br />
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But a second reason that sealed my decision for going was a tweet made by the infamous Westboro Baptist "Church." They declared that they would be picketing the funeral. For those of you that are unaware of the WBC, just imagine the most vulgar, inappropriate, despicable person that you possibly can. They frequently picket the funerals of victims of acts of violence, or soldiers. They spit on people entering the funeral. They call those mourning the dead "Fags, cunts, sluts, queer, dykes." Yes, I typed every one of those hateful words, because I want to share with you how low the members of this hate group are. They call a mother burying her child a slut and a whore, as she is mourning. A mother who did nothing. To say they call names is not descriptive enough to depict their black souls. And they were threatening to come to MY corner of Ohio. MY turf. Well let me tell you, Westboro Baptist Hate Group: There is no tolerance for you here.<br />
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And so I joined the hundreds of people, who out of love and support, went to lift the family up during this difficult time. We stood, surrounding the church, so that we would bear the hate slurs, the spitting, the obnoxious signs, rather than those trying to say goodbye to a son, friend, and student. We stood to show those in mourning that for every hateful soul, there are a hundred people with compassion in their hearts, ready to walk down the road of grief with them. Compassion and love won. I will not say any more about the Westboro Baptist Hate Group, other than they did not show up. Rumors, including word from a police officer, were spreading that they had been in the area, but left without sounding off at all. This was the best case scenario for us. The community was surrounded by nothing but love and solidarity.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The line of support for the victim's family went on as far as one could see</td></tr>
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As ten o'clock neared and everyone in the crowd was suffering from frozen toes and shaky knees from the cold, the motorcade arrived. I was amongst a group of students who did not feel they were emotionally prepared to be inside the church, but wanted to pay their respects. Upon seeing the hearse, a young girl standing next to me burst out in tears. "I just don't know why!?" she sobbed. I put my hand gently on her back. "We're here with you." I softly said. The woman to her other side placed her hand next to mine "We're all here with you." She reiterated. The girl calmed and we hugged. She said "That was all I needed; I'm ready to go home now. I don't know who you are, but I love you for coming." We hugged again briefly and she broke away from the group, walking toward her home, still sobbing slightly.<br />
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And that is all that I can really say about today. As everyone finds a new normal, as parents regain the courage to say good bye to their children in the morning, as students battle the grief of losing friends, of being in a place where suddenly they were threatened, as we all find our footing on this path that has been laid out- Chardon, we are with you crying, and we are with you healing. We are all with you.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-24076134563304974912012-02-26T19:43:00.001-08:002012-02-26T19:45:47.452-08:00Happy Birthday to an IconOne of my heroes while growing up was, and always will be, Theodor Seuss Geisel. He was of course better known by his children's book pen names Dr. Seuss and Theo LeSieg. On Friday, March 2nd, would have been the late children's author's 108th birthday. This date has also been reserved as "National Read Across America Day" during which many communities are holding read-a-thons and attempts to break records for reading related events.<br />
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I had wanted to share with you a whole week of activities that I have planned to celebrate my favorite author. Unfortunately, my ancient laptop has finally bit the dust and my computer access is highly limited at the moment. So for now, I will share with you some of the ideas that I have planned. I will make my best attempt to post our personal experiences with the activities through the week. I have categorized the activities with the books that they go with. A good starting point, before you jump right into these, would be to check out the websites:<br />
http://littlekinderwarriors.blogspot.com/2011/03/read-across-america-dr-seuss.html<br />
http://www.seussville.com/#/home<br />
http://www.seussville.com/activities/RAAEducKit_ActGuide_WEB.pdf<br />
and<br />
http://www.seussville.com/loraxproject/ (I will refer to this further on in the post!)<br />
<b>Oh the Places You'll Go</b><br />
~Discuss different jobs that your child could have when they grow up. Glue a paper doll die cut to a piece of paper and have your child decorate it as what they would like to be or do. <b> </b><br />
<b>~</b>Make a balloon wall! Cut balloon shapes out of construction paper and have your child look through magazines to find pictures of things they would like to see or places they would like to go. Help them cut out the pictures and paste them to the balloons collage style, and hang them on a wall where they can look at it and be proud<br />
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<b>The Butter Battle Book (my personal favorite) AND/OR The Sneetches</b><br />
~Use multicultural paper doll die cuts to discuss how some cultures are different and do things in a different way. Have your child decorate the dolls using different materials. Then emphasize that even though we do things differently, and might look different sometimes, we all do things that are similar too! We all eat, sleep, play games, love our mommies, feel sad sometimes and angry sometimes. If you feel it is appropriate, discuss including everyone in games, even if they are different.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Cat in the Hat</b><br />
Okay, so what would a week of celebrating Dr. Seuss be without giving a nod to this beloved book?<br />
<b>~</b>Play a rhyming game. Look at some of the words in the book and see how many rhyming words you can come up with<br />
~Make rhyming cubes. I haven't worked the details out on this one, but my plan is to make paper cubes, oragami style, and use a sharpie to write letters on each side of the cube. The child can then build a word using the cubes, and flip the first cube onto different sides to make a different word that rhymes with the original.<br />
~ Pin the Hat on the Cat. Use a computer to print a large picture of the Cat minus his hat. If you are artistic like I am not, you can always free hand it onto posterboard as well! Make a hat or two and use two sided tape or single sided tape looped over to make the back sticky (or if you want a version that will last, you could use felt and velcro!) Play the game as you would pin the tail on the donkey<br />
~Cat Hats. Cut a middle out of a paper plate, so you have an open circular strip. Help your child use construction paper to make a white and red top hat. You might want to make the top hat shape, and allow your child to paste the colored stripes on. If you want to do something different, offer a variety of colors! Staple the hat to the middle of the paper plate strip. Use a paper hole punch to punch holes in the ends of the plate and tie string to it, to help you size the hat to your child. <br />
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<b>Yertle the Turtle</b><br />
~Make several turtle "blocks" out of shoe boxes, tissue boxes, small packaging boxes (the kind you might get from Amazon etc) Use green construction paper to cover the box. Allow your child to help decorate the "shells" and cover with clear contact paper to add durability. Make turtle heads, arms, legs, and tails from different shades of green and brown paper. Cut them out and laminate them. Hot glue them to the boxes to make the turtles. Have fun making your stack of turtles as tall as you can! Have your child count as you stack together! It is more fun if the turtles are several different sizes.<br />
~ Paper Plate Turtles. Place a paper plate in front of your child right side up. Help them cut and paste turtle arms, legs, a head, and a tail, to the edges of this plate facing up, or you can create the turtle parts yourself and have the child place them if they are younger. Place a second paper plate over top of this one, bottom side up, and staple the plates together. Older children can paper mache the "shell" and paint it, and younger children can use geometric self adhesive "foamies" to decorate their shells. Add some dried rice or beans to the plate before stapling them together if you would like to make this into a musical instrument<br />
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<b>My Many Colored Days</b><br />
~Color Felt Board. Create different colored felt items for your felt board. If you don't think you could have one, trust me it is easy! Cover a piece of poster board with a large piece of felt. Put it into a cheap off the shelf frame from a craft store. Voila, felt board! For this activity, create items in groups similar to color. A strawberry, a red shoe, a red flower etc. Then do the same for other colors- a blue crayon, a blue bird etc. Encourage your child to sort the items into different colors on the felt board. Really all you need is felt (found at a craft store) some scissors, and a glue gun.<br />
~Feeling Faces. Use a few blank sheets of paper to draw the outline of a face. Ask your child to draw a sad face, a happy face, etc. Label each face with what emotion it is. Use clear contact paper to laminate the pictures, and bind them together with a loose binder ring (found at office supply stores.) Use the book your child made to discuss emotions and what to do when he is feeling sad, angry, happy etc.<br />
~Feeling Magnet Board. This is something else a lot of people think they don't have the resources to have in their playroom. If you have a cookie sheet, you have a magnet board! Or if you want a fancy one, you could buy a piece of sheet metal from a home improvement store and frame it similar to the felt board above! At office supply stores you can usually find magnetic business card sheets for printers. Use those and construction paper to create facial features in different emotions. A smily face, angry eyes,sleepy eyes, a few different noses. Let your child make up their own faces! (Tip- you can use the computer to help with the creation of your facial features!!!)<br />
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<b>The Lorax</b><br />
Okay, yeah I'm getting on the Lorax train. Quite frankly, I'm pretty pumped about the movie that will debut on Dr. Seuss's birthday. Yes, I will attempt to take my children to see it, since Jonah has no school on Friday. It will be their first theater movie, so we'll see how much of it we get to enjoy!<br />
~Talk about things we can do every day to "save the earth." Include the children in separating recycling, turning out the lights and electronics, switch to dish cloths and rags for the day instead of using paper towels. Depending on the age of the child, there are a lot of activities. Do a little online searching for kid-friendly eco activities!<br />
~ Go to the Lorax Project website I have listed above. Click on "Info" and a list of places that need help are listed. Choose a place and explore it. Do an internet search with your child to find pictures of animals or plants in these areas that are endagered because of humans. Have your child draw a picture of the animal. Talk about ways that you can help. Talk about things that you might already be doing.<br />
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<b>Bartholemew and the Oobleck </b><br />
~Make your own oobleck! Help your child pour some corn starch into a mixing bowl. Add water while stirring until you have a thick liquidy, but not watery, substance. Notice that it spreads out and acts like a liquid when you are not touching it, but if you poke it hard or try to throw a bit of it down, it acts as a solid! Even if your child is too little to understand all of that, they will still have fun playing with this stuff! To dispose, scrape as much as you can into the trash can, and then rinse the bowl. It will clean up with water from the table! <b> </b> <br />
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<b>The Birthday Bash:</b><br />
On Friday we are going to have a Dr. Seuss birthday party. We will start the day with real green eggs and ham. I will let the kids help dye the eggs. (although in the book, they are pictured as sunny side up eggs with green yolks- I still haven't figured out a way to replicate this, so my kids get green scrambled eggs, with cubed ham in them)<br />
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We will then play our Pin the Hat on the Cat game and make our Cat Hats before reading our pledged 20 minutes together and having lunch. I am not completely decided on lunch yet, but I would like to somehow fashion the Cat in the Hat's head and hat out of sandwich stuffs. Tomatoes and ham for the hat stripes, cheese and olives for the face. It is still a thought in progress. But lunch will definitely include a <a href="http://simplegirlathome.blogspot.com/2011/02/dr-seuss-snacks.html">one fish two fish jello desser</a>t! Then we will be heading out to the movies, sporting our newly made Cat Hats.<br />
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That is the plan, anyway! I'll try my hardest to post the details of how certain activities went!<br />
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Are you planning to do anything special for Dr. Seuss's birthday? Leave a comment and let us know what!Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-16541721800542797702012-02-21T12:18:00.001-08:002012-02-26T19:56:18.465-08:00Encouraging Children to Explore The World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGukQvHSWAkS3dW9GchU98S4bjmfCdiUXE4ZrbotDhn9gYHGuOHOa8ZXvXPap5T_7qDjxNkDBX-2TW3wJ2NJ0WQTIu9bHs9VCYaYIFaLuC6fYVSjjymE42ZmwNsIe9DIEHULIyJEdO1hi/s1600/DSC_0268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGukQvHSWAkS3dW9GchU98S4bjmfCdiUXE4ZrbotDhn9gYHGuOHOa8ZXvXPap5T_7qDjxNkDBX-2TW3wJ2NJ0WQTIu9bHs9VCYaYIFaLuC6fYVSjjymE42ZmwNsIe9DIEHULIyJEdO1hi/s320/DSC_0268.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
It's no secret that I love to travel. My bucket list is speckled with places to see and things that I want to do thousands of miles away. The appeal that travel has on me stems from the fact that there are so many amazing things in this world; cultures rich with history; plants, animals, and people, all waiting to tell a story. I have always known that I wanted to instill this curiosity about the world into my children, but how do we go about it with children so young?<br />
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This past week, we have been on vacation with my husband's family, in a place that is very different from where we live. Although Arizona, at first thought, may not seem like such a different culture from Ohio- after all, it is a relatively short plane ride away, in the same country, with the same chain restaurants and big box stores- Daryl and I took this opportunity to focus on the rich cultural diversities that we can find right here in our native country. When it comes to the landscape, Arizona is noticeably different for the children. Jonah literally thought that our plane had landed on another planet. Of course to a three year old, "Phoenix" sounds an awful lot like "Venus."<br />
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While commuting, we pointed out the mountains, the buttes, the desert ground and plants that were strange to us, things that we just don't see in our little corner of Ohio. We met with a family that Daryl knew from college and encouraged the children to play and talk to their children; they met the family chickens and played games that their friends don't play back home. <br />
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We also chose activities and destinations that encouraged them to learn about things different from what we know at home. We fed a giraffe at the zoo, and came nearly nose to nose with monkeys (while these creatures are not a part of Arizona wildlife, these are still experiences we cannot gain at home.)<br />
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We got up close and personal (but not TOO close) to desert wildlife and plants at the desert botanical gardens. We learned about cacti.<br />
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We met a ground squirrel.<br />
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We said hello to a cactus dwelling bird.<br />
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We even met some friends that were familiar.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIZ4MfvD15AcOULttoJMjL5YcXD1T1K9guRljcdgCVm6Q8ZjlNQ_KGLYhB8MkGdLcxpDYXoRGYcg4TaUweJ_6ESHz2NLDIqbnoM5dccLMw7SxMhqKZRW5JzQNI8J55AhCOFGJJXIMnpvP/s1600/423956_10100638793280174_23317623_51151903_857860046_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIZ4MfvD15AcOULttoJMjL5YcXD1T1K9guRljcdgCVm6Q8ZjlNQ_KGLYhB8MkGdLcxpDYXoRGYcg4TaUweJ_6ESHz2NLDIqbnoM5dccLMw7SxMhqKZRW5JzQNI8J55AhCOFGJJXIMnpvP/s320/423956_10100638793280174_23317623_51151903_857860046_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I encouraged them (unsuccessfully) to try foods that had culinary roots from nearby Mexico, and fruits and veggies that were grown local to the area where we were staying, although we also had familiar comfort foods available in our kitchen at the resort. And above all, they were encouraged to just be kids and have fun!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1diz0Gta8QmMvvnv7o1ftzutUysQyXTA4bI341BFSLnkfbriKmzcIfilnUmPoxo0yFp9Y95GesuUZziflQ2OmEO8owoHi8LuVOi3c7nXz7v3HuplsUJtrao11fw3aUejFUvImRKEC8I0P/s1600/DSC_0743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1diz0Gta8QmMvvnv7o1ftzutUysQyXTA4bI341BFSLnkfbriKmzcIfilnUmPoxo0yFp9Y95GesuUZziflQ2OmEO8owoHi8LuVOi3c7nXz7v3HuplsUJtrao11fw3aUejFUvImRKEC8I0P/s320/DSC_0743.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><br />
I know they will never remember the specifics. They will not remember the names of the animals, they will not remember seeing a cactus, they will not remember looking at a mountain in the distance and shouting "A volcano!!! YIKES!" But what I hope they are beginning to develop that will stick with them throughout their lifetime, is a sense of wonder and curiosity about how people live and why cultures behave a certain way; I hope that the seeds have been planted that will grow into a drive to explore a world full of interesting stories and places. And I hope that this curiosity and drive will foster a life of compassion and understanding for cultures and individuals that are a bit different from what we have grown used to in Ohio.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-81637424061578413182012-02-19T11:04:00.000-08:002012-02-19T11:08:00.470-08:00"Chocolate-Covered Strawberry" Oatmeal Pancakes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTAmJR9hKe5Bb1HuAF0quON08H3WAfcrqi3516sz9xzLUZP4ruPScYH1YBhv6prvTkp-ri4fyQ0MqJqDmPRW_4JA9UFAUVjV0ij5GOhHOybqpLJnKJPbZcghQaCskR9uzf97c_jkT-nShZ/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTAmJR9hKe5Bb1HuAF0quON08H3WAfcrqi3516sz9xzLUZP4ruPScYH1YBhv6prvTkp-ri4fyQ0MqJqDmPRW_4JA9UFAUVjV0ij5GOhHOybqpLJnKJPbZcghQaCskR9uzf97c_jkT-nShZ/s200/DSC_0005.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Valentine's Day occurred in our house a few days late because of our vacation to Arizona. It crossed my mind to pack everything up and take it with us to create a fun day for the kids, but we decided to pack very lightly and all of our pink, red, and heart shaped items were left at home. I wasn't going to let the kids miss out on their day of fun special treats, though! They don't know that the rest of the world celebrated love and romance nearly a week ago! My favorite part of the day is probably breakfast, because the kids are always so delighted to find heart shapes somewhere on their plate! The oatmeal in these pancakes make them a little more hearty (pun intended) than regular pancakes, and also replaces wheat flour and sugar in the overall volume of pancake that you are eating. The chocolate chips are optional; I thought I'd throw them in as a special treat on a holiday!<br />
<br />
1 batch of your favorite pancake batter<br />
1/4 cup of skim milk<br />
1-2 cups quick oats<br />
2 cups frozen strawberries, mostly thawed and chopped coarsely<br />
about 1 cup chocolate chips<br />
<br />
Prepare your favorite pancake batter or mix. Add in the extra milk, oats, and strawberries. Mix until well incorporated, with 3-5 strokes of your spoon. Do not over mix the batter, it may be lumpy, just be sure that the oats and strawberries are evenly distributed.<br />
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Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium-low heat until a pat of butter or drop of water "dances" on it. Butter the cooking surface well. Use cooking spray or butter to lubricate the sides of metal heart shaped cookie cutters. Place a metal heart shaped cookie cutter on the cooking surface and use a spoon to place batter within the cookie cutter, making sure that batter covers all corners. Drop a few chocolate chips evenly throughout the surface of the batter. When the top of the batter appears "play dough-ish" and bubbly, use tongs to hold the cookie cutter as you push the shape out gently with a butter knife. Use caution here, the cookie cutter will be HOT! Once the shape is out of the cookie cutter, use a spatula to flip it over. Cook for another minute or so, until the bottom of the shape is slightly browned and the chocolate chips are melted. You may need to use the butter knife to trim any stray batter.<br />
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You can also use this method to cook eggs into heart shapes, but Jonah has been asking for pancakes for breakfast all week.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEpE_I6M6IOkKdhtHcdHyl2AXmqsJfPM-5UBstL6A2rjUqdRnBN7BoTBCyHJCm-_W2ez-9bkWl2pmWx5fkHOm3MXQ-e-N51YbBttkAI3N6szhydc_NeI29bKnT5Z4S5HJN5dTRYC8udcQ/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsEpE_I6M6IOkKdhtHcdHyl2AXmqsJfPM-5UBstL6A2rjUqdRnBN7BoTBCyHJCm-_W2ez-9bkWl2pmWx5fkHOm3MXQ-e-N51YbBttkAI3N6szhydc_NeI29bKnT5Z4S5HJN5dTRYC8udcQ/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-23153003354232852132012-01-25T08:07:00.000-08:002012-01-25T08:07:09.840-08:00Swim!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIqBnHwKw4_HsD4YAa4-xy6rsmlGstgpY8uLyO2P9QchxeON65nBKoSHk3nOGV_VLgBR7h5IXDCnA6xy5ljz9nDfXrnIEKufDRN2vZDsO7J6_4j3dgEcr-7hGCvB1t1rSrSsPv3rXhf3Z/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIqBnHwKw4_HsD4YAa4-xy6rsmlGstgpY8uLyO2P9QchxeON65nBKoSHk3nOGV_VLgBR7h5IXDCnA6xy5ljz9nDfXrnIEKufDRN2vZDsO7J6_4j3dgEcr-7hGCvB1t1rSrSsPv3rXhf3Z/s320/DSC_0105.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUIqBnHwKw4_HsD4YAa4-xy6rsmlGstgpY8uLyO2P9QchxeON65nBKoSHk3nOGV_VLgBR7h5IXDCnA6xy5ljz9nDfXrnIEKufDRN2vZDsO7J6_4j3dgEcr-7hGCvB1t1rSrSsPv3rXhf3Z/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>In an attempt to keep the kids active during the winter, we signed them up for parent-child swim lessons. We are very fortunate that the area we moved to has a wonderful recreational department, and we plan to fully take advantage of it!<br />
<br />
Swimming started last week, twice a week for forty minutes per session. The lessons were listed as two separate classes, however ages 0-3 were all put into the same group once we got there. This has advantages and disadvantages for our family. I was disappointed at first, because I was hoping that Jonah would learn basic skills such as floating, kicking, and putting his face in the water. I think that the older children in the class are not getting age appropriate water skills. However, since both kids are in the same class, Daryl and I can spend that time with the kids as a family. Although the sessions are basically just water play, the "instructor" goes between each parent-child couple to give suggestions on ways to strengthen certain skills.<br />
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Jonah loves to float on his back, holding a "noodle," and he loves chasing balls through the water. Evie is working on building confidence in the water, and not being afraid. She loves blowing bubbles and kicking!<br />
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These swim lessons are not only a great way for our family to spend evenings exercising together; they are offering a great outlet for the kids' energies, exposing them to new experiences, and providing wonderful sensory activities. I am hoping that these classes will evolve to teach them knowledge of water safety and potentially life saving skills of swimming and floating.<br />
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So although the temperatures are still chilly, just look for my family pool side!Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-81111232576819725452012-01-18T20:38:00.000-08:002012-01-18T20:38:48.813-08:00Turkey Noodle Soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTqE9OpZF-9AIhjumob8-c2SgNsYGGDvwrSauuWcAAwi2TvkNP9ihHFBlPa-2Nqh4IOUNWmOFpC7sdPXg5TDH1Y90FT1DstwKnEZ9zi0MF_8Swl4NGLcnQu6AQIO1YcWevK09OOZuywL8/s1600/DSC_0168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTqE9OpZF-9AIhjumob8-c2SgNsYGGDvwrSauuWcAAwi2TvkNP9ihHFBlPa-2Nqh4IOUNWmOFpC7sdPXg5TDH1Y90FT1DstwKnEZ9zi0MF_8Swl4NGLcnQu6AQIO1YcWevK09OOZuywL8/s320/DSC_0168.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Home made soup is the perfect dinner for a day like today! Last week, I roasted one of the turkeys that I got on sale after Thanksgiving. The turkey has provided us with meals for a week, and only cost $13. Today, I had just enough turkey left for this soup, and frozen turkey stock that I had made from a previous turkey. Measurements are estimated, especially the herbs and spices. Please adjust the recipe to your taste! You can also add celery and onions with the carrots; I just didn't have any today!<br />
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Turkey Noodle Soup:<br />
8 cups turkey stock (or chicken stock)<br />
3 carrots, peeled and sliced<br />
1 1/2 cups-2 cups diced or shredded turkey<br />
2 cups bowtie pasta (or whatever your shape preference) <br />
1 tablespoon dried parsely (fresh would also be nice) <br />
2 tsp ground marjoram<br />
2 tsp ground oregano<br />
1 tsp garlic powder<br />
1 tsp celery seed<br />
1/2 tsp ground mustard<br />
salt and pepper to taste<br />
2 tablespoons butter<br />
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil<br />
<br />
In a stock pot, heat the oil and butter until butter is melted and the oil begins to shimmer. Add the carrots to the butter and oil; stir to coat them in oil as you add the herbs and spices, saving the salt. Heat the carrots, stirring often, until they are slightly tender. Add the stock to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the pasta. Just before the pasta is finished cooking, add the turkey and salt. Boil until the pasta and carrots are tender.<br />
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I also added 1/4 cup of turkey fat from the pan that I had baked the turkey in, at the same time that I added the meat, and allowed it to melt into the stock. I think this really gave the soup a great boost in flavor. It was served with slices of home made bread.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDea_2Y790NHN6MhFWaYjFfBe0gq-TiGSXytC3tiwueQImK3755-xOA2l6RRaK8-JHXkXB0UZM3jubgyn1f-mJTsoRHiRubqfT5zEcWrmrjMDYFoDupmzTl0AIHkSw0AC0L1jcmFEtFqQ/s1600/DSC_0104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDea_2Y790NHN6MhFWaYjFfBe0gq-TiGSXytC3tiwueQImK3755-xOA2l6RRaK8-JHXkXB0UZM3jubgyn1f-mJTsoRHiRubqfT5zEcWrmrjMDYFoDupmzTl0AIHkSw0AC0L1jcmFEtFqQ/s320/DSC_0104.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-55832974415174177652012-01-13T12:02:00.000-08:002012-01-13T12:02:11.242-08:00Snowed In Fun: Indoor Snowball FightJonah has been asking since October, to have a snowball fight. He wants to go sledding, build a snowman, go ice skating, and above all: have a snowball fight.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusuBThakTuPFlQ2ZCrzL0xH3aRUYrI_h_mAM-QfbT_lwXYL44htymqFCJSoNio63noaCb3rgHuR2AMMMKFMi9SsWlfsT4FEjNbyXmqrVoI4S4syUmfoNppFm2u5SwsueTGZehqBDeCHOl/s1600/DSC_0320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusuBThakTuPFlQ2ZCrzL0xH3aRUYrI_h_mAM-QfbT_lwXYL44htymqFCJSoNio63noaCb3rgHuR2AMMMKFMi9SsWlfsT4FEjNbyXmqrVoI4S4syUmfoNppFm2u5SwsueTGZehqBDeCHOl/s320/DSC_0320.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The problem is, we haven't had much snow this year. In November we were able to go outside and enjoy a light dusting; other than that, the only snow we have gotten has been in conjunction with temperatures in the teens. It is followed by warm weather which immediately reduces the beautiful snow into muddy slushy sludge.<br />
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So now that the snow is falling heavily outside of our window, and little voices are asking to go out, what do I do considering that it is 18 degrees F?<br />
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We have a snowball fight, of course! One that requires no gloves, no bulky coat that restricts movement, and it provides gross motor opportunities as well as tactile sensory integration! <br />
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Over the summer, I picked up some shower loofahs at the dollar store, 4 for $1. I bought twelve of them, specifically for this activity, so I made sure that they were at least partially white (they had no all-white loofahs.)<br />
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I did not show the loofahs to the kids, but instead, played up the idea that we are going to have a "snowball fight." I asked them if they wanted to have a snowball fight INside, because it was too cold to go OUTside. Of course the idea thrilled them. I brought them up to our play area, which is a nice spacious area with very little that can be knocked over or broken. If you do this in your living room, please remove any lamps, knick knacks, or pictures that could be broken.<br />
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I dumped the bag of "snowballs" onto the floor. The kids stared at me. They had no idea what to do with them! So I picked one up and (nicely) chucked it at Jonah's chest. "AAAHHHHH!!! I got YOU!!! Can you get ME???" Then the kids understood, and suddenly I was "under fire" being pelted with pretend snowballs. I ducked for cover under the train table. The kids giggled, waiting for me to come out. I grabbed the closest snowball I saw, leaped up and yelled "AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" They squeeled and ran from me. Jonah, hiding behind a small brick structure on the wall, and Eve under the blankets on the futon.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpVKiAvZNMkNZYC5qnx1XCfmwOt8AByk6pIDM59XnrGGFZpGPqXNbDDdo5nFSrpZG2MF5Pgt35IyQYoPANKzrBzKGQW3kqKU3pvAQIu8nH3V7dV_Zr9UvT4NLELlNLUotzM0HjFxVNmdi/s1600/IMG_0070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpVKiAvZNMkNZYC5qnx1XCfmwOt8AByk6pIDM59XnrGGFZpGPqXNbDDdo5nFSrpZG2MF5Pgt35IyQYoPANKzrBzKGQW3kqKU3pvAQIu8nH3V7dV_Zr9UvT4NLELlNLUotzM0HjFxVNmdi/s320/IMG_0070.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
We went back and forth in this way until I was too tired to continue. Everyone got a fair amount of exercise.The loofahs are one of the textures that Jonah is hesitant to touch, so I left the string loops on them, so he would have something to hold them with, but I also encouraged him to hold the whole loofah in order to aim and throw it properly.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifpshSP3LYSnQDK_tsEsKGWFWKWUtzti7b0m7YaQQjQ8OoY1z4GyHfJgDfWbn2VFRoN_FhBY3CdrDv3GxYH2zP0zZGqz7CzI-IwZeWEnSspKmJbbJn2BwKDYx8KbRBVPHszfj8sCLYLBjy/s1600/IMG_0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifpshSP3LYSnQDK_tsEsKGWFWKWUtzti7b0m7YaQQjQ8OoY1z4GyHfJgDfWbn2VFRoN_FhBY3CdrDv3GxYH2zP0zZGqz7CzI-IwZeWEnSspKmJbbJn2BwKDYx8KbRBVPHszfj8sCLYLBjy/s320/IMG_0089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHkM6STf8txbA9DbpnydHPwvPMocR91SiMWmD2r19boaq_u7GZtUQg1iJwZcRvXhL5vltJXatcP214lpjsA90jfwX82Q56LBlrhtaFgizSaGBEai6JrQESAbrdGjEPaZnZNav-ANTQMgx9/s1600/IMG_0067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>This activity is great to get the wiggles out of any aged child. It promotes exercise, hand-eye coordination, social play, imaginative play, and tactile sensory integration. And the best part about it is, it does all of that without the kids even realizing that they are doing anything other than having a great time.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHkM6STf8txbA9DbpnydHPwvPMocR91SiMWmD2r19boaq_u7GZtUQg1iJwZcRvXhL5vltJXatcP214lpjsA90jfwX82Q56LBlrhtaFgizSaGBEai6JrQESAbrdGjEPaZnZNav-ANTQMgx9/s1600/IMG_0067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHkM6STf8txbA9DbpnydHPwvPMocR91SiMWmD2r19boaq_u7GZtUQg1iJwZcRvXhL5vltJXatcP214lpjsA90jfwX82Q56LBlrhtaFgizSaGBEai6JrQESAbrdGjEPaZnZNav-ANTQMgx9/s320/IMG_0067.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-63224495270880689942011-12-21T19:04:00.000-08:002011-12-21T19:11:25.437-08:00Decking The HallsI wanted to include Jonah and Eve in the Christmas decorating as much as I could, so this year we used a lot of decorations that they could help make. Last year, Jonah helped make a <a href="http://jonah-jonahsjournal.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-own-two-hands-holiday-wreath.html">handprint wreath</a>. I wanted to add some more handmade decorations this year. These two decorations were easy for my kids to help with, and they are extremely proud to show them off to visitors!<br />
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<b>Paper Chain Garland:</b><br />
Scissors <br />
Holiday themed scrap paper or colored construction paper <br />
School Glue <br />
Lots of patience!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cjGWeKHUY7s/TvKRbufNtVI/AAAAAAAAA2s/NAxtiCpS2Ls/s1600/DSC_0202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cjGWeKHUY7s/TvKRbufNtVI/AAAAAAAAA2s/NAxtiCpS2Ls/s320/DSC_0202.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is a classic. And also happens to be a wonderful activity for honing hand-eye coordination and other crucial fine motor skills. I cut strips of holiday colored paper, 8 inches long and about 1 inch wide (I eyeballed it, no need to be exact!) It would be really fun to use holiday patterned scrapbook paper, but we had construction paper on hand. Older children can cut the strips themselves. I tried to let Jonah help cut some, and his were- well, not strips! So this year, I did the cutting. I demonstrated to Jonah how to put a dab of glue on one end of a paper strip, and how to bend it around to create a loop.<br />
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I then demonstrated how to put a strip of paper through that loop, and create a new loop, so that we had two attached loops. Jonah was thrilled and very eager to try.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tXtPlBO9CZY/TvKTcMF5MjI/AAAAAAAAA24/P6aTqIzubjQ/s1600/DSC_0182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tXtPlBO9CZY/TvKTcMF5MjI/AAAAAAAAA24/P6aTqIzubjQ/s320/DSC_0182.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>and try.... <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YlcbNjlgSYU/TvKTmp17o-I/AAAAAAAAA3I/FkFSGf9id5g/s1600/DSC_0186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YlcbNjlgSYU/TvKTmp17o-I/AAAAAAAAA3I/FkFSGf9id5g/s320/DSC_0186.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
and try!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YOIu5XaNGT4/TvKTe5VeAfI/AAAAAAAAA3A/rtfmUZ7s398/s1600/DSC_0187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YOIu5XaNGT4/TvKTe5VeAfI/AAAAAAAAA3A/rtfmUZ7s398/s320/DSC_0187.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>With a lot of guidance and help, we finally had a chain long enough for our mantel.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w7PJDbA8DvA/TvKVxaIAAPI/AAAAAAAAA3U/sp4IPpCA7xA/s1600/DSC_0197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w7PJDbA8DvA/TvKVxaIAAPI/AAAAAAAAA3U/sp4IPpCA7xA/s320/DSC_0197.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><br />
Jonah had a bit of trouble coordinating both of his hands in this task. It was wonderful practice for him to use fine motor skills that he needs to strengthen and really work on. After doing this craft, I will be making a "busy box" for him with paper chain making as an activity. With this as a busy box activity, he can practice these skills year round!<br />
<br />
<b>Coffee Filter Snowflakes:</b><br />
White coffee filters<br />
poster paint or magic/washable markers<br />
water<br />
work surface such as a plate or art tray<br />
paint brushes<br />
scissors<br />
<br />
As many times as I have done coffee filter art, it never occurred to me to cut them into snowflakes until this year. There are many variations of this craft, turning coffee filters into butterflies or flowers; some use washable markers and others use food coloring. For school aged children, you can mix this into a chemistry lesson about chromatography or how colored ink is mixed, if you choose to use markers. Just have the kids color the filters with washable marker, spray or drip water onto the markings, and watch the color spread out and the ink seperate colors. We used this as an introduction to our wintery weather unit. Since it had flurried that morning, it seemed appropriate that we create our chilly weather craft in our nice warm PJ's!<br />
<br />
We chose to use watered down poster paint. I wanted the snowflakes to look icy, so I picked purple, a shade of teal, and dark blue. I mixed a very tiny bit of each color into bowls of water. The less water you use, the more vibrant the color, but it will be harder for the colors to spread if it is too thick. Then I gave the kids paint brushes and coffee filters, and let them go at it!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dIB30mNWZHY/TvKasm1FYsI/AAAAAAAAA3g/EEuOpd3bnJU/s1600/DSC_0158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dIB30mNWZHY/TvKasm1FYsI/AAAAAAAAA3g/EEuOpd3bnJU/s320/DSC_0158.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I put the filters onto plates, to keep the paint from getting all over the place. You can also use pie tins or art trays. The surface needs to be wiped between each coffee filter.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--y8Bp8wj-IY/TvKbHRnzvHI/AAAAAAAAA3s/tpFBCqmu2ec/s1600/DSC_0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--y8Bp8wj-IY/TvKbHRnzvHI/AAAAAAAAA3s/tpFBCqmu2ec/s320/DSC_0161.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><br />
I was absolutely amazed at how absorbed my kids were with this activity. They painted for nearly an hour. Had I not told them that time was up, then they would have gladly kept painting!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjrL_i_ehCI/TvKb1BqzofI/AAAAAAAAA34/w5IjGsV_OKM/s1600/DSC_0164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjrL_i_ehCI/TvKb1BqzofI/AAAAAAAAA34/w5IjGsV_OKM/s320/DSC_0164.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>After we were done painting each coffee filter, I set it on a plastic sheet to dry. This process can take a while, depending on how enthusiastic your child was about painting the filter. If it is saturated, you can speed up the process by using a hair dryer (just keep the dryer moving back and forth, don't let it sit in one spot on the paper.) But, a hair dryer may cause the paper to curl.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3VF4Ko-_JXE/TvKcjHMG27I/AAAAAAAAA4E/nXLvExNGJNs/s1600/DSC_0165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3VF4Ko-_JXE/TvKcjHMG27I/AAAAAAAAA4E/nXLvExNGJNs/s320/DSC_0165.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Once the filters are dry, fold the circle into fourths, eights, and sixteenths and begin cutting shapes on the folded edges. Unfold the paper and you will have a lovely snowflake to hang in your windows!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ae9htE7DUKE/TvKdiUBVopI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/3ZznXmwL5Zo/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ae9htE7DUKE/TvKdiUBVopI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/3ZznXmwL5Zo/s320/IMG_0046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-92173135717641700672011-12-20T20:47:00.000-08:002011-12-20T20:47:56.642-08:00Home Made Gifts: Instant Chai MixWhen I was working in nursery school, I would often get sweet little tokens of appreciation from the kids and families that I cared for, especially around the holidays. It always touched me to see how much thought parents put into these typically home made gifts. They always had a personal flare on them from the child, whether it was a simple card that the child had drawn on, or a sloppily finger painted ornament. They all made me smile from ear to ear. But one family touched my heart especially. I had cared for all three of the brothers in the family, babysitting them as well as having them in my nursery room. I had really grown to know and love them right down to every red hair on their head and cute little brown freckle on their cheeks! On Christmas Eve, all three boys marched into the learning center, red heads covered with red and green santa hats and freckled cheeks turned up in smiles. The oldest shouted excitedly at my classroom door "Miss Jessie! We made this for you! It's a SECRET SURPRISE, but it's TEA!" The mother explained to me that we had bumped into each other at Borders a month earlier and I had been drinking a chai tea. I told the oldest boy that it is one of my favorite drinks. When the mom asked what the boys thought they should make their teachers for the holidays, the oldest boy had said "We need to make Miss Jessie some chai, because she really loves it." The family presented me with a mug, and tucked inside was a cellophane bag and a tag with pictures of all three boys. The boys had helped their mother scoop and measure ingredients to make homemade chai mix, just for me. I was so touched that the boys wanted to do something so personal for me, that they had recalled our chance meeting and had really put thought into what they wanted to make.<br />
<br />
This year we had quite a few gifts to give as tokens of appreciation. When thinking of something that the kids could help me with, I immediately thought of the chai tea mix. It is a very nice and unique homemade gift to show someone that you appreciate what they do in your life. And it is easy to make in large quantities. Young children can easily help you scoop and measure, as well as mix the ingredients. We handed them out to teachers at the Little Gym (there were 15 of them!) our postal worker, neighbors, various friends, and hosts of parties. The ingredients were a bit more expensive than I had anticipated, but this is because of two factors: 1. our grocery store didn't have a generic brand of unsweetened, unflavored tea. The larger boxes were all flavored or sweetened, so I had to get smaller containers of brand name tea, which was twice the cost; and 2. the cardamom was $15 a bottle! If you can't find it cheaply, omit it to save money if you want to make this economical (although it will NOT taste the same, cardamom is a very unique flavor. It will be missing something, but will still taste very good without it.) Of course I also made enough for us to have extra to enjoy at home!<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Instant Chai Tea Mix:</b><br />
<br />
2 cup nonfat dry milk powder<br />
2 1/2 cups white sugar (Vanilla sugar is nice if you have it. Store white sugar in an airtight container with a vanilla bean stuck in the middle. Perfect for this recipe!)<br />
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea<br />
2 teaspoons ground ginger<br />
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon<br />
1 teaspoon ground cloves<br />
1 teaspoon ground cardamom<br />
1 teaspoon nutmeg<br />
<br />
(If you don't have all of the spices and don't want to spend a ton of money, pumpkin pie spice in the same amounts of the substituted spices will do, but again while it will taste yummy it won't be identical to coffee shop chai)<br />
<br />
Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated evenly. Blend in a blender until the mixture is a fine powder. I did this in batches of about two cups at a time, to make sure it blended evenly. Spoon into small ziptop bags, keeping in mind that two tablespoons (meaning the flatware, not the measuring spoons) makes one cup of chai.I put enough in for three cups per bag. Wrap the zip top bags in festive cellophane and tie with a bow. This part is not necessary, but is a nice touch. I ended up skipping it because I couldn't find my cellophane and couldn't make another trip for more. Put each bag into a mug, which can be found inexpensively at dollar stores. Tie a tag to each bag, or insert it between the mug and bag, that says "Homemade Chai Tea Mix: Mix two tablespoons into a mug of hot water." and whatever other message you would like.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8pmWKDD1uhOPv6CoivToELgyfm5yYD9yuwJsw0jQg11Q-6LlZOyFaRcF3emVv6lfRKudXTjaUkiJZ6sJI1j4G31Dcuy7t__HJaouN1LBLFKKJhB4FPPQG2aawNLXAXvwFA8geO5VI0h_/s1600/IMAG0581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8pmWKDD1uhOPv6CoivToELgyfm5yYD9yuwJsw0jQg11Q-6LlZOyFaRcF3emVv6lfRKudXTjaUkiJZ6sJI1j4G31Dcuy7t__HJaouN1LBLFKKJhB4FPPQG2aawNLXAXvwFA8geO5VI0h_/s320/IMAG0581.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-67994330324290943962011-11-30T09:19:00.000-08:002011-11-30T09:44:23.481-08:00Mommy Moment #527: Don't Stifle my Creativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHWhoz6wiE4qZ4DSyBvkJlSErv4fR5MgY40dtdRemKDmQAW6dqomqfseihxQHe9UwoA_o1EuyhGcrWUNLtPNe219AK961gJuDc9TZdRp5YsTVclC9zCOA3TCZJcghsG4QOFEQW1KJa2fC/s1600/DSC_0173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHWhoz6wiE4qZ4DSyBvkJlSErv4fR5MgY40dtdRemKDmQAW6dqomqfseihxQHe9UwoA_o1EuyhGcrWUNLtPNe219AK961gJuDc9TZdRp5YsTVclC9zCOA3TCZJcghsG4QOFEQW1KJa2fC/s320/DSC_0173.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>Looking over at my 18 month old during lunch, to see her side of the table completely covered in yogurt, I asked "What are you doing with your yogurt?"<br />
<br />
Her response was an excited and self-affirming exclamation: "PAINT!"Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-25203540061118680622011-11-27T06:00:00.000-08:002011-11-27T06:00:00.977-08:00Moving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Nothing like moving day to simulate the feeling of being trapped inside the reality show "Hoarders"<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEpsEgDZJxtgztfl16g60JzJG2j3vOGw_FenrhaK7svlyGzQ9GTuSvT4vuyVlrwtKXFZjhnB37ov0d-jOIQ71CbMfsEbc0rlbyIGq_QXYpwp42giLTVYKXjN5Vi6hb-G1zYcqPcLKbP3U/s1600/DSC_0053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEpsEgDZJxtgztfl16g60JzJG2j3vOGw_FenrhaK7svlyGzQ9GTuSvT4vuyVlrwtKXFZjhnB37ov0d-jOIQ71CbMfsEbc0rlbyIGq_QXYpwp42giLTVYKXjN5Vi6hb-G1zYcqPcLKbP3U/s400/DSC_0053.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>This week, we moved from our secluded house that was surrounded by farms, to a house in the most densely populated city in Ohio. We are all adjusting to the change in lifestyle, and it is interesting to see what differences the kids are picking up on. For example, being able to see our neighbors' houses.<br />
<br />
Jonah: But Mama, look at all these houses! There are SO MANY!<br />
<br />
Me: Yep! Look at all of them! It's going to be different living near the city now.... but I think you'll like it.<br />
<br />
Jonah: Me too. I like to live here, Mama. But there are so many houses, that's SO silly!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3CLDjuFkCkmofxFoM7DapOooRp07f5zLDvr1y2t6efBsPy8xtemvClbUc4ybfEe0P0RuGle2TN0zgPO2fqjtYscA1AoUiElxpLiK3cHcbiDrv4u7oIsBtoreMxy6z46LcmKPx6sC08rf/s1600/DSC_0072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3CLDjuFkCkmofxFoM7DapOooRp07f5zLDvr1y2t6efBsPy8xtemvClbUc4ybfEe0P0RuGle2TN0zgPO2fqjtYscA1AoUiElxpLiK3cHcbiDrv4u7oIsBtoreMxy6z46LcmKPx6sC08rf/s320/DSC_0072.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>If he's happy, then I'm happyJonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-67755159259671042032011-11-24T22:15:00.000-08:002011-11-24T22:15:41.303-08:00Red CabbageIn my family, we have a rather odd traditional thanksgiving dish. My parents meshed dishes from each of their family's heritage to come up with our typical turkey day menu. From my dad's German roots, we get pickled red cabbage. It is somewhat like sauerkraut, but sightly sweeter and more flavorful. While others might crinkle their nose, it just doesn't feel like thanksgiving to me unless the aroma of roasted turkey and pumpkin pie mingles with the smell of red cabbage stewing in apple cider vinegar. There are many variations of this recipe floating around my family, but this is how (after a year of toying with the recipe) I have come to make it.<br />
<br />
1 head red cabbage<br />
apple cider vinegar (amount unknown, a few cups, but my dad and grandma would tell you "as much as it takes")<br />
2 tablespoon olive oil <br />
1 red onion finely diced (I only use about 1/4 of it)<br />
1 cup (or so) brown sugar<br />
1 bay leaf<br />
ground cloves to taste<br />
<br />
Cut the cabbage into large chunks and put into a food processor. You can finely chop it by hand, but it saves a lot of time to use the food processor for a whole cabbage. In a large stock pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the cabbage. Pour vinegar over the vegetables until it is nearly covered. Add the brown sugar, bay leaf, and cloves. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Simmer for several hours, adding more vinegar as needed. If you don't want sour cabbage, add water to the pot as the vinegar cooks down and add more brown sugar. Remove the bay leaf before serving.<br />
<br />
This is a great dish to serve with pork, as well. It freezes well, which is convenient since one head makes quite a bit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht59o8kdLvMg2qYciDYd4xf1AkM5SZqBiXcFlVDoE45zTh4sGi-nwl-VdlGP1MnezxyuOCb4Jo8y14OhrE1FCwlsVNS1fjetgkk-eHrokq13xqLNiCRXvK-Kbu0g2WgZUAeTe23X6xtURZ/s1600/cabbage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht59o8kdLvMg2qYciDYd4xf1AkM5SZqBiXcFlVDoE45zTh4sGi-nwl-VdlGP1MnezxyuOCb4Jo8y14OhrE1FCwlsVNS1fjetgkk-eHrokq13xqLNiCRXvK-Kbu0g2WgZUAeTe23X6xtURZ/s320/cabbage.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />
An attempt to make trying new vegetables fun and exciting, turned into the realization that a red cabbage leaf makes a wonderful klingon costume! We now have the tradition of wearing cabbage hats any time Mom makes the dish.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-63683817289592280332011-11-12T21:12:00.000-08:002011-11-12T21:14:27.687-08:00Elimination Communication Round 2: Evie's Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3avTFYD8NFLD-zmf2vnJPSc0Ld3fVhCdj5n1U_a8z0wJV3DgACNLLxCokXrPgEgg7fO1C3qv3hK1G2sgJc50ZXJKPPCdBMFguiSXIctRCOZGpd_qoZSGFuY4s72UHseBx4eBnKbwpEBq/s1600/EveDipe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3avTFYD8NFLD-zmf2vnJPSc0Ld3fVhCdj5n1U_a8z0wJV3DgACNLLxCokXrPgEgg7fO1C3qv3hK1G2sgJc50ZXJKPPCdBMFguiSXIctRCOZGpd_qoZSGFuY4s72UHseBx4eBnKbwpEBq/s1600/EveDipe.JPG" /></a></div><br />
When I was pregnant with Eve, a question I got often (and found odd) was whether or not I'd do anything differently with my second baby, than I had done with my first. Obviously, I had known that this baby growing inside of me would be a different child, a different personality- a different parenting experience! Not only that, but I would have two children instead of one, so of course things will be done differently! I didn't make certain plans for it; I would just wait and see how this baby likes things.<br />
<br />
However, one thing that I just knew was going to be done differently, was our use of elimination communication. We started this practice with Jonah when he was six months old. While it wasn't flawless, I consider it successful because Jonah was fully using the potty on his own at an "early age" and there was a long period of time when, even though he had to rely on me to recognize his need to go and to take him, he would use the potty on regular basis even before he was fully "trained". It had its frustrating moments as do most processes in parenting, but I believe the benefits were well reaped.<br />
<br />
Elimination communication is a relationship between mother and baby regarding Baby's need to urinate and defecate. In basic terms, we all have seen a baby making "that face" grunting and squirming. We all have knowingly said "oooh, you're making a stinky surprise in your dipey, aren't you!?" or something along those lines. Or when an older baby wanders off into a corner alone, we KNOW that they are up to something in their pants. Adults, more often than we think about, pick up on the cues that our babies are sending us about their bathroom needs. If you are vigilant and tune into your child during these times, you can pick up on the subtle cues that happen before your child needs to use the restroom, you can take them there, and acknowledge their need to go. No more diapers. This is the best way I have found to describe elimination communication (EC) to western parents. When I describe it this way, I usually am met with more understanding, and more "Oh yeah, I always can tell Little Johnny is up to something!" <br />
<br />
The difference I was going to make with Eve, was that I was determined that we would do EC from birth. And that the first 48 hours, she would not use a diaper at all. After she was born, I nursed her on the couch, both of us naked under the warmth of blankets. Taking in eachother's skin, breathing, smell. Exhaustion was setting in and the late night was beginning to turn into early morning. The midwife said it was time to get cleaned up if we were ready. I wanted to stay cocooned like that for forever, just me and my suckling baby, warm with each other. But I was tired and I knew it had to end some time. I was asked where the diapers were. Diapers??? We're not going to... oh but I'm so tired... and mother in law bought the cutest pink sleeper adorned with cupcakes for her to wear on her birth day... but.. no, baby had to be dressed. "Daryl knows where the infant prefolds are, he knows how to fold and pin them." I said, more as a direction to him. So Eve went to be diapered and dressed, and I went into the bathroom. And that was that.<br />
<br />
Morning light danced through our bedroom window and Jonah tapped on the door. He wanted to meet the new family member. Today, I said, Today we will take the diapers off. But my mom was there, my brother in law flew in from California, my sister was on her way as well. Okay, tomorrow, when it is just us.<br />
<br />
Family gone, finally quiet. No diapers today! But I don't feel so well. I feel pretty awful. In fact, I feel like death. Fever, chills, disoriented, a pain in my right breast. I was threatening to get mastitis. I was sick for several days after. Eve stayed in her diapers. And that is how things pretty much remained.<br />
<br />
I did do quite a few trial runs as she got older. She was more mobile than Jonah, at a younger age, so it was difficult to keep track of her. I also find that girls are messier when they urinate without a diaper on. I have always found this to be the case even when I was working in the day care nursery. If a boy peed on the changing table, it had a clear landing point, it stayed in one area. Usually only his pants, and maybe the wall, would get hit. When a girl peed on the changing table however, it would just kind of ooze everywhere. It would wick up her shirt all over her back, sometimes her hair. Roll downwards to her feet, soaking her pants and socks. An entire wardrobe change was typically in order, and sometimes a bath! So with this in mind, clean up while watching for Jonah's cues was MUCH easier than cleaning up while doing trials with Eve. It just wasn't working.<br />
<br />
I did, however, continue to acknowledge her elimination needs. I still gave her the "cue" words. When I notice that she is soiling her diaper I give the proper cue that we had designated with Jonah, either "Poopoo" for pooping, or "sssssss" for peeing. And then we would change her immediately. So even with this partial version of EC, she has kept awareness of her elimination and learned to communicate when she is about to or has just gone.<br />
<br />
Currently we are to a point with her where she will tell us that she needs to go. She will come to me and grab her diaper, saying "Poop?" Sometimes we are able to catch it either in the toilet or just while she is laying over the diaper, other times we simply are not fast enough. We are currently in the middle of a move across town, and once we get settled, we plan on breaking out the trainer potty to teach her to go there. I am amazed that considering how little we actually followed through on our plans, we (Daryl and I, as well as Eve!) are still seeing the benefits of even just PARTIAL ec. She is not as consistent as Jonah was, but she has maintained an awareness and the ability to communicate to us what her needs are. I am honestly stunned, because I didn't think anything would come of what little we have been doing with her.<br />
<br />
I think we might have hit a middle ground for parents who want to try EC, but are not able to make the full commitment required. With Eve, all that we did were two simple things.<br />
1. acknowledge that she is eliminating (Oh, you peed, you're peeing!)<br />
2. give her a means to communicate her need to eliminate (a cue such as "sssss" or "poopoo" that she can easily mimic. We used a sign as well with Jonah but not with Eve because she is much more vocal)<br />
<br />
Even if we didn't see her eliminating, we did these things during her diaper change. It took almost no extra effort or time. I do not know if we will do full EC with any more children, if we have the opportunity. I would like to say that yes, we will try harder to make it work if we should be blessed with another baby. Unfortunately we find out that things we thought were the best plan, really aren't going to fit into our lives. But if we decide that EC just won't work with future babies then I don't see any reason not to at least continue to do the two steps above. While the results aren't as bold as when we had done full EC with Jonah, they are still pretty impressive.Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7545398149753023913.post-31160150859378579062011-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:002011-10-10T19:41:55.366-07:00Mission Completion!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupFoK0M-4FcfVDN961gxa_Il3PK6lcqlPBFyGwRmYEtqvkIU1wj2I8IB0pkKDK_ncDP6OjHPwmkuRlACnVX3eZ-JsRAsjqV0Jq6AUquiVtiL4jqzgW9pmkx5tsll8-JG-zwUz_V9r-YTc/s1600/akronmarathon6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupFoK0M-4FcfVDN961gxa_Il3PK6lcqlPBFyGwRmYEtqvkIU1wj2I8IB0pkKDK_ncDP6OjHPwmkuRlACnVX3eZ-JsRAsjqV0Jq6AUquiVtiL4jqzgW9pmkx5tsll8-JG-zwUz_V9r-YTc/s1600/akronmarathon6.JPG" /></a></div>The last couple of weeks, I've been in "re-coup" mode. Aside from giving birth, running 13.1 miles and the journey it took to get to the start line, was most likely the hardest thing I've physically had to do. Not only was my body tired, but I had a lot of catching up to do. Reconnecting with my husband, bedtime stories with my children, spending the weekend as a family rather than scheduling things around my training- I was ready to cross the finish line and so was my family. I haven't had much time for blogging since I finished the race, as any time not spent sleeping has been spent reconnecting with my loved ones and catching up on house work neglected for 12 weeks.<br />
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The week of the marathon started out kind of crummy. My right knee was in considerable amount of pain. Jonah brought home a bad cold, which everyone in the house caught. Reluctantly, I took the entire week off from training. I ran 7 miles the sunday before the race, and then not again until race day.<br />
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On Friday, the day before the race, I went to see a sports medicine specialist. I had a gait analysis run. Basically I ran on the treadmill for about five minutes while being video taped. The doctor reviewed the tape for about 20 minutes. I got to watch it in slow motion with her while she explained to me how I could be injuring myself with the strides I was taking. She told me that everything about my form looks perfect, good posture, good stride length, nice and relaxed, but the problem seemed to be that I come down too hard into the ground. She examined my knee briefly and said that the kind of pain and popping I am experiencing is commonly referred to as "runner's knee" and can be fixed simply by correcting my heavy stride. "Think propel forward, not drive into the ground." She told me "spring off your toes." You would think that after years of training for my black belt in karate, and even more years spent "propelling from my toes" as a dancer, that I would have that down by now. She also gave me a ton of handouts for various core exercises, and told me that a lot of times coming down too hard is indicative of a poor core. Which I believe, I've been feeling a major need to do corework the last few months!<br />
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On race morning, we all had to wake up much earlier than we liked. We were running late. Daryl dropped me off as close to the road closures as he could get, as traffic was really bad and not a parking spot was to be found. He and the kids did not make it to the start until after I had already crossed. The tail end of the group was just heading out. The yellow arch at the end of the road is the start line.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPidjYT6zijGPa_CCiV6m1oH2mimWb1lURJRvBJ4mPkQZJaMXgSs1bJbLYBmO08tytDXdjy5NXwHlTXtXohWkwpRoxHhJQS3hyjti_TAqXvQsmAJRpQhtRd4q6JhpFwMXlWRNm53siTIc/s1600/102_0720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPidjYT6zijGPa_CCiV6m1oH2mimWb1lURJRvBJ4mPkQZJaMXgSs1bJbLYBmO08tytDXdjy5NXwHlTXtXohWkwpRoxHhJQS3hyjti_TAqXvQsmAJRpQhtRd4q6JhpFwMXlWRNm53siTIc/s320/102_0720.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Within the first mile, I came to the Y bridge. It's a bridge that's shaped like a Y. I've driven over this bridge a million times, but running across it, I just felt like everything was so much clearer and beautiful about it. The trees in the valley below the bridge were just beginning to change their color. The sun was rising, and I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day for running. Cool, but not cold. Cloudy, but no rain. Then the winner of the marathon came running the opposite direction on the bridge. Now he was a site to see! I had run 1/2 a mile in the same time that he had run nearly 3. It was incredible. I wish I had taken a camera with me to get a picture of this moment in the race- all of the runners crossing the y bridge, the forerunners meeting us on the opposite side. It was beautiful.<br />
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After being routed back around to the opposite side of the bridge and going back into downtown Akron, I finally caught the first glimpse of my cheering squad. My "team" as I called them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQk75q35-Tri4R-ZzaLKbemPyauxBxD2yN0sn9ActbvYpege2Zp7wvd8X4aWdxTd4louvHJhjEovsZU_tTV2SZbZ0TQtsO1sTqhGxqoRHBRhGPn1lwee1r3nSILdZurx1SYEhkErxCJBE/s1600/102_0722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQk75q35-Tri4R-ZzaLKbemPyauxBxD2yN0sn9ActbvYpege2Zp7wvd8X4aWdxTd4louvHJhjEovsZU_tTV2SZbZ0TQtsO1sTqhGxqoRHBRhGPn1lwee1r3nSILdZurx1SYEhkErxCJBE/s320/102_0722.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I'm in the middle waving, wearing a pink top. Although wouldn't it be great to tell everyone that I'm the girl closest to the camera!? I knew Daryl was going to get her into a picture at some point...<br />
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It was really refreshing to see them. I had expected Daryl to take them to the children's area. He was recieving text messages to update him on when I was crossing check points in the race. I had only asked him to be at the ten mile mark and the finish line, so seeing him at three miles with the kids was nice.<br />
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Between mile three and eight was not notable. There were great spectators, wonderful people there supporting the runners. I ran into a couple of my running friends. Not literally, thank goodness, but it was nice to see familiar faces in the sea of 1700 runners.<br />
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Then came mile eight. Well, it was actually just before mile nine. I really wish I had a camera coming into this site! One of my high school besties, "B" was standing there waiting for me with her wife. With a marvelous gift of ibuprofen and water. Coming around the curve to their house, I see her standing there, with her belly pregnant with twins. She had tied her shirt up around her waist so that I could see her beautiful baby bump, And she had drawn a smiley face. Her belly was SMILING at me. As soon as I saw her I couldn't stop laughing and smiling. I came in to give her a hug. What a wonderful friend. I don't think any one else would have done that for me. She waddled/ran with me for about a block, giving me words of encouragement, and finally letting me rub the smiling belly for good luck and strength. B, I love you!<br />
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It wasn't long after when I was at the point where Daryl was supposed to be waiting for me with the kids. I was a little disappointed that there were gates all along the road at this point, crowded with people. I caught sight of Daryl and the kids, but could not give them five or a hug. All I could do was tell Daryl that Jonah looked like he needed a tissue. I heard a woman behind me chuckle and say "a mother's job pauses for NOTHING." I had really wanted to give the kids a high five, I was disappointed. But I only had three miles left and I was feeling GREAT. No knee pain, very little fatigue, fairly comfortable. Not bad for taking a week off.<br />
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It was then that I found myself in a large group, running right along side a man holding the 10:20 pacer sign. Basically he was there to run with individuals wanting to finish the marathon at an average pace of 10 minutes, 20 seconds per mile. I was surprised to find myself in this group and stayed with them for quite a while. He handed me the sign. I said "I have no clue what I'm doing!" He said "Just run, there's nothing to it!" So I did. I carried the sign until it was almost time to break from the marathoners to follow the half marathon course back to the finish. He told me that I ought to consider being in his pace group next year for the full. I laughed and said "no thanks" but I can't deny that he didn't plant some seeds of ambition.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlxCO2wTzR9TrQ9GU1Zhacgz3FXuIzGZ3aS6rdvAtz_KKGBgCv17w7QR4mOacjFESjcR1Fqnhi5KeVgNqT5xVxTap-d4LcjyFSmpBqf7MedYN1C8s9dvf1UPjvZy_u5Xu0nWeJnpirUEg/s1600/102_0723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlxCO2wTzR9TrQ9GU1Zhacgz3FXuIzGZ3aS6rdvAtz_KKGBgCv17w7QR4mOacjFESjcR1Fqnhi5KeVgNqT5xVxTap-d4LcjyFSmpBqf7MedYN1C8s9dvf1UPjvZy_u5Xu0nWeJnpirUEg/s320/102_0723.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah Cheering Mama in his "Don't Give Up" shirt</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><br />
I then met a mom who was running her second half marathon. She also has two children and like me, never dreamed of finding herself in this place. We chatted for a bit about the challenges of training with two young ones. Then we came to the hardest part of the course. A very long and steep uphill run. We were so close, we didn't talk to eachother, but we were there with each other, pushing. I kept repeating something I had heard one of the spectators singing to cheer runners on. He had a guitar and a small microphone. He sang "manifest yourself in exquisiteness." I repeated it. Over and over. Those last two miles, my mind was filled with nothing else. Exquisiteness. I will not quit. I will not walk up this hill. I am made for exquisitness.<br />
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And we made it.<br />
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Running down the street, into canal park where the finish line was. I can't describe what it was like. I was tired. I wanted to quit but knew that I couldn't. One last push- the winner of the marathon then came past. He ran alongside all of us half marathoners. We moved to the side to let him through. I ran with him for less than a fraction of a second. He was moving so quickly, so elegantly. He had run twice the distance I had just run. This *is* possible.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_UXz-L8R1gKfgxiMVLFx0x91uOeb9SBx0sQeOnLqg2X-Dfy4If6GhNIMuQFBoZ7QIHmEwdTunqcmWyd3XzjSyyrh6oXXuOVnutsx8orz_Etri_8RizUotBF2Y01s0ApnMBu0hosoNqKy/s1600/marathon3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_UXz-L8R1gKfgxiMVLFx0x91uOeb9SBx0sQeOnLqg2X-Dfy4If6GhNIMuQFBoZ7QIHmEwdTunqcmWyd3XzjSyyrh6oXXuOVnutsx8orz_Etri_8RizUotBF2Y01s0ApnMBu0hosoNqKy/s320/marathon3.JPG" width="312" /></a></div> Coming into the finish was exhilarating. I could not have stopped running if I wanted to. I felt myself speed up. I saw the mom I had met cross the finish line. I felt my legs propelling forward faster and faster. I could have collapsed in a frenzy of emotions as my sneakers hit the red and black rubber check in point. I had always wondered how someone could cry after doing such a thing. But I did, I cried. I cried and laughed at the same time as I was handed food, water, and a medal hung around my neck.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKj1o-AFCpd6FqGbj8nx9Pd2u_5cx5seVdm8r7jKImSk708vo9Gq-FQSjN9SJFxljWZsMYn00xKctQiCdTXDSvq9n_Ftgzu0Djo5d93Gz38Q19W4XWBvFkHPXpNPYCrxfLXB3Ystpcdp0/s1600/marathon5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKj1o-AFCpd6FqGbj8nx9Pd2u_5cx5seVdm8r7jKImSk708vo9Gq-FQSjN9SJFxljWZsMYn00xKctQiCdTXDSvq9n_Ftgzu0Djo5d93Gz38Q19W4XWBvFkHPXpNPYCrxfLXB3Ystpcdp0/s1600/marathon5.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">crossing the finish</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My phone started ringing in my armband. I fumbled to get it out of the sleeve as I saw it was B. B and her smiling belly. My phone was too dead from clocking me during the race. It would not pick up the call. I later heard her message, a celebratory B and wife, cheering about my time. Way under what I had projected for myself. She had also been receiving text alerts about my progress in the race.<br />
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This was more than an achievement for me. This was a realization that I can do big things if I really want to and if I have the support of those who love me. This wasn't just a trial for me, but this journey required sacrifices and support from many, many people in my family. Yes, I ran 13.1 miles in 16 minutes under my projected time. I lost 15 lbs and dropped several pants sizes. *I* did that. But my family helped me in ways that were crucial.<br />
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Running is something I recommend to many of my mom friends who want to get fit. I know it is not everyone's "style" but it fits most moms' schedules and our budget. It is something your kids and family can see you do, so you can be a great example to them. You certainly don't have to run a marathon or half marathon, or even a 5k race to see the benefits of this exercise. I really do urge other mothers who are thinking about running to give it a try. Check out the couch to 5k plan or something similar. I don't recommend their half marathon or marathon program for Moms. It was too intense and took too much away from my family. I ended up dropping the program halfway through and using it as a mere guide along with other more "family friendly" training programs. I do, however, HIGHLY recommend the 5k program. It is great because most of the first couple of weeks is walking and building up to running. Everyone I know who has used the program has had success. The workouts only require 45 minutes of your Mommy time. I love it.<br />
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A year ago, I ran my first 5k under the program. This year, I was wearing a half marathon finisher's medal around my neck.<br />
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Will I continue on to do a full marathon next year? That I don't know. I am content with the half marathon for now. I am content with the idea of doing a few more years of half marathons. But a mom at Jonah's Little Gym class, who has two children the same ages as my kids, ran this as her first marathon this year. Several of my running friends are also urging me. Time will see. I will most likely get back to that in May. For now, don't be surprised if you don't see a running post most of the winter. It's the off season!Jonahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11881969139939190813noreply@blogger.com1