tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33934209525753158912024-02-19T15:51:28.239-08:00Mess FestJanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-42114390905485495932010-12-30T23:14:00.000-08:002010-12-30T23:14:27.339-08:00Duck, Duck, Goose<span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00486UEWG" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=037585813X" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375847383" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375856218" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1907152075" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375840680" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=037583611X" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I never really liked the game Duck, Duck, Goose as a kid. But here are a duck and a goose that I have loved from the beginning. Another great discovery made at the public library. Which bird are you most like? I aspire to be as in the moment as Goose, but my know-it-all, competitive streaks make me worry that I might actually be most like Thistle. Definately something to ponder and strive for in the New Year. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Two picture books.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-Tad-Hills/dp/037583611X?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Duck & Goose" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=037583611X&tag=janecosterman" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose/dp/0375840680?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Duck, Duck, Goose (Duck & Goose)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0375840680&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><br />
And a bunch of board books.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-How-are-Feeling/dp/1907152075?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Duck and Goose: How are You Feeling? (Duck & Goose)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1907152075&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-1-2-3/dp/0375856218?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Duck & Goose, 1, 2, 3" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0375856218&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Up-Duck-Opposites-Goose/dp/0375847383?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="What's Up, Duck?: A Book of Opposites (Duck & Goose)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0375847383&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-Find-Pumpkin-Hills/dp/037585813X?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=037585813X&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-Time-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00486UEWG?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Duck & Goose, It's Time for Christmas" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00486UEWG&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-54941793724995774182010-08-27T00:28:00.000-07:002010-08-27T00:28:02.220-07:00I scream, you scream . . .<span></span>we all scream for ice cream!<br />
<br />
On my long list of things I wanted to accomplish this summer was making ice cream. I kept buying all the ingredients and then just not getting to it. So I went back to the store repeatedly for fresh ingredients. The strawberries had been eaten, the half and half was expired, we used all the eggs for breakfast. But now I am proud to report that with a lot of help and enthusiasm and borrowed ice from my neighboors, we have now made ice cream not once, not twice, but three times, in three different ways. <br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>First attempt.</strong> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Method:</strong> Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker attachment. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Very handy, attaches right onto my stand mixer. My only complaint is that the freezer bowl has to live in your freezer for 15 hours before you make the ice cream. Which means you have to plan ahead, not my strong suit when it comes to cooking. And you have to make the space for it in there with all the frozen pizza. Not easy! Kids can help you make the batter, but then there's some overnight wait time while it chills, then they can watch the mixer and listen for the clicking to know it's done (unless your child is scared of the mixer, then you'll have to do most of the work yourself like me).</div><br />
<span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KICA0WH-Cream-Maker-Attachment/dp/B0002IES80?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="KitchenAid KICA0WH Ice Cream Maker Attachment" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B0002IES80&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0002IES80" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span><br />
<br />
<strong>Recipe:</strong> Triple Chocolate<br />
Who doesn't love something that has chunks of Hershey bar AND three other kinds of chocolate. If I'm counting correctly this should actually be called quadruple chocolate because it had semisweet baking chocolate, unsweetened baking chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, plus the chopped up Hershey bars which you add literally at the last minute. It was a little on the complicated side. Lots of ingredients and lots of steps.<br />
<br />
<strong>Results:</strong> Yum! It made enough that we ate some fresh, then put the rest in a big tupperware and ate it for a few days, maybe even a whole week. So I guess all that hardwork paid off!<br />
<br />
<strong>Second attempt.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Method:</strong> Mega Ice Cream "Ball" <a href="http://www.icecreamrevolution.com/">http://www.icecreamrevolution.com/</a><br />
The big plan was that the mob of kids outside on a hot day were going to kick the ball around for the 30 minutes it takes for the ice cream to freeze. As it turned out, the ball is too heavy for the little kids to kick or push around for very long. And even the big kids ran out of attention span for this one, so the moms ended up doing most of the "shaking". You have to pack the ball with ice so you need to plan ahead to save up enough (or go door to door borrowing ice).<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000QV5W9W" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Play-Freeze-Cream-Maker-Quart/dp/B000QV5W9W?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Play and Freeze Mega Ice Cream Maker,Quart,Red" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B000QV5W9W&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Recipe:</strong> Vanilla</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">All it took was half and half (I actually didn't quite have enough so I mixed in some whole milk), vanilla, and sugar.</div><br />
<strong>Results:</strong> Yum! It freezes hard around the edges where it is touching the metal canister, and it's more like soft serve in the center. Scoop it into bowls and eat right away! Or if you don't have a big enough crowd to eat it all, scoop it into a tupperware and freeze it for later.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Third attempt.</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Method:</strong> Ziplock Bags</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I like this because you don't need any special equipment, most of us have two sizes of plastic bags on hand already. But you still need quite a bit of ice!</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Sandwich-Bags-125-Count/dp/B002A1SE5U?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Ziploc Sandwich Bags - 125-Count" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002A1SE5U&tag=janecosterman" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhJoeN0u2H5LeTHRvdL-DFXzdlA3T7oA3NfFE02px3HrfvgsVO9UoYt3M4cJ7IYrOb2KaqfLBUKDgqX0w7joektwYfXTEPzc0EYhSVPKuiyGGyZA0pr_X6kPxP87vSzkoFNwvik0UN-77/s1600/P1020204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002A1SE5U" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Recipe:</strong> Vanilla</div>Whole milk, sugar, vanilla. You probably have those on hand too! <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU5Ok_imRZ0UEoBqsEwDuxO30IatixAX_wpQFbjAHHpsQwzX8lG_EFtz95h4505rQBCOJZMFMnl1QVPQmmB5_-T8xdcl_VBdR11qZ8q56z6bxWmPjDnWdEVfAU6aEOAyP3o5Sx2sqTGY_Z/s1600/P1020207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU5Ok_imRZ0UEoBqsEwDuxO30IatixAX_wpQFbjAHHpsQwzX8lG_EFtz95h4505rQBCOJZMFMnl1QVPQmmB5_-T8xdcl_VBdR11qZ8q56z6bxWmPjDnWdEVfAU6aEOAyP3o5Sx2sqTGY_Z/s320/P1020207.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Results:</strong> Yum! Firmer than the ice cream ball. It freezes faster because it's broken up into single servings. It's less time to shake, but our kids still didn't stick with the shaking for the whole five minutes. Beware that this strategy uses lots of plastic bags so be prepared to wash and reuse them. We ate it straight out of the bags but I suppose you could transfer it to a dish. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Watch out Haagen-Dazs five! I can make yummy ice cream with only three ingredients. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz3ZXh7Ci4m77scX1QHuQweAl3_9Bsp5S4UlE92dANjMhbx67yoeZviiBNZ2bmMLR9Sns2uNpIYg3bBaM-lvZUaZ3pE_Rz64diPD34khSwRuCVPBUXS59pHL11t9-RU6A0nZsSH-uSAUM/s1600/pro_vbf_101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz3ZXh7Ci4m77scX1QHuQweAl3_9Bsp5S4UlE92dANjMhbx67yoeZviiBNZ2bmMLR9Sns2uNpIYg3bBaM-lvZUaZ3pE_Rz64diPD34khSwRuCVPBUXS59pHL11t9-RU6A0nZsSH-uSAUM/s200/pro_vbf_101.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></span></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-23078716896207129302010-08-18T23:26:00.000-07:002010-08-18T23:26:28.705-07:00I'm the Messiest Thing in this Ocean<span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00394DG5K" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span>Well, I would be if I lived in the ocean, but instead "I'm the messiest person that lives in this house!" If you don't know Kevin Sherry's books about the giant squid yet, you may not hear these comparison's in the giant squids low booming voice (read perfectly by Miss Sarah of the Issaquah and Sammamish libarary storytime fame). But at our house these days, I like to bellow my challenges to the little ones in my deepest echo-y voice- "I'm the fastest toy picker-upper", "I have the cleanest teeth in the ocean", "I give the tightest hugs in the ocean". These are met with the comeback that tops all comebacks,"No, I am the . . . ." And works everytime, well, until next week when we'll be on to the next strategy for getting them to do what we want. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><span><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0803731922" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span> <div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Thing-Ocean-Kevin-Sherry/dp/0803731922?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="I'm The Biggest Thing in the Ocean" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0803731922&tag=janecosterman" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Best-Artist-Ocean-Kevin-Sherry/dp/B00394DG5K?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean!" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00394DG5K&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyhow, we just discovered the second book about the giant squid, <u>I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean</u>, in which the shark wants the squid to stop painting because he is making such a HUGE MESS. And the giant squid, continuing to bask in his own brilliance and talent, hears him say that his work of art (done on the side of the blue whale and strangely similar to Picasso's Guernica) is a "MESSTERPIECE". </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I love it! A new word which perfectly describes the state of my house at the moment. My messterpiece is the result of cleaning the garage by moving things into the house, then cleaning the closet by moving things out into the hall. However, the mess paid off yesterday in a whirl of creative activity which was only possible because I have saved all sorts of stuff most sane people would recycle.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpnxAprxhpym8Mkvio3M03kay8fdGOTFb3aZ_vqaRiZyCaFQJOsWEpcRFBzzqCP8HOnqnGmALwBkkPtbZkE3Rd9vAqImye0hw_dEwaw_oB3Ox_u3FrqHv8LO7-g40iJ03-RXYTc6pQ5de/s1600/P1020169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpnxAprxhpym8Mkvio3M03kay8fdGOTFb3aZ_vqaRiZyCaFQJOsWEpcRFBzzqCP8HOnqnGmALwBkkPtbZkE3Rd9vAqImye0hw_dEwaw_oB3Ox_u3FrqHv8LO7-g40iJ03-RXYTc6pQ5de/s320/P1020169.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Let me set the stage. Hot, hot, day. Looking for something to do in the shade since the usual activity of riding bikes and pushing tricycles in circles on the hot pavement seemed unthinkable. Wading pool. Neighboor kid and friend went inside to build a pirate ship out of cardboard. Hmmm. Gears in my brain turn. Craft foam, popsicle sticks, duct tape, bubble wrap, miscellaneous lids and plastic containers, scissors, pipe cleaners, yarn, toothpicks, straws are all easily accessible right in the middle of my hallway. Some of those things float. DING-DONG. Want to come outside and build boats with us?</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-oWGpXJe6up-COInsMgl6QML-m3d3uw8lZAOfzREy5Ka979Y8RbK8aqiZJMWXQEpPCKyVbuDa1FjcjioZnUyHb8SGdLbLUXUuo3n9hu4qu1BG75_mtZNJ3ZFe9Abnb_zuoIzIkWdBMs8/s1600/P1020166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-oWGpXJe6up-COInsMgl6QML-m3d3uw8lZAOfzREy5Ka979Y8RbK8aqiZJMWXQEpPCKyVbuDa1FjcjioZnUyHb8SGdLbLUXUuo3n9hu4qu1BG75_mtZNJ3ZFe9Abnb_zuoIzIkWdBMs8/s320/P1020166.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">So here are some messterpieces of the floating variety. Aren't they cool? </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatMRxvVaI1hfrczllzF_f7zXCiE0IwEFnE4iHaXKqfdkntkZ_2ytvNBzrbncWYgQbq14E6V8670Uj2OXW9GXwQIEvPMybVsL5k1EH8QGkznBU6qvHTua-bypJhuVQ3kw3DFfgiaI1u-Ef/s1600/P1020171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatMRxvVaI1hfrczllzF_f7zXCiE0IwEFnE4iHaXKqfdkntkZ_2ytvNBzrbncWYgQbq14E6V8670Uj2OXW9GXwQIEvPMybVsL5k1EH8QGkznBU6qvHTua-bypJhuVQ3kw3DFfgiaI1u-Ef/s320/P1020171.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_N1q9gNW2K9A_bitHTf59AlqHGSnlFeYNhyphenhyphen6r8M6jkTCYot1TkGgZsnaSzcmD9BGGzDpXmMiI1YTrW73jMe9oL4qLyEyKu8SFUj8VjhNadfaKWdtuXvh7aHWDW-las5NX8Glt5BtUnTb/s1600/P1020172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_N1q9gNW2K9A_bitHTf59AlqHGSnlFeYNhyphenhyphen6r8M6jkTCYot1TkGgZsnaSzcmD9BGGzDpXmMiI1YTrW73jMe9oL4qLyEyKu8SFUj8VjhNadfaKWdtuXvh7aHWDW-las5NX8Glt5BtUnTb/s320/P1020172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2c_Y1YDpjYAhyphenhyphenxzQO03C151pealmrKbISqzxOTk_dX2MK5cthv6ZeYonZNejUjLqqHyDrfLgEYuQoqD5t-d-IxuwEsLol3d03OfMfepa0pKKpUGzVK4VvpeTqiwTVUSM1qYeO9nNl6M7/s1600/P1020173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2c_Y1YDpjYAhyphenhyphenxzQO03C151pealmrKbISqzxOTk_dX2MK5cthv6ZeYonZNejUjLqqHyDrfLgEYuQoqD5t-d-IxuwEsLol3d03OfMfepa0pKKpUGzVK4VvpeTqiwTVUSM1qYeO9nNl6M7/s320/P1020173.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisu5oyE4CgeodIWSZpofUBieuK67ymY9K0WrxJrp4CID1VfcOZXFPGPbSO5xRaiQ8_s4NWQ-sP5olVyLdAH7Bt1PJZsnMXhQ_hStIiotfQy_lrLpDIw37b9AIfePQqr1fMy33fzyWN0gm7/s1600/P1020174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisu5oyE4CgeodIWSZpofUBieuK67ymY9K0WrxJrp4CID1VfcOZXFPGPbSO5xRaiQ8_s4NWQ-sP5olVyLdAH7Bt1PJZsnMXhQ_hStIiotfQy_lrLpDIw37b9AIfePQqr1fMy33fzyWN0gm7/s320/P1020174.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8E3FXkNHS0CP_XG6ngJ8oYekTs6e6BbGplI8r7UBkY-o0HH8U7ss24ysAnHwtp2Jv6LjNTuqmUWHySF26wKrHOax2SwIB4g2514Phr3l9_nXpvyhkKs12UAApX_wawY_yfyPgrXslVT75/s1600/P1020175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8E3FXkNHS0CP_XG6ngJ8oYekTs6e6BbGplI8r7UBkY-o0HH8U7ss24ysAnHwtp2Jv6LjNTuqmUWHySF26wKrHOax2SwIB4g2514Phr3l9_nXpvyhkKs12UAApX_wawY_yfyPgrXslVT75/s320/P1020175.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDTdLvZpGfZl_mrXRvWc-NJlVGQwRWkYQEcIYX-AaTu3P5JimuG0-J5rVO1Fvm9h8xQAP23p439zp_CWZdsvsQydsyOK0OUWWUl4qiJkDxtNi4K36M9U35FL80p8Jq-apb69d6eCQkv-r/s1600/P1020176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDTdLvZpGfZl_mrXRvWc-NJlVGQwRWkYQEcIYX-AaTu3P5JimuG0-J5rVO1Fvm9h8xQAP23p439zp_CWZdsvsQydsyOK0OUWWUl4qiJkDxtNi4K36M9U35FL80p8Jq-apb69d6eCQkv-r/s320/P1020176.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSAK2rtPa9_jMrzKhENvzBwXS0m9uZnBrq2I3dhjAsVPfFQT87BC_Gh4C-F6yPBfwyOdKHXiyahDyycUmPGYNOQX1t_r8O1DQJeyuPOZnIGNizQo4sD2R_JSomlWBPM96Qwoqtjw2OiSg/s1600/P1020167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSAK2rtPa9_jMrzKhENvzBwXS0m9uZnBrq2I3dhjAsVPfFQT87BC_Gh4C-F6yPBfwyOdKHXiyahDyycUmPGYNOQX1t_r8O1DQJeyuPOZnIGNizQo4sD2R_JSomlWBPM96Qwoqtjw2OiSg/s320/P1020167.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"> I can hear the giant squid now, "I built the coolest, most-floatyest, least-sinkyest boat in the ocean, err ahem, in this wading pool."</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-34474820411628341512010-08-01T22:47:00.000-07:002010-08-01T22:47:03.784-07:00Worm Farming 101Nothing like learning how to do something by just doing it. And nothing like starting a worm bin to make a mess! Our inspiration came from a new favorite book, <u>Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer</u> by Carol Brendler. This endearing girl earns money to buy herself a new wagon by starting a worm farm and sharing the compost with her neighboors. Winnie Finn is a worm expert, I on the other hand knew nothing except what I read on the last page of the book. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UdAa8EUhMeEXo5Wr0rNYcxPMUl6E5NvhyCQpSgyEdiuHX0gJbk-A0CTX9_9iWxVk2qtb-lwlgzYflsysX16IAU8haQ3w8thaY5He26ajoeuLg6J3MzV6YaVN6E4ugal91x5gzK8yuM3M/s1600/P1020029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UdAa8EUhMeEXo5Wr0rNYcxPMUl6E5NvhyCQpSgyEdiuHX0gJbk-A0CTX9_9iWxVk2qtb-lwlgzYflsysX16IAU8haQ3w8thaY5He26ajoeuLg6J3MzV6YaVN6E4ugal91x5gzK8yuM3M/s320/P1020029.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<br />
I bought a cheap storage bin, top soil, and chicken manure. Then we collected newspapers (just the black and white pages) and ran them through our paper shredder. I ordered a pound of red wigglers and when they arrived we assembled their new home. It was an exercise in layering.<br />
<br />
First, newspaper "bedding". <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9elM3pOz5f85RVnoV4Qg0yvtXb_1pYg18rI6AlrsEUMo4JysBEGbUpEwBowwyFcLkoQ1_MQqcJBBjzUTjfmXMAvMqA6mtBFS2oj0mVh-AsrKJvA8bAK2qZ7JHcB350WWzuf7yocVsKXx/s1600/P1020030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9elM3pOz5f85RVnoV4Qg0yvtXb_1pYg18rI6AlrsEUMo4JysBEGbUpEwBowwyFcLkoQ1_MQqcJBBjzUTjfmXMAvMqA6mtBFS2oj0mVh-AsrKJvA8bAK2qZ7JHcB350WWzuf7yocVsKXx/s320/P1020030.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Second, soil and manure mixed together.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIytl6frPHOosRaInlzDkVxE_4wDeDoovVdgP4-9uHeFyjOtOjnpq7us9dEmOccVf2fAuon03e3EaarUV2Dpwi49t-h9IhXoAi5hJxgPwlzzqhEtWWtya-7OhUMb7NyEHJFputokhIotJ/s1600/P1020034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcIytl6frPHOosRaInlzDkVxE_4wDeDoovVdgP4-9uHeFyjOtOjnpq7us9dEmOccVf2fAuon03e3EaarUV2Dpwi49t-h9IhXoAi5hJxgPwlzzqhEtWWtya-7OhUMb7NyEHJFputokhIotJ/s320/P1020034.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Third, more shredded paper and some water.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLnLw0gr7QMdCF2sDThxTEUEVe5CAPov_5l9zd4auqSDRaAUoLSMX9Hwy-J_9fybKrsVLwpHvQ-8eYnWnbVOOJyXmHjKW2hXGL_4lhEA-aJc5c1CWpKQ-WdfP85T3ez-SfZdPjywuQSD-/s1600/P1020038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLnLw0gr7QMdCF2sDThxTEUEVe5CAPov_5l9zd4auqSDRaAUoLSMX9Hwy-J_9fybKrsVLwpHvQ-8eYnWnbVOOJyXmHjKW2hXGL_4lhEA-aJc5c1CWpKQ-WdfP85T3ez-SfZdPjywuQSD-/s320/P1020038.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Finally, worms! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwGiLFGQbYsPy9i2B4k3gNY3ePObyWbfpHRko6txda1BGuNY3j4y_agvDi78eGXQmiwXnAtssQHLzdJ1iComx4f0nqqrkkbmbofgU6k3RV7DEOgQ41Jr-1rqt92ldWU1Qq1RnAyF7fp10/s1600/P1020042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwGiLFGQbYsPy9i2B4k3gNY3ePObyWbfpHRko6txda1BGuNY3j4y_agvDi78eGXQmiwXnAtssQHLzdJ1iComx4f0nqqrkkbmbofgU6k3RV7DEOgQ41Jr-1rqt92ldWU1Qq1RnAyF7fp10/s320/P1020042.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Sawyer was super excited to "feed" the worms so I let him add some kitchen scraps. Winnie Finn claims that worms like egg shells, and we also shared some pieces of overripe peach and corn husks. Who knew that his first "pet" would be a bunch of worms. He is taking their wellbeing very seriously which makes me more likely to consider an actual pet in the future. <br />
<br />
So far, so good. No worms have escaped that we know of. And it's pretty cool to see the tracks where the worms have been moving against the side of the transparent container. Unfortunately, the fruit flies are abundant when you open the lid. Guess I need to read a little more about what happens next!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-40674230610272907132010-06-19T01:26:00.000-07:002010-06-19T01:29:59.324-07:00Go Fly a Kite!<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003L8V1ZQ" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0439687853" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Or try one of my other top ten picks for what to do next time you are in Seaside, Oregon. I've been going there since I was itsty-bitsy. My daughter (who is somehow almost one already!!) has already been there five times. Anyhow, you would think that doing the same stuff would get old, but somehow it never does. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">1. <strong>Read a Book.</strong> I saw one wise woman laying on a beach towel with a blanket over her, head toward the ocean, reading. Looked pretty cozy! Yes, I know, some of you are thinking that people should be wearing bikinis at the beach in June, not blankets. Yet somehow I still prefer a blanket. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Elisha-Cooper/dp/0439687853?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Beach" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0439687853&tag=janecosterman" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bears-At-Beach-Niki-Yektai/dp/0761314830?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Bears At The Beach" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0761314830&tag=janecosterman" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0761314830" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Farm-City-Education-Farmer-Hardcover/dp/B003L8V1ZQ?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer (Hardcover)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B003L8V1ZQ&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003L8V1ZQ" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dunk-Skunk-Michael-Rex/dp/0399242813?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Dunk Skunk" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0399242813&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0399242813" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I have made some good finds at Beach Books, including <u>Beach</u> by Elisha Cooper. It has amazing illustrations that kids could pour over all day if you are patient enough to let them. My other recent beachy pick is <u>Bears at the Beach</u> by Niki Yektai<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0399242813" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which I found at Under the Big Top Toys.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On this trip I managed to read a book in three days. That has to be some kind of record for a person with two little kids. I started and finished Novella Carpenter's book <u>Farm City</u> while curled up in bed with a little person snoozing away and a view of the ocean. And our favorite storytime reads courtesy of King County Library <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0761314830" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" />were <u>Dunk Skunk</u> by Michael Rex and <u>Not a Stick</u> by Antoinette Portis. Both are simple enough for young children to read along with you. We had to laugh when we were at the beach and noticed that I was telling Sawyer, "Be careful with that stick!" and he looked at me and said, "It's not a stick, it's a rocket!"</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Not-Stick-Antoinette-Portis/dp/0061123250?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Not a Stick" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0061123250&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061123250" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<br />
2. <strong>Make a Castle. </strong>It's risky building castles with preschoolers around. They like to destroy them as much or more as they like to build them. We reached a compromise, Sawyer agreed to only destroy the castles that I built for that purpose and to leave the rest of my creations undisturbed. This strategy worked great, until Peyton crawled right into the middle and smushed the whole thing anyhow. Darn.<br />
<br />
This time we built our castles using a variety of recycled containers as forms. Buckets work great, but so do old "snack pack" tubs (Teddy Grahams, Ritz Bits, you know the ones?) and plastic easter eggs. We also went on a hunt around the beach for wood, feathers, shells, things to decorate and use as drawbridges. The gathering was just as fun as the embellishing. <br />
<br />
3. <strong>Fly a Kite. </strong>Always fun on a windy day. Plus lots of running in the fresh air might equal a long nap which will allow you to accomplish # 1 (see above).<br />
<br />
4. <strong>Ride a Bike. </strong>Up and down the prom. To town and back. To the swings and back. Or for a change of scenery head past the aging Tides motel at the South end along the residential streets and over to the cove. Head up the hill to the Tillamook Head trail head (to Ecola state park and Cannon Beach) if you need a workout.<br />
<br />
5. <strong>Eat.</strong> Specifically the Cheesy Shrimp Bread at Harbor Bites. It's a fun, neighboorhoody place at the opposite end of town from everything else. They have live music on Tuesdays and more often in the summer and you can eat, enjoy a pitcher of beer (or a soda) with your kids in tow, and then walk or ride your bike home.<br />
<br />
6. <strong>Ride the Carousel.</strong> It spins pretty quickly so beginners should start with the Ostrich or Giraffe which don't go up and down. $1.50 a person. Adults are free if they are riding with a paying child. The train across the street is fun but it's not consistently open which can lead to dashed hopes and thus tears. Free rides are available on the beach swings, the ones near the turn around get crowded so head to the ones that are further down the prom.<br />
<br />
7. <strong>Eat More.</strong> Fudge. Tom and Larry's. Enough said.<br />
<br />
8. <strong>Play.</strong> Skee ball. Air hockey. Pin Ball. And what the heck- Dance Dance Revolution. All at the arcade.<br />
<br />
9. <strong> Eat.</strong> Popcorn. Phillip's candies. Caramel or Cheese? Sweet or salty or a little of both? Take your pick and some napkins (especially if you choose the cheese). And beware- the sizes are decieving because they pack it up over the box and let it spill into a little clear bag around the box that they seal with a twist-tie.<br />
<br />
10. <strong>Play Ten Tiny Tees.</strong> At $3.00 a pop, this is a mini-golf bargain. It hasn't changed since I was a kid so there's plenty of chance for mastery. The only problem is that kids under 6 aren't allowed to play on their own. You can however play together (meaning: you hold the club, they get to help).<br />
<br />
Oh, and a little known secret, Seaside has an awesome public swimming pool. Non-residents pay $3.00 a person for Open Swim. There is a warm water pool and a jacuzzi, and in the big, cold pool there is a slide, rock climbing wall, and rope swing. And the locker rooms even have suit spinners! There are regular Kinder-splash times for the 3 and under set as well as regular lap swim hours. Call to check the schedule- Sunset Empire Parks and Rec. The pool is located on the other side of the highway near Safeway, the library, and Broadway Park (which has a new play structure and a skate park).Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-83344317910568664162010-05-10T23:41:00.000-07:002010-05-10T23:41:52.818-07:00Tee-Ball Morning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGIs2hSSMaBL6ModsK5Xdm2RHzDfaJk6t0IF9p2IXr1ZXLnDpm6FD5vo8QB8FVgfv-FYDlG0fDCdSoIHPOWzUs97KMHRXz1nMPWpTbYLPgl52JN-M3PdXwLzZTxAJvtN805Qo6PLWy7vb/s1600/110+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGIs2hSSMaBL6ModsK5Xdm2RHzDfaJk6t0IF9p2IXr1ZXLnDpm6FD5vo8QB8FVgfv-FYDlG0fDCdSoIHPOWzUs97KMHRXz1nMPWpTbYLPgl52JN-M3PdXwLzZTxAJvtN805Qo6PLWy7vb/s320/110+(3).JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Clock says green.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Let's get up and go.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Books.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Breakfast.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Showers for two.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Clock says we're doing fine,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">on time.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">T-Shirts.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Tears.</div>"Find your glove!"<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Shoes on.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Come on,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">come on,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">come on!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In the car.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Not going far.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">That's great.</div>Because guess what?<br />
We're running late.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-90208885032128483772010-05-09T18:29:00.000-07:002010-05-09T18:29:45.793-07:002, 4, 6, 8, Who do we appreciate?Moms, and teachers! Lucky me, I happen to be both! <br />
<br />
We celebrated my son's teachers with <strong>flowers</strong>. In fact, we took lilacs in to school not one but two different days because I saw the Teacher Appreciation email and swung into action. Many thanks to Arlene's mom who saw me with flowers in the parking lot and told me that I was a week early. But you can never have too many lilacs! And you can never appreciate teachers too much either!<br />
<br />
And we also made them some <strong>homemade artwork</strong>. I let Sawyer take the lead on this one. This is where not minding having an easel and art supplies and paper all over my kitchen pays off. He wanted to do a box painting which we've done before at home (I wrote about it in one of the early Mess Fest posts!) and they have done it at school as well. So I grabbed a box from the laundry room and we got started. He found the objects to "paint" with, a potato and a rock from the kitchen counter. He chose the colors of paint, rolled it around, and told me which teacher each painting was for. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jJZ5pgJdbLObjRP7cp466vFl81yL7tas6AhvJVkC6tyM-DvNL2i__vwtbNM8eFSfzdccnFCqHFKip98WzxAgJKGvFJ6WpUjHJtomG3RhELbSaVcwtF57ttNU3r3pE_WKfa8TA5N9TdSD/s1600/065+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jJZ5pgJdbLObjRP7cp466vFl81yL7tas6AhvJVkC6tyM-DvNL2i__vwtbNM8eFSfzdccnFCqHFKip98WzxAgJKGvFJ6WpUjHJtomG3RhELbSaVcwtF57ttNU3r3pE_WKfa8TA5N9TdSD/s320/065+(3).JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>Then apparently he wasn't done because he picked up the strips of paper that I had trimmed off in order to fit the papers in the box and started making prints on them off of the original paintings. Then we went with that idea and put some paint down on a new sheet of paper in order to print on the other strips. Which with a little lamination became bookmarks for his teachers. Thanks Kinkos! <br />
<br />
Two more ideas that came from The Children's Studio! My darling mother's day gift from Sawyer was a portable<strong> hug</strong>, created by tracing his arm span on paper, cutting it out and rolling it up. It was packaged with a ribbon and a tag that said "Happiness is unexpected hugs." And it was delivered with a real hug and <strong>chocolate</strong> kiss.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEuzpo3lAxgXJm32o3L5vQ8s0o6vKyhyM8k_PPHlpjt2PbFUzE88fFbgqrxe0Tbar2hrY2NdwRRoPuwBWm21YRAaHtnZHLc1ok1fK_bIyzOjbaNoYBhyphenhyphenxlqOhKY076oY3tk6a_I4OP7ht/s1600/150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEuzpo3lAxgXJm32o3L5vQ8s0o6vKyhyM8k_PPHlpjt2PbFUzE88fFbgqrxe0Tbar2hrY2NdwRRoPuwBWm21YRAaHtnZHLc1ok1fK_bIyzOjbaNoYBhyphenhyphenxlqOhKY076oY3tk6a_I4OP7ht/s320/150.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>I think I might make two more for the grandmas to go with the <strong>rainbow handprints </strong>we made. A week or two ago, one of the teachers at school was doing this as a project with one child at a time. Sawyer, as usual, was not interested in doing an art project at school, with so many other cool things to explore. But a couple days later, at home, he decided he wanted to do rainbow handprints. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg2AGdT_Vr5hkthGPWdG83tWPxXS2EOhwwyunsSguUfxASjeVAyeKF3GF3DnVKp9KtxezLUk_G9l2GTKMgzHwltsN9ngYCKTGTVYiHzGyg1JM6Q_JAaQPRpHF-rRXUo9J1zFO3gSJbtGQ/s1600/140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg2AGdT_Vr5hkthGPWdG83tWPxXS2EOhwwyunsSguUfxASjeVAyeKF3GF3DnVKp9KtxezLUk_G9l2GTKMgzHwltsN9ngYCKTGTVYiHzGyg1JM6Q_JAaQPRpHF-rRXUo9J1zFO3gSJbtGQ/s320/140.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
When I do handprints, I always have babywipes on hand because they wipe the paint right off when you finish. I painted each finger and the palm of his hand a different color, then asked him to spread his fingers wide, and pressed his hand down. Then pulled his hand straight up. Presto! We reapplied the paint so we would have one for each grandma, then we switched hands and repeated the process. He also enjoyed doing several prints without reapplying the paint. That made a cool banner that I am keeping for myself!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1FS6mHf-vzwVkpNqB9k3H3JuukTFk_tm7Jyo0OFk46EaLxhTSoQEF5pI5AKCPselE8qw8rYWIEqYJcLweT4A2RhgymexIPG9Gg_etYpzLuN-4xEUV4g3ATNBNi8WGQltVIMLFa87MZ3a/s1600/139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1FS6mHf-vzwVkpNqB9k3H3JuukTFk_tm7Jyo0OFk46EaLxhTSoQEF5pI5AKCPselE8qw8rYWIEqYJcLweT4A2RhgymexIPG9Gg_etYpzLuN-4xEUV4g3ATNBNi8WGQltVIMLFa87MZ3a/s320/139.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>Although I never got around to actually writing a <strong>love letter</strong> to his teachers, I did manage to put my thoughts together in a <strong>poem</strong> for them. We put the poem on the back side of the bookmarks, and he was super excited to show it off to each of them. <br />
<br />
Here it is, my poem celebrating Lindsey, Linda, Rebecca, and Kim! Inspired by the growth I've seen in Sawyer this year in his imagination, memory, speech, silliness and confidence. And by the way that his teachers let the environment of the school do the work! They provide what the kids need. And the kids grow.<br />
<br />
teachers<br />
<br />
preparing soil<br />
planting seeds<br />
sprinkling water<br />
<br />
letting the sun shine<br />
the plants grow<br />
always watching<br />
waiting <br />
<br />
children<br />
deep roots growing<br />
strong stems shooting up<br />
turning their true leaves <br />
toward the sun<br />
<br />
<br />
thrivingJanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-11163408100739101952010-05-01T01:31:00.000-07:002010-05-01T01:31:02.007-07:00Ready or Not Here I ComeWho doesn't love a good game of Hide and Seek? Especially when you are playing with a young child where "hiding" means they can't see you. Usually they hide in the same place over and over again, tell you where they are hiding, or hide where they just found you. Now I love playing this game with my kids, but I recently discovered a way to play this game with food. Yes, you read that correctly. It's time to play Hide and Seek with your food.<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Hide and Seek Muffins</u></strong>. <br />
This is another big hit from Mollie Katzen, author of <u>Pretend Soup</u>. Which I am happily cooking my way through. <br />
<br />
You measure and dump and mix and pour muffin batter in the pan just like usual, then you take strawberries, roll them in sugar to add some sparkle factor, and hide one in each muffin. When we hid ours, they were still poking out a bit. But we were also a bit low on batter after a baby on the loose grabbed the mixing bowl and sloshed some of the ingredients out. We didn't know exactly how much of which ingredients we lost so we just continued as though nothing had happened. So, maybe your berries will be all the way hidden at this point. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2fAHXyXjMLmr62IRFsLn9z6PVsuSGQ4QMgiYeURhJM_qV5nGmEmDk5LiC25EE2qgUzTAsBYFYVdHn5ezdNuddeCHwpRgdNwWFXsMNk-jZt_9__JimWzmG2kiHFrklX41ngxTp3FAsDmY/s1600/009+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2fAHXyXjMLmr62IRFsLn9z6PVsuSGQ4QMgiYeURhJM_qV5nGmEmDk5LiC25EE2qgUzTAsBYFYVdHn5ezdNuddeCHwpRgdNwWFXsMNk-jZt_9__JimWzmG2kiHFrklX41ngxTp3FAsDmY/s320/009+(2).JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
Then while we weren't looking, our muffin batter baked itself right up over the berries and hid them inside. Well, in our case it was more like a Peek-a-Boo situation, where not much berry was showing. But I'm interested to try again and see if they are all the way covered up next time!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkJt7vR1R-DwFpp4BJONW3JjQPRf2mc-Ek6xr0vPhxxVPhdcPp6Kf0GjokneLHZhqD88BUd_G5FmmLFmYx-AjjJO1N3MOYm3DgQva7RB0odGtwz-eycDAr_ynv5cCYmXVwqii7A-O4UBL/s1600/019+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkJt7vR1R-DwFpp4BJONW3JjQPRf2mc-Ek6xr0vPhxxVPhdcPp6Kf0GjokneLHZhqD88BUd_G5FmmLFmYx-AjjJO1N3MOYm3DgQva7RB0odGtwz-eycDAr_ynv5cCYmXVwqii7A-O4UBL/s320/019+(2).JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
These muffins taste just like strawberry shortcake. Yummers! And while you are eating them you get to "seek" the treasure in the middle. Sawyer always chose to eat the muffin that had the least berry showing because he loved the surprise of finding the berry in the middle after a few bites. Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-76237111532911051822010-04-18T12:00:00.000-07:002010-04-18T12:00:00.098-07:00Love in LaConner<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0670021156" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0670021156" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" />I am not talking about a romantic weekend away kind of love. I am talking about my son's LOVE of tractors. <br />
<br />
We embarked this morning on an adventure, an early celebration of Earth Day (Coming up on April 22nd.). I thought I'd do what I wanted which was to see the tulip fields, take some cute photos of the kids, and check out some of the places featured in the April issue of Sunset magazine. So imagine Sawyer's excitement when I pointed out this sign (as we drove through Conway, after exiting I-5 at Exit 221) . . .<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBl01tHPoLqeUhv-WE2Gsa8ymgE9UIRV91C7ouxkmO16oM66fY_SqHKj-Z3OguTJFunMSZ9O14ye0FQdKj6iN9C8SK1M4W2s-4VqerB344aDpzpbaETUHRe17tgSqpEcEg3SBdvvcFflI/s1600/124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBl01tHPoLqeUhv-WE2Gsa8ymgE9UIRV91C7ouxkmO16oM66fY_SqHKj-Z3OguTJFunMSZ9O14ye0FQdKj6iN9C8SK1M4W2s-4VqerB344aDpzpbaETUHRe17tgSqpEcEg3SBdvvcFflI/s320/124.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">While I was busy explaining over and over again why we might need to share the road with tractors (and with bicycles, which were everywhere), we started to see them. Some were parked in fields that had been recently plowed, but as I started pointing them out we started to see wheels rolling. And for the rest of the day we saw tractors. Everywhere. Working alone. Working together (one field had at least 6 all plowing at the same time). Plowing. Planting. Aparantly tulip season is also tractor season. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>So I got my cute photos.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoA5_mYfDCDiVs4Lnu-3f31ovLJ-Dw8sSxasR3KIYp_-K0AHoHXc7fGD3kXIz3rrVIjPS4pTP6YiM1hbKOVPSAoO4gAB70JdEgkwbKHN63jp_icGH5hDieJsVPXlL4uM1iGgYaYb9-XPY/s1600/078+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoA5_mYfDCDiVs4Lnu-3f31ovLJ-Dw8sSxasR3KIYp_-K0AHoHXc7fGD3kXIz3rrVIjPS4pTP6YiM1hbKOVPSAoO4gAB70JdEgkwbKHN63jp_icGH5hDieJsVPXlL4uM1iGgYaYb9-XPY/s320/078+(2).JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvayZDqRzYD-609rcgUqniq8VuQ_x3uguebHl_MUfAvL4FocpdnFsMVkZFP-2UmkIqYPo0KNsl0MCvYFl1qQ2_Covop2njgkb0MKfDQz9-dam3Hf4_z0_BEl04nfOVi2ic_8QggBGyFuf/s1600/090+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvayZDqRzYD-609rcgUqniq8VuQ_x3uguebHl_MUfAvL4FocpdnFsMVkZFP-2UmkIqYPo0KNsl0MCvYFl1qQ2_Covop2njgkb0MKfDQz9-dam3Hf4_z0_BEl04nfOVi2ic_8QggBGyFuf/s320/090+(2).JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><br />
And Sawyer got to see evidence of tractors . . .<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpQoYEDRBatoB2XfpjFr65psH4aKxpbIEuFD4tR9bxM-85B_BDbSKMgROXbn-9n_9DPOjnoP2dmfNDyfGg3Rb_J0qAsXD053xoO7CWj1reA_2AEUxaLts58pRJ1peVuo7OptrfRl1BouM/s1600/047+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpQoYEDRBatoB2XfpjFr65psH4aKxpbIEuFD4tR9bxM-85B_BDbSKMgROXbn-9n_9DPOjnoP2dmfNDyfGg3Rb_J0qAsXD053xoO7CWj1reA_2AEUxaLts58pRJ1peVuo7OptrfRl1BouM/s320/047+(2).JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
followed by an actual tractor planting and refilling with seed and fertilizer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nn1bH9_6oLwplEDje9CH8IhkWBeu8PhGabQlo5qSfJfmAXDYceYfCMAOLL82VSCwEGf2IA-CQ02qkn64GuoRTCjCkzWMdeyiqOqDBnztDVH5IezCqdw1JvdRGGwhGThotLqIvYo43j9T/s1600/082+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nn1bH9_6oLwplEDje9CH8IhkWBeu8PhGabQlo5qSfJfmAXDYceYfCMAOLL82VSCwEGf2IA-CQ02qkn64GuoRTCjCkzWMdeyiqOqDBnztDVH5IezCqdw1JvdRGGwhGThotLqIvYo43j9T/s320/082+(2).JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3zdlY5tdj7fmIevfX1Gm0QZLiwSxyLX2dSA7QCJuq4O5FzPoj4N5xZ6byh4B2y28d5n9QFteLFl6HWBVjqJa2utPk2JBPPd5_pYeJ2h0f7UIP5rQ4l5Tu4mBN6w87m_Bl1P1-5Z3HtOC/s1600/083+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3zdlY5tdj7fmIevfX1Gm0QZLiwSxyLX2dSA7QCJuq4O5FzPoj4N5xZ6byh4B2y28d5n9QFteLFl6HWBVjqJa2utPk2JBPPd5_pYeJ2h0f7UIP5rQ4l5Tu4mBN6w87m_Bl1P1-5Z3HtOC/s320/083+(2).JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
Then we headed to lunch in LaConner at the La Conner Fruit & Produce Market which I was worried would be overrun with people since I had just read about it in Sunset. We miraculously found a parking space right in front of the restaurant and transfered the sleeping baby and tired toddler from the car to the restaurant. Then the tough part, deciding what to order! After much deliberating, I decided on a pulled pork sandwich and a peanut butter cookie covered with chocolate chips, Sawyer got the kids grilled cheese and a sugar cookie with m&m's, and my mom ordered the reuben. All of us were VERY happy and VERY full! I will be going back to try a chocolate peanut butter milkshake and a strawberry shortcake bar cookie. <br />
<br />
The food was awesome, but so was the view! While my mom stood in line and ordered our food, I nabbed a table by the window where we could see the waterway with the iconic orange bridge and boats passing. Sawyer was observing the seagulls that were perched on the porch when a friendly employee invited him to go outside with her to feed them. She gave him some bread and together they placed it on the railing and returned inside to watch the birds feast. Then as we were waiting for our food, watching boats coming and going, a float plane landed right in front of us with a huge splash and made it's way to the dock. We took our time eating and before we left, the float plane loaded new passengers, pushed off the dock, and took off again.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OG_2zxz7xvLA7c_YJAaqlXqw6q5QqWKt5i_qfWR3L2BceJBITyUcgpwCaCcIqplI_2dVBdPe3sSaQNXBk9FjPNSEJJIqI1GvjyVgSF0ANTEkL0LQp2yuZpgNfDNcLC8XrTkuhN0okI7e/s1600/123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_OG_2zxz7xvLA7c_YJAaqlXqw6q5QqWKt5i_qfWR3L2BceJBITyUcgpwCaCcIqplI_2dVBdPe3sSaQNXBk9FjPNSEJJIqI1GvjyVgSF0ANTEkL0LQp2yuZpgNfDNcLC8XrTkuhN0okI7e/s320/123.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
I can't go anywhere without visiting a bookstore so our next stop was the Next Chapter Bookstore. I spent most of my time upstairs in the loft of children's books where I found <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lemons-Notable-Awards-Porter-Books/dp/1845076052?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Lemons Are Not Red (Ala Notable Book(Awards)) (Neal Porter Books)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1845076052&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1845076052" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Itsy-Bitsy-Spider-Jeanette-Winter/dp/0152021302?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0152021302&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0152021302" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bedtime-Mommy-Amy-Krouse-Rosenthal/dp/1599903415?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Bedtime for Mommy" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1599903415&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1599903415" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<br />
and as I was on my way out I noticed both <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Notes-Accidental-Tomato-Farmer/dp/0767927079?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0767927079&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0767927079" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stones-into-Schools-Promoting-Afghanistan/dp/0670021156?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0670021156&tag=janecosterman" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0670021156" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which are now on my "To Read" list.<br />
<br />
We made our way back to the car, set off for home, and spotted tons more tractors on our way out of town. Then to top it all off, just before we got back to I-5, the red lights started flashing and a freight train passed right in front of us. Those of you who drive around noticing excavators, cranes, fire trucks, and all sorts of other things that your kids love know that it just doesn't get any better!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-63076418155102422922010-04-17T23:01:00.000-07:002010-04-17T23:10:59.744-07:00If you give a Baby a Blueberry Pancake . . .She’ll eat the whole thing. And she'll want to help cook more, so you'll have to distract her from "helping" by giving her a whisk. But giving her a whisk will make her think she's going to get to mix the batter, pour the batter, eat the batter. You see where this is heading . . . a big MESS and a HAPPY baby.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsm0OI2miU0gavrIt1XggdUot3dJnY3tFefFAboArWv-8ZsA2ZE6YEp8IsHnd1G_qRC8MjXSwKEIfcxTXDI7kBHJjxK12ll9Sb1wVZeqXqMHxh-jt4xx5t6_erektymxfk4f_1STmWxe7/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcsm0OI2miU0gavrIt1XggdUot3dJnY3tFefFAboArWv-8ZsA2ZE6YEp8IsHnd1G_qRC8MjXSwKEIfcxTXDI7kBHJjxK12ll9Sb1wVZeqXqMHxh-jt4xx5t6_erektymxfk4f_1STmWxe7/s320/110.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
Anyhow, you will love this recipe because it involves BUTTER! Lots of it. You add melted butter to the batter. And then later you add a slice of butter to the pan each time you start a new pancake. This explains why these blueberry pancakes were so good that we didn’t even use the syrup. I didn’t even think about the syrup. And neither did my kids.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFddn3WCXWxY_gRUW_UaelbB76WUwa1xPN_RnEsxuWipxL-JoAKtEPH0Fw5TTkmssve6hxH2P3PxnQ8D4tto_kKitnkj1tCsPJ_AjwQXWqXHEydgMOY6LOSBcloc8Ju-6XN3oQylnnmKc/s1600/108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFddn3WCXWxY_gRUW_UaelbB76WUwa1xPN_RnEsxuWipxL-JoAKtEPH0Fw5TTkmssve6hxH2P3PxnQ8D4tto_kKitnkj1tCsPJ_AjwQXWqXHEydgMOY6LOSBcloc8Ju-6XN3oQylnnmKc/s320/108.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Two new and exciting cooking skills were introduced in this recipe. <br />
<br />
1) Cracking eggs! Yup, I let Sawyer do it by himself. Or at least I was ready to, but he didn’t really want to get egg on his fingers. So he cracked it and then I pulled it apart. Usually, I don’t even let him hold the eggs so this was a big step.<br />
<br />
2) Flipping with a spatula! I know we don’t even think about this being tricky because as adults we do it all the time. But Sawyer was as excited about getting to do the flipping as I would be if I learned how to toss pizza crust in the air without messing it up. (Sidenote: our favorite places to watch pizza pros at work are Flying Pie Pizzaria in downtown Issaquah, Zeeks Pizza in the Issaquah Highlands, and Tutta Bella off Gilman.) <br />
<br />
Seriously, he talked about how he got to flip the pancakes himself ALL DAY. “Me put-ed butter in the pan, me pour batter in and it cook-ed for a little while, me put-ed blueberries, mom put-ed the spatula under, and me flip-ed it over!”<br />
<br />
He was a little worried about the hot pan when we started off. So I had him practice the flipping motion with the spatula before he tried it with the heat and the actual pancake. And we did the first one with my hand over his. But he did the rest himself- I was having visions of myself reading at the kitchen table, feet up, chai latte in hand, while he cooks me breakfast! The secret to his flipping success was following Mollie’s advice and cooking only one pancake at a time so that there was plenty of room to maneuver the spatula and a larger area for the uncooked side of the pancake to land.<br />
<br />
Another genius piece of cooking wisdom was Mollie’s plan of pouring the milk into a smaller pitcher and having kids pour it into the measuring cups over a pie pan. It worked like a charm. I used the pitcher from Sawyer’s tea set which was just the right size and weight for him to be able to pour on his own.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VTYcRXw0klQKfiaqljjnRB_2mFd6yGmg0bug-1keH3eFWNuLFf61PIKFlJpLG0-T64qwYUXoLBOhUr24SQcU-BI7TEzup4vzHOK8MtOHGU_hCxYl6WjRQ4Qc8VOm8X9yu34F9ao7Y_ek/s1600/107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VTYcRXw0klQKfiaqljjnRB_2mFd6yGmg0bug-1keH3eFWNuLFf61PIKFlJpLG0-T64qwYUXoLBOhUr24SQcU-BI7TEzup4vzHOK8MtOHGU_hCxYl6WjRQ4Qc8VOm8X9yu34F9ao7Y_ek/s320/107.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
<br />
And as you can see he had a blast dropping the butter into the hot pan and watching it melt, dumping the batter into the pan, and especially dropping the 6 blueberries onto the pancake as it cooked. If only I was this excited to cook dinner every night.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiig47CBwPZtIuDsZl00fmrqWKbul4-Cx-YZXZeugoXC686rnRO2sX5qfLbCIpMRtMOk9p-yFYsc2FfliiNRnQ7u4AiFaO7fJDPHZRiM03BAfkJ2-C2VZXseATLdsLkCtjVhFiN2eXnBryu/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiig47CBwPZtIuDsZl00fmrqWKbul4-Cx-YZXZeugoXC686rnRO2sX5qfLbCIpMRtMOk9p-yFYsc2FfliiNRnQ7u4AiFaO7fJDPHZRiM03BAfkJ2-C2VZXseATLdsLkCtjVhFiN2eXnBryu/s320/001.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
So, if you let your child flip their own pancakes . . .<br />
they will want to make them every day. And they will eat them all up!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-6511607474806503132010-04-15T00:29:00.000-07:002010-04-15T00:29:19.013-07:001, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, EATWhen I told Sawyer we were making <strong><u>Number Salad</u></strong>, his first response was, "But I don't like salad." What he meant was, "I don't like lettuce." When I explained that the ingredients that we were using were actually all fruit and cheese he was at least willing to give it a try. <br />
<br />
We started off with all the ingredients in separate bowls like the set up for making bagel faces. This led to lots of snacking while cooking, just with fruit this time instead of veggies. Let your child do as much of the cutting themselves as possible. The melon and banana are good candidates for slicing with a table knife.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6sUVqlw4EM0c4qvPfRoMbZ0GAsHbVQ_lu_1az1GizMXPGdE4VaTNB-9fNEXLl-i_mPCiQVrVr9zW2-bduM6GZpq67ngFaUPGtA87y7cRMPjTBGFn8gHs63X2wCdieXgcwCByvqDS_G0YE/s1600/040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6sUVqlw4EM0c4qvPfRoMbZ0GAsHbVQ_lu_1az1GizMXPGdE4VaTNB-9fNEXLl-i_mPCiQVrVr9zW2-bduM6GZpq67ngFaUPGtA87y7cRMPjTBGFn8gHs63X2wCdieXgcwCByvqDS_G0YE/s320/040.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
Mollie's recipe is:<br />
<br />
<br />
1 handful of coconut<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QNdq8mG1ypixFE9AlbjG1i3BctbHoh3SdnnjwN6M4TegE1GsnJgRbHGNIT32PMMut_NhIwb2XkslcHUWQNZNW2fCsHJshsFsl2d9j5Cj9a4yD7X1usrELdNOgsPaD2lZX1qkf90Ib7o5/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QNdq8mG1ypixFE9AlbjG1i3BctbHoh3SdnnjwN6M4TegE1GsnJgRbHGNIT32PMMut_NhIwb2XkslcHUWQNZNW2fCsHJshsFsl2d9j5Cj9a4yD7X1usrELdNOgsPaD2lZX1qkf90Ib7o5/s320/043.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
2 Tablespoons of OJ concentrate<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjei8L3C9-S9el5GOZs_4axKqp9yczYTCk-tvg5SxVTzMsjJk4wvZejYgOOmm8eNYtHJCfD5ftvJmFAexRi8fofpRZXskDZFkDH3BOc2TomknSFMsGIpBNWCvhBoxYTLoecSND7zrz4Ln3Z/s1600/045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjei8L3C9-S9el5GOZs_4axKqp9yczYTCk-tvg5SxVTzMsjJk4wvZejYgOOmm8eNYtHJCfD5ftvJmFAexRi8fofpRZXskDZFkDH3BOc2TomknSFMsGIpBNWCvhBoxYTLoecSND7zrz4Ln3Z/s320/045.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>3 slices of Orange<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM7v5T2hl2JDtG59RTN_CIiyp2-3_p5ptxDY8yEGnBHYtny0iaFaKqX4A_q2_LtfEx4pDFRix2l4Z9H7fR3h9yrbxgUtpD63HaC4mxTpksuleZkI1ReidwfsiNRnEeosADnn5I9WfD6H6/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDM7v5T2hl2JDtG59RTN_CIiyp2-3_p5ptxDY8yEGnBHYtny0iaFaKqX4A_q2_LtfEx4pDFRix2l4Z9H7fR3h9yrbxgUtpD63HaC4mxTpksuleZkI1ReidwfsiNRnEeosADnn5I9WfD6H6/s320/046.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
4 slices of apple<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85HmYiOLhfQ0jtdM_2eRQKvjrPr7bASO2H4zmbHXNGbz3Hlf_YKEyMmrWMD6Wm_ifX6kiv3e_1-VG1I-8JogaiJlZAMaZ7d6yDD7lnFXyib3Kc36YW9XBTF7k-HsqonOtCwFfwGtvYSUJ/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85HmYiOLhfQ0jtdM_2eRQKvjrPr7bASO2H4zmbHXNGbz3Hlf_YKEyMmrWMD6Wm_ifX6kiv3e_1-VG1I-8JogaiJlZAMaZ7d6yDD7lnFXyib3Kc36YW9XBTF7k-HsqonOtCwFfwGtvYSUJ/s320/047.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">5 cubes of cheese</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJD6OrMN3SfBWkxyjHZ_R4Jn45n4x2CV9iLoW_zBaT28ozslxYcHzLJZDk5jat3uA44zUdz55cna3AkJDd5yOKMvbG7qpqa3zWgK8kmMSoyWx1kv98dbBcVd2JYkePYz4c-Gp-Di1ltlq/s1600/048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNJD6OrMN3SfBWkxyjHZ_R4Jn45n4x2CV9iLoW_zBaT28ozslxYcHzLJZDk5jat3uA44zUdz55cna3AkJDd5yOKMvbG7qpqa3zWgK8kmMSoyWx1kv98dbBcVd2JYkePYz4c-Gp-Di1ltlq/s320/048.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">6 slices of banana</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYsLiBfBqVzDo2tJWzwkJzJso6gNjsA-hFJNu2URzpHJjQlGE_f00TmKlGmki-9kuSUdP1mQp82H_bect_o7a0UBXsMB-_OUfhwPevYTDoWGSnr26mzvSivAx6T38F7CscRKAP7ZxkJYJ/s1600/049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYsLiBfBqVzDo2tJWzwkJzJso6gNjsA-hFJNu2URzpHJjQlGE_f00TmKlGmki-9kuSUdP1mQp82H_bect_o7a0UBXsMB-_OUfhwPevYTDoWGSnr26mzvSivAx6T38F7CscRKAP7ZxkJYJ/s320/049.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">7 pieces of melon</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoiLCZtZWGB83clH2lHQWUnIQytsvdmYNP4PbcNuNA_zHZo5kQdQfodJD_QoVd_OIfmmQrpBnWcoV6MlA8NLNA9ZPIr_AjaDFahhALhjjtUl38kwav5G2Oo9H3-pTTsn16aZTA76Q3GpE/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIoiLCZtZWGB83clH2lHQWUnIQytsvdmYNP4PbcNuNA_zHZo5kQdQfodJD_QoVd_OIfmmQrpBnWcoV6MlA8NLNA9ZPIr_AjaDFahhALhjjtUl38kwav5G2Oo9H3-pTTsn16aZTA76Q3GpE/s320/050.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">8 grapes</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXP8yNOkc7-3hXIKeQDSJHm9mkhA_-snILl6TjtEE_D0S3RW5j8AdQ7UkxAUOmqlTgjwwBR9K9F4-EHL1ShDsgGTYl7681VXlHiTVa2oUOFM9w3GEJV-AvtlBQ-GAWo1p58ImzL6kCimyS/s1600/052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXP8yNOkc7-3hXIKeQDSJHm9mkhA_-snILl6TjtEE_D0S3RW5j8AdQ7UkxAUOmqlTgjwwBR9K9F4-EHL1ShDsgGTYl7681VXlHiTVa2oUOFM9w3GEJV-AvtlBQ-GAWo1p58ImzL6kCimyS/s320/052.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Stir 9 times</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9YNR58M43K62-13AHjrEVIuGtnPzkaWw3OQaYvE-vTwkMHkUdv0OUTyf3bRnbBFHnc2bMEEhW8rL-R6e98KTgSy7Q2qlg3etbJ6M5SqZfa5jvUXUWHenWGErgf9Uji9_yKJ_vcmzFiT3/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9YNR58M43K62-13AHjrEVIuGtnPzkaWw3OQaYvE-vTwkMHkUdv0OUTyf3bRnbBFHnc2bMEEhW8rL-R6e98KTgSy7Q2qlg3etbJ6M5SqZfa5jvUXUWHenWGErgf9Uji9_yKJ_vcmzFiT3/s320/054.JPG" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">EAT.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I thought this was a pretty tasty fruit salad. I loved the mix of fruit with the Monterey Jack cheese. Just a warning: Sawyer didn't touch his salad once it was all mixed together. But, he did eat a lot of each ingredient individually. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Counting out the pieces for each step was good practice. Get some extra counting practice by making several servings. Also, you could do countdown salad and start at 10 working backwards. You could let your child determine which ingredients to use for each number so they would end up with more of the things they prefer to eat. And best of all you could make "Number Salad" with whatever ingredients you have around- fruits or veggies. I want to try one that has more berries and some mango. Or try making "Number Trail Mix" using dry ingredients.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Happy counting! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-19532654198158226382010-04-14T23:42:00.000-07:002010-04-15T00:32:41.711-07:00Green with SpaghenvyWe play outside in the cul-de-sac all the time. And you always know when Mrs. Hunt is making her "green pasta" because it smells SO good! Everyone is salivating as they get their mail and chase their kids around the pavement. And of course she is very generous and has shared her recipe. But I have to say it looks like a lot of work so I haven't tried it yet. <br />
<br />
Lucky for me Mollie Katzen has a super duper easy recipe for <strong><u>Green Spaghetti</u></strong>.<br />
<br />
The big highlight of this recipe was pulling the basil leaves off the stems. This led to some great discussion about which part was the leaf and which part was the stem as well as which part was edible and which was not. If you are a super gardener and happen to grow your own basil that could add a whole layer of fun- harvesting the basil yourself. We are about to plant some basil for future pesto making.<br />
<br />
In this version of green pasta (you could use any kind of pasta you want) you throw all the ingredients in the food processor and let it do all the work. We had a little trouble with adding 6 "shakes" of salt since our shaker is kind of fast and Sawyer didn't really get what a shake was. Definately demonstrate this and have them practice in the sink or over a pan so you don't add too much.<br />
<br />
And it's another chance for kids to grate the cheese themselves. Grate extra so you can sprinkle it on top. Yummers!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-25852565492782741642010-04-04T23:42:00.000-07:002010-04-04T23:42:42.293-07:00What Kind of Bagel Face Will You Make?There is lots to like about making <u><strong>Bagel</strong> <strong>Faces</strong></u>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1SN0zoSwg159YyFoOj6TGAmhygU6LRHRKaeXZPu2jRScjvT4EH5Tra1lPUgl_IFHc1JbODTmEA8pVgDWH16jB60QCViXOX-9sbCQekZRIxrYz0qOL8skgZUov3b3fHrzKwBKZib-MwqT/s1600/P1000890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1SN0zoSwg159YyFoOj6TGAmhygU6LRHRKaeXZPu2jRScjvT4EH5Tra1lPUgl_IFHc1JbODTmEA8pVgDWH16jB60QCViXOX-9sbCQekZRIxrYz0qOL8skgZUov3b3fHrzKwBKZib-MwqT/s320/P1000890.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">First of all, I bet your child will eat more raw veggies than you expect. It's hard not to snack on all the goodies (cucumbers, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, black olives) you have washed and ready. So they eat veggies while they work on decorating and then they get a second dose of the veggies that actually make it onto the faces.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Second, this recipe uses a lot of things you probably have on hand. It makes you get the veggies washed and ready to eat so even if you don't use them all up they will be ready to make more faces the next day or to toss in a salad or put out for a snack. I used up some odds and ends of cream cheese blocks. And you can use full size bagels, or the little mini ones.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDPj6roriyyzyfsojOzD0XmhNgmUD8dRcB7ilSa1CUnhiIv5_8JeyxuYhsbq61waM5n4zIhN2i9S3VAXdh_wiGXiLY4VxiXr3RMQ5Aa5G8HyVxSvZAPcjxaHRNVBEop7xUrch51lYmrZ6/s1600/P4020044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDPj6roriyyzyfsojOzD0XmhNgmUD8dRcB7ilSa1CUnhiIv5_8JeyxuYhsbq61waM5n4zIhN2i9S3VAXdh_wiGXiLY4VxiXr3RMQ5Aa5G8HyVxSvZAPcjxaHRNVBEop7xUrch51lYmrZ6/s320/P4020044.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Third, you can reinvent this recipe using whatever you have handy or feel like eating. Peanut butter faces could have pretzles, pieces of cereal, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips- a dessert version. But you could do flavored cream cheese with different fruits-strawberry cream cheese with pieces of apple, banana, kiwi, raisin, or craisin. Or even hummus or a soft spreading cheese with all the same veggies.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-X-zuIroERSkUQfWBat-d4sYEJw_KJCOKriiWG3myoDSg2WBKGPs0F9NoTY0NDo_Zi2BZADe_xMcsvAjqp5w44teK5pHj17RZ-vE45dQb-vfdGoQBl4yTqDxhDw2oeVLNTRkt7qe62PS/s1600/P4020045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-X-zuIroERSkUQfWBat-d4sYEJw_KJCOKriiWG3myoDSg2WBKGPs0F9NoTY0NDo_Zi2BZADe_xMcsvAjqp5w44teK5pHj17RZ-vE45dQb-vfdGoQBl4yTqDxhDw2oeVLNTRkt7qe62PS/s320/P4020045.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Those of you with toddlers around have probaby been doing your fair share of discussing emotions, and this recipe is a fun way to talk about "sad faces" and "happy faces". It uses a lot of imagination too. Sawyer liked telling stories about "who" he was making. Among our faces we have a Silly Santa and an Easter Bunny. Can you guess which one is which? (Answers at the bottom of the post).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOadBo8H3Umq1cuPMWZZTMvJ3tyZMNikfCvdIymelYqI6i1C3AYpG8ZYlSlhbVR7TC6rOHY8eVtxyGxyd6-JJFeyz9z5pQlpKe1KGdjQfIV4A6h0LZxmVlXuksKOWkgQpc5jvNE5-mkdaY/s1600/P4020048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOadBo8H3Umq1cuPMWZZTMvJ3tyZMNikfCvdIymelYqI6i1C3AYpG8ZYlSlhbVR7TC6rOHY8eVtxyGxyd6-JJFeyz9z5pQlpKe1KGdjQfIV4A6h0LZxmVlXuksKOWkgQpc5jvNE5-mkdaY/s320/P4020048.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Katzen's best advice was having young children wash the vegetables while you do the chopping and slicing. Sawyer loved having an important job. He initially wanted to use the scrub brush we use for the dishes on each cherry tomato. We lost less veggies down the drain because we put the collander in to help catch runaways. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The hardest part? Spreading the cream cheese. Try to leave it out for a bit so it is room temperature and easier to spread. Mollie says tell them to "push down and pull out" which I found myself repeating often. It took a lot of will power not to take over and just do this part myself! But again I've heard that spreading is good for development (Sue at Red Gate Preschool said so and I believe her). </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The best part? Sawyer kept saying, "These are really, really good." And I kept thinking, "These are really, really good for you!" </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Answers: Silly Santa is bottom right and Easter Bunny is top left.</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-88729301503417614902010-03-31T14:55:00.000-07:002010-04-03T23:30:20.000-07:00Me and Mollie<div>Okay, this is it, the debut of my much anticipated project in honor of my new favorite movie (<u>Julie and Julia</u>). I am definately a servantless american cook but cooking for kids is more my style, no Beef Bourguignon here. So, instead of cooking through Julia Child's recipes, I am going to cook through Mollie Katzen's recipes. For those unaquainted with Katzen, she's a well known vegetarian cookbook author who happens to have three awesome cookbooks for kids, <u>Pretend Soup</u>, <u>Salad People</u>, and<u> Honest Pretzles</u>. So awesome, that Sawyer likes me to read them outloud to him. He likes to hear the comments from the kids who helped test the recipes and he loves the step by step illustrations, which always end with "Eat!". I'm thinking that it will take me about a month or so to get through the recipes in <u><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pretend-Soup-Other-Real-Recipes/dp/1883672066?ie=UTF8&tag=janecosterman&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Pretend Soup</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=janecosterman&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1883672066" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></u>! I hope so because I'm going to have to return it to the library around then! </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinRJKxErOwCIQELCecLmdUqtoFzI0U0fRcH8MUugj6fozGNufNHIrefxNhzVdtGAP08Py6XKBHkRkJplrzgfsHin4nQkBZam3sBI7V1EoW-76ACRsI5wUrWs3gYbfIJ6swOPF_dFD9Hde2/s1600/Pretend-Soup-Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinRJKxErOwCIQELCecLmdUqtoFzI0U0fRcH8MUugj6fozGNufNHIrefxNhzVdtGAP08Py6XKBHkRkJplrzgfsHin4nQkBZam3sBI7V1EoW-76ACRsI5wUrWs3gYbfIJ6swOPF_dFD9Hde2/s200/Pretend-Soup-Book.jpg" width="157" /></a></div>I hope you'll check out her books, try some of these recipes, and get inspired to cook with your kids. Like most of the stuff I try, it's a big mess, but lots of fun (until you have to clean up).<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Pretend Soup</u></strong><br />
What better place to start than with the title recipe. It was a gorgeous sunny day when we tried this one. We decided to cook outside. Get lunch made and get fresh air and Vitamin D at the same time. Also, I wasn't too worried about spills since we were outside, let the ants have their share of OJ. One of Katzen's tips about letting kids pour liquids is to place the containers over a shallow pan with a lip so that it catches any spills. It caught the spills but it was also handy for holding and carrying the ingredients, utensils, and dishes.<br />
<br />
Sawyer did the measuring himself after I showed him where to stop. He had a little extra OJ, but he got the hang of pouring and slowing down before stopping by the time we got to pouring the yogurt. I ended up using Strawberry yogurt smoothie from Trader Joe's since that's what we had on hand. He used a plastic table knife to slice the bananas and the strawberries. Katzen suggests cutting the banana in half and then making a one inch slit in the peel so they can peel it themself. It worked like a charm. He counted the banana slices and strawberry chunks into the bowls himself, I just had to double check his work to make sure I got my share. Then he ladeled the liquid over the fruit and we both ate it all up. A little sticky, but super yummy! The yogurt and lemon juice make it a little tangy, and the honey and OJ sweeten it up. Nice and cold. Great for Spring or Summer. I'll make it again! And it joins the list of what to do with bananas when you have too many around.<br />
<br />
<div><br />
<div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456158224739456706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0XA3aBTfcLhw7YCDNmgPNL1Kf-fcUrJeA0GHYwvPJ86S6yzjlc8_BOYjtTykBJI86XG30uKGcbC9QYUJ7OgOeIfY6Cgn4js6qDLwMtLrPVZlYTzWqy2KDPRt6xfNXNIo4GJArQq3ntGZZ/s320/P1000840.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
Speaking of bananas . . .<br />
<strong><u>Chocolate-Banana Shakes</u></strong><br />
were for lunch today (with carrot sticks and cheese and crackers).<br />
<br />
This recipe is also joining the list of things to do to use up bananas. Sawyer measured and dumped the milk, peeled and broke of chunks of banana, measured the cocoa, counted the ice cubes and pushed the button on the blender. I have to say I was skeptical, the book claimed that it would taste like there was ice cream in it even though there isn't. But I was fooled and I'm not a huge banana lover like the rest of my family. Just watch out for the banana chunks settling to the bottom of the glass, you might get an extra banana-y last sip like I did. And Sawyer was disappointed that the banana chunks clogged up his silly straw. But "no worries" he drank the whole glass anyway!<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop</u></strong><br />
Now this was the perfect beverage for a silly straw! I've heard that slurping through silly straws is good for development. Something about strengthening the sphincter muscles. Seriously!<br />
<br />
So I am now going to admit that I buy the plastic lemon and lime shaped bottles of lemon and lime juice because I'm too lazy to squeeze my own. I'm sure that fresh juice tastes better. As much as I want to use "real" citrus juice I don't seem to be able to use lemons or limes for the intended recipe before they go bad. And the cute little bottles of juice can stay in my fridge a LONG time. Hmmm. . . Well, it still tasted really really good when we used the "fake" juice. But I hope to try it with real juice in the near future, it will probably be even better. Use what you have on hand people!<br />
<br />
This one takes a little advance preparation- you have to thaw the apple juice concentrate ahead of time. But again, it's super simple measure and dump. Use a tall glass because we got perilously close to the top when we dumped the sparkly water in ours. It required some sipping off the top, but it was very refreshing and way better than normal soda. I love that she recommends trying it with other kinds of fruit juice (I know what I'm going to do with the grapefruit from the farm box now!).<br />
<br />
My only complaint is the bowl of melted apple juice concentrate that is still sitting in my fridge. Either plan to make enough glasses so you use it all up, or plan to make it several days in a row until it's gone. Trust me, you'll want to make more, so it won't be a problem.<br />
<br />
<strong><u><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvzheTOx-qHx4ag1cYl_cxqml6KMb-6mYsdHPfm-VL4tkI9rGSOVWV7AMBFV8vnzveW9rkGyPPLHiEFLAhu_8PWmDgz__M8jZ6_h8202BQFyV3KPCKx61AeZ1BSC6Dzd53C7_5oz46m-vt/s1600/P1000845.JPG"></a>Quesadillas</u></strong><br />
I know, you already know how to melt cheese on a tortilla. You probably also know that they taste better when you heat them on the stove in a pan instead of in the microwave. But do you add refried beans to yours? It's the secret ingredient!<br />
<br />
What I loved about following Mollie's directions was that I actually let Sawyer use the hand held grater which he enjoyed immensely. He would do a tiny amount and then look to see if any came out and put it on the tortilla, then grate a little more. It was slow going but worth it to see his sense of accomplishment. Also, she talked me through letting him help flip it over himself. Adult: Put the spatula under the quesadilla. Child: Flip it over. Adult: Make any necessary corrections.<br />
<br />
It was one of the better quesadillas I've made myself. Well, that my child has made for me!<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456162452023144178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9N6YuphwH-cIKMaVqtCsnzZN7HRuwYS3Lq7u1XZTUiTgQ0fvcqvQHNHJ_GeEtpgGR4Uyx-VbkZAbnhpHSFJztqW-sQ9U3mCHLBOZsckPLJybsR7AmtwesZ4wri4fAA2YrLjtAB51Y28jo/s320/P1000845.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
19 recipes total, we've tried 4 so far, 15 recipes left to go!</div></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-24843882917205498332010-03-08T21:40:00.000-08:002010-03-08T22:18:32.471-08:00Five Books I Discovered at the Library, Then Bought for Myself (I mean for My Kids)<strong>1. <u>Duck on a Bike</u> by David Shannon</strong><br /> When the people aren't paying attention the duck on this farm climbs on the bike he's had his eye on. He quickly gains confidence and starts showing off for all the other animals who tell you what they think about his antics. In the end, they all get their own turn on two wheels. <br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>2. <u> Cha Cha Chimps</u> by Julia Durango and Eleanor Taylor</strong><br /> This book has irresistable rhythm and rhyme. Plus it's useful for teaching your children how to count down from 10 to 1, and perhaps more importantly you get the chance to explain the difference between the tango and the samba . My favorite part? The mom calls the babysitter and gets to go back to da club after the babies are all tucked in. Very lively for a bedtime story!<br /><br /><strong>3. <u>Truck Duck</u> by Michael Rex</strong><br /> A board book that packs humor into two rhyming words per page. One word names the vehicle and the other names the driver. Great for those who love vehicles and unexpected animal drivers. It's a lot of fun to read it as a guessing game where I read the first word and my son guesses the second part. Now he's started "reading" the whole thing with the help of the picture clues.<br /><br /><strong>4. <u>Tough Chicks</u> by Cece Meng and Melissa Suber</strong><br /><strong> </strong> We've all had those moments where we are so proud of our children's unique qualities and strive to encourage them, but yet also find ourselves explaining and defending them to those with other expectations. This cute barnyard story goes deeper than you would expect as it illustrates mama hen's unconditional love for her chicks. At first the farmer and other animals are critical and wish the chicks were just like all the others, but by the end of the story they appreciate the chicks for who they are.<br /><br /><strong>5. <u>Llama Llama Mad at Mama</u> by Anna Dewdney</strong><br /><strong> </strong>If you have been on a shopping trip from you-know-where, you'll crack up as little llama decides he's tired of shopping and decides to throw all the stuff Mama Llama has put in the cart on the floor. She handles it gracefully, an inspiration to us all (well, and a little bribery is involved)! I was a little worried my son might start pulling a similar stunt, but instead I've been able to refer to this book and use Dewdney's humor to get us through the errands.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-79471844648884673612010-02-25T23:21:00.001-08:002010-02-25T23:49:44.082-08:00Perfect Playdough?I recently made five batches of playdough in one afternoon for my son's birthday party. While stirring, and stirring, and stirring I was contemplating whether my recipe was as good as it gets.<br /><br />I'd love to hear about any other recipes you have. This one cooks up easy with ingredients you probably have on hand, looks terribly lumpy and like it's not going to work out, but you keep cooking and stirring and sure enough it forms a ball. Inspired by my son's awesome teachers at The Children's Studio I tried a couple batches with scents thrown in (cinammon, mint, vanilla, lemon). It keeps for quite a while in a tupperware at room temperature. <br /><br /><strong>Cooked Play Dough</strong> <br />from <u>Kindergarten Cooks</u> by Nellie Edge and Pierr Leitz<br /><br />1 cup flour<br />1 Tbs oil<br />1 cup water<br />1/2 cup salt<br />2 tsp cream of artar<br />food coloring<br /><br />Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.<br />Cook over medium heat.<br />Stir constantly until mixture forms a ball (and you think your arm will fall off)<br />Knead until smooth.<br />Store in a covered container.<br /><br />So that's the best I've found. But here are two more that I plan to try out once my five batches get dried out. Test them out and share the results with me if you get a chance.<br /><br /><strong>Playful Peanut Butter Dough</strong><br />from <u>Kindergarten Cooks</u> by Nellie Edge and Pierr Leitz<br /><br />1/2 large sized jar creamy peanut butter<br />2 Tbs honey<br />2 cups powdered milk<br />raisins<br />mini marshmallows<br /><br />Put peanut butter into a bowl.<br />Add honey and some of the powdered milk. <br />Mix it with your hands.<br />Keep adding powdered mlk until the dough feels soft and playful.<br />Use it like playdough.<br />Mold it into shapes.<br />Or use cookie cutters.<br />Make designs with raisins and marshmallows.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>KoolAid Dough</strong><br />from the BC Parent Handbook for 1st Year Toddler Class<br /><br />Depending on what flavor KoolAid you use, this dough has a wonderful smell and unusual color.<br /><br />Boil 2 cups water and add 3 Tbs oil.<br />Add these to the following dry ingredients:<br />2 1/2 cups flour<br />1/2 cup salt<br />1 Tbs cream of tartar or alum<br />2 packages of unsweetened KoolAid (any flavor)<br /><br />Cool a little and knead. This recipe works well in the food processor.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-67560305974198963562009-06-08T21:44:00.000-07:002009-06-08T22:28:40.105-07:00Digging in the DirtAt a park playdate last week, one of Sawyer's friend's moms brought along some diggers that the kids used to dig in the dirt at the base of all the trees. We came home covered in dirt, on the clothes, in the hair, under the finger and toenails. But it was so worth it! They loved it. I loved it.<br /><br />Sawyer's description of what they were doing was "dig yuck-yuck". "Yuck-Yuck" has become our all purpose term for anything you are not supposed to touch because it's dirty. It started with mud, and has expanded to include pooh, food on the floor, and dirt in general. For a long time, perhaps due to my overzealous effort to have him avoid the mud below the bench at our local outdoor basketball court, he needed A LOT of encouragement to touch or even walk on dirt. <br /><br />Recently we've had a breakthrough though. I can't tell you how excited I was to see him helping in the garden with no gloves on. Happily picking rocks out of the soil and putting them in a bucket. And he's started picking up balls that roll into the dirt without pausing to look at me and see if it's okay. A big improvement from refusing to get the ball at all. And he's even touched several worms. <br /><br />So why the big turn around? I think it has to do with seeing other people having fun in the dirt. I've been busy digging compost into the soil, planting our garden, and enlisting his help in short bursts. When he woke up from his nap on several days in May, I greeted him with my shirt and socks covered in dirt (apparently Crocs weren't really designed for gardening). We've also been going to Farm Tots at the South 47 Farm (<a href="http://www.south47farm.com/">www.south47farm.com</a>), where he's been touching dirt while planting starts of chinese brocoli, walla walla sweet onions, and lettuce which are now growing in our garden. And he got to make a "worm purse" and bring a worm from the farm home to our garden. <br /><br />I guess what I realized is that there's no better way to show them that dirt is not always "yuck-yuck" than getting down and dirty with them in your own yard, at the park, or on the farm.Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-49005080739411111932009-05-19T16:04:00.000-07:002009-05-19T16:22:34.151-07:00Pizza! Pizza!Need a yummy plan for dinner? Having trouble cooking and entertaining your child at the same time? My solution yesterday was making pizza with pre-made dough from the store. We use either canned tomato paste or pizza sauce from a jar and add whatever toppings we have on hand. Yesterday it was what was left of the shredded mozarella (not much), roasted red peppers, mushrooms from our farm box, and pepperoni. Sawyer greased the pan, dumped and smeared the sauce (over the dough and the table), and put the cheese, pepperoni and mushrooms on.<br /><br /><br /><br />It looked like a 2 year old made dinner, but it tasted great! We added a salad too and if he hadn't been distracted by daddy coming home, he might have washed the lettuce, dried it off, and torn it into pieces or cut it with a table knife.<br /><br /><br /><br />We've made homemade dough in the past, which is a fun floury and sticky mess. It just takes more patience since you have to let it rise. But you can cook, take a play break, and cook some more. Here's one recipe for homemade dough from Cooking Light on myrecipes.com: <a href="http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1227877">http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1227877</a>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-52755307761665381482009-05-18T15:02:00.000-07:002009-05-18T15:31:46.780-07:00Painting with a Ball and BoxYesterday we made some cool paintings using a box, golf ball, paint, paper, and a few pieces of tape. Tape the paper in the bottom of a box (it's best if the paper covers most of the bottom of the box). Let your child choose the colors of paint and put the paint on the paper. Have them place the ball in the box. Show them how to roll the box around so that the ball rolls through the paint and makes tracks all over the paper. Stop when your child thinks their masterpiece is complete. You'll want to have some wet paper towels handy to pick up the ball and wipe it clean, and then wipe any paint that is on the box sides and bottom once you remove the painting. <br /><br />It was so tempting to take this project over. <strong>Let them make choices</strong> about the color combinations, the number of colors, how much paint (watch out with this one, we have one that is still drying), where to put the ball, whether to roll the ball with one color before adding another color or add all the colors of paint and then roll, and when it's finished. Resist the temptation to jump in and take over, empower their inner artist. I practically had to sit on my hands.<br /><br />I was surprised that this activity held Sawyer's attention as long as it did. Four paintings in a row! You just never know what will capture their interest. We did one painting with a whiffle ball a few months ago and he was D-O-N-E after one. Sawyer's favorite part yesterday was choosing the colors he was going to use, lining them up, and unscrewing the lids. Oh, and he loved putting the paints back in the box when we were done so much he dumped them out and put them away again. Also, just so you know, I ended up doing quite a bit of the actual rolling, but I always let him roll first, then when he wanted me to roll I asked him to give me directions like "Where do you want the ball to go next?" and "Tell me when to stop."<br /><br />Variations: You can make areas of <strong>white space</strong> by having your child cut out or just tape down some shapes with scraps of paper before adding paint and rolling. When it's dry, remove the shapes. <br /><br />You can also <strong>paint with other things</strong> that will roll around in the box. What can your child find that will work? Rocks or pine cones? Marbles, whiffle balls, tennis balls? An orange, lemon, or avacado? And who says you can only put one thing in at a time? Let me know what you try! <br /><br />One of our paintings is on it's way to dad's art wall at work, and I think two are headed for grandparents' mailboxes, that leaves one to tape to the pantry door since I'm out of fridge door space and magnets!Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-72426906194508718532009-05-16T23:26:00.000-07:002009-05-16T23:46:55.259-07:00Solar S'mores OvenI sure hope it's sunny tomorrow, because Sawyer and I are planning to make s'mores in a pizza box turned solar oven while we play outside. Like so, so, so many of my projects, I got this idea from Family Fun Magazine. See their directions for the project at <a href="http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11954">http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11954</a> or just go to their website and search for "solar s'mores". If you don't have an account with them, you might want to make one. It lets you save the directions for projects in your own "craft box" for future reference.<br /><br /><br /><br />I cut the flap in the lid of the box tonight, so I won't have to use the forbidden sharp grownup scissors in front of my scissor loving boy. But I plan to have him glue the foil and black paper and help with the taping of the saran wrap. And of course, he'll be positioning the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. I'm envisioning a major tangle of saran wrap and tape. And some chocolatey goodness on our fingers and faces when we assemble and eat our s'mores.<br /><br /><br /><br />So go to it, make a messy treat while you do whatever your kids like to do outside. We'll be kicking the ball, scooting the bike, and running the bases while we await the chocolatey melt down. As Sawyer would say, "Set, GO!"Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393420952575315891.post-31196271031576252292009-05-16T22:44:00.000-07:002009-05-16T23:13:59.368-07:00Have you made a mess with your kids today?I have a high tolerance for messiness. I've always been like that. Messy hair. Messy room. Messy house. Messy ideas for fun things to do with kids. Which is the real point of this blog.<br /><br />As it turns out, being able to tolerate, and even <strong>celebrate</strong> <strong>the mess</strong> is a good quality to have as a mom! And while not every idea I share will be messy, they will be written in the spirit of recognizing that our kids, ALL KIDS, learn through playing with stuff, touching stuff, tasting stuff, creating with stuff, and that stuff is often messy. Dirt, flour, dough, paint, whatever it is, there is usually a way to make a mess. And if we can let go of worrying about whether our kids or their clothes, or our clothes or kitchen floor are getting messy and concentrate on the wonder of what our kids are experiencing instead of how long their hands are going to be dyed green, then we can enjoy parenting so much more! <br /><br />Also, I'm full of ideas for <strong>adventures</strong>. Places to go, things to see and do that are out and about. While some of these outings are not messy outright, your house may remain messy longer than it would have if you had stayed home and tried to do chores and entertain your kids at the same time (more on this thought later).Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08177777833379639090noreply@blogger.com1