The party outfit:
Butterfly chandeliers, thanks to Oriental Trading. :)
Craft time: decorating picture frames. The finished products were really great!
Happy Birthday, Sydney!!!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Happy Birthday Sydney!
My sweet Sydney celebrated her sixth birthday this weekend. I can't believe the same little baby we took to France with us back in 2006 is now six years old. Wow. She had a "Butterfly" themed party and it was a lot of fun. Here are few quick pictures.
The party outfit:
The butterfly cake, thanks to BRETT!
Butterfly chandeliers, thanks to Oriental Trading. :)
Pierce really got into the theme and joined the fun! He wore wings all afternoon and chased the girls around.
Craft time: decorating picture frames. The finished products were really great!
Time for a wish (with a little help from Pierce)! I hope it comes true!!
Happy Birthday, Sydney!!!
The party outfit:
Butterfly chandeliers, thanks to Oriental Trading. :)
Craft time: decorating picture frames. The finished products were really great!
Happy Birthday, Sydney!!!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Acts of Charity
Aside from my reading list, one of my other new years goals is to be more charitable in my thoughts and actions. We give a good bit of money to charity, but I think we could do a better job as a family in just being more charitable on a daily basis through our actions, both big and small. So I was recently reading on a blog about a mom who wanted suggestions for charitable things she could do with young children. I read it with interest since you are very limited when trying to do something charitable with a 2 and a 5 year old. Road side clean-ups... I don't think so! Soup kitchens... not so much. One of the suggestions on this blog seemed a little odd to me, but was certainly kind and also creative: one mom wrote that she and her children clip coupons on Sunday afternoon for products they don't buy (especially baby products like diapers and wipes), and the next time they are in a big box store, they slip the coupons on the shelves under the coordinating product for another mom to discover and brighten her day by saving her a little money! Strange, but sweet, I thought.
So the day after reading this blog post about charity, I was at Target shopping. I am at Target every week! Anyway, I was heading down to the diaper aisle, a little bit grumpy about the idea of purchasing ANOTHER $20 package of diapers. I was thinking to myself, "Man, I am tired of buying diapers." "Why have I not gotten Pierce potty-trained yet?" "I wish I had a coupon." I almost never buy diapers without a coupon, but that day I did not have one. As I reached up to grab my size 4 Huggies pull-ups, I saw a coupon neatly tucked under the corner of the exact package I needed to buy. I pulled the coupon down and it was for $2 off the diapers I needed. I got the hugest grin on my face thinking about that blog post that I had just read and how I had thought it was sort of an odd thing to do to clip coupons for someone else. But I smiled thinking of some mom and her kids in Apex cutting that coupon for me last Sunday as an act of kindness. It changed my attitude for the rest of the day. And it was a little reminder that charity comes in all sorts of packages - showing kindness to a stranger in any way is a good way.
So the day after reading this blog post about charity, I was at Target shopping. I am at Target every week! Anyway, I was heading down to the diaper aisle, a little bit grumpy about the idea of purchasing ANOTHER $20 package of diapers. I was thinking to myself, "Man, I am tired of buying diapers." "Why have I not gotten Pierce potty-trained yet?" "I wish I had a coupon." I almost never buy diapers without a coupon, but that day I did not have one. As I reached up to grab my size 4 Huggies pull-ups, I saw a coupon neatly tucked under the corner of the exact package I needed to buy. I pulled the coupon down and it was for $2 off the diapers I needed. I got the hugest grin on my face thinking about that blog post that I had just read and how I had thought it was sort of an odd thing to do to clip coupons for someone else. But I smiled thinking of some mom and her kids in Apex cutting that coupon for me last Sunday as an act of kindness. It changed my attitude for the rest of the day. And it was a little reminder that charity comes in all sorts of packages - showing kindness to a stranger in any way is a good way.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
School Lunches
Ahh, school lunches. The dreaded nighttime chore of many parents! What to pack? As for me, I get burned out like the rest of you, but have done my best this year to get creative and avoid sending the same thing every day. I do not send the good old American standard, ham sandwich on white bread, chips, and something sweet, because it contains absolutely no nutrients for her growing body, and instead I have been working to come up with healthy and interesting alternatives. I generally do not let her purchase the school lunches which are mostly loaded with fat, sugar, sodium and empty refined carbohydrates and offer little nutrition. Also, we don’t usually purchase lunch meat in this house because we try to avoid industrial meats that have been injected with growth hormones and antibiotics (read In Defense of Food, the Omnivores Dilemma or watch Food, Inc. if you’re not sure what I am talking about here!). On top of all that, her school is tree nut free! UGH. So we are really forced to get creative with lunches here. When you take the two easy American standards of PB&J and ham and cheese out of play, you’ve got to think outside the box.
I know lots of parents get burnt out with packing lunches every night and also run out of healthy ideas for their kids, so I will try to post a few times on this topic to share some ideas. I have had several teachers tell me what interesting and creative lunches Sydney brings, so I am guessing that most parents are not sending in what I am sending in. But I have no idea what the other kids are eating, so who knows!
1. Japanese-inspired lunch
Ok, if you are Japanese, avert your eyes. This is not a real Japanese lunch box, just an American version inspired by the Japanese bento box. I have a sweet Japanese neighbor, Keiko, who allowed me to come to her house one afternoon to have a Japanese lunch making lesson. She showed me how to assemble an incredibly cute and incredibly small lunch to send to school with Sydney and gave me lots of great supplies to make it more authentic! Her lunches are seriously cute and could be on a magazine cover. I am not yet so skilled, but I have used our little lesson as inspiration to think outside the sandwich box!
What she taught me more than anything was that it’s ok to send what I would consider “dinner” food to school as a lunch. Many items are just fine eaten cold. (Put an ice pack in with the lunch box of course).
So, I try to send Sydney a Japanese-inspired lunch once every week or two to add some variety to her lunches. Some of my Japanese-inspired lunches look something like this:
- White short grain sushi rice (you could use brown for more nutrients, of course) rolled into a circle (using saran wrap so your hands don’t stick to the rice) and decorated with seaweed paper. I personally prefer the Korean seaweed paper because it is wonderfully salty in flavor without having much sodium at all. You can buy it at Trader Joes or at any Asian market – it’s a tasty snack!
- An egg omlette (just an egg with a little salt or soy added for flavor). This one was done in the Japanese omlette pan Keiko gave me, but any shape will do. A real Japanese woman would have formed the omlette into a heart or some other cute shape, but mine was too loose to work with. Novice!
- Edamame with a little salt. Very nutritious and packed with protein. Easy to eat with your fingers if you like.
- Pineapple chunks. Any fruit is fine, but we had sliced a pineapple this week, so that’s what I sent.
- The little container has soy sauce in it (maybe ½ tsp) for the rice ball.
(Hint: I generally only make this lunch for her following a night where I made Japanese rice for our dinner. I don’t want to cook up a batch of rice just for one rice ball. I make a little extra for dinner and use it for lunch).
2. Try pita instead of bread
Today I sent:
- A whole wheat pita cut into triangles with hummus for dipping.
- Slices of gruyere cheese. Sydney loves gruyere, but it’s expensive so we rarely buy it. You can use cheese sticks, or just cube, slice or make sticks out of any block of cheese your kids like. Between the hummus and cheese she’ll get plenty of protein and calcium.
- Cucumber slices.
- Blueberries and clementine slices.
Other tips:
One thing that has helped me get a variety of nutritious items into her lunch (that don’t include nuts or deli meat and can be eaten cold!) is to have a running list of ideas written somewhere in case you just don’t know where to start one night.
To simplify my weeks, I also try to do some prep work on Sunday afternoon while Pierce is napping. Cut or cube cheese, slice carrots, hard-boil eggs, etc.
I try to get at least one fruit, one veggie and one form of protein along with a whole grain in there each day.
I rarely include chips because they are empty calories – with the exception of sweet potato chips which we buy occasionally from Trader Joes. They are an excellent source of Vitamins A and I just overlook the fact that they are fried!
Ok, hope those ideas helped get your creative juices flowing. I’ll post more pictures and ideas another time. If you have ideas to share, please leave a comment! I get lots of my ideas online and from other people!
PS – the lunch container I use is just a Ziploc brand container. It comes in a two-pack for about $2. Each compartment is sealed, so no leaking. I like that there is only one lid to open since Sydney’s lunch is short and time is of the essence! Plus, no waste.
I know lots of parents get burnt out with packing lunches every night and also run out of healthy ideas for their kids, so I will try to post a few times on this topic to share some ideas. I have had several teachers tell me what interesting and creative lunches Sydney brings, so I am guessing that most parents are not sending in what I am sending in. But I have no idea what the other kids are eating, so who knows!
1. Japanese-inspired lunch
Ok, if you are Japanese, avert your eyes. This is not a real Japanese lunch box, just an American version inspired by the Japanese bento box. I have a sweet Japanese neighbor, Keiko, who allowed me to come to her house one afternoon to have a Japanese lunch making lesson. She showed me how to assemble an incredibly cute and incredibly small lunch to send to school with Sydney and gave me lots of great supplies to make it more authentic! Her lunches are seriously cute and could be on a magazine cover. I am not yet so skilled, but I have used our little lesson as inspiration to think outside the sandwich box!
What she taught me more than anything was that it’s ok to send what I would consider “dinner” food to school as a lunch. Many items are just fine eaten cold. (Put an ice pack in with the lunch box of course).
So, I try to send Sydney a Japanese-inspired lunch once every week or two to add some variety to her lunches. Some of my Japanese-inspired lunches look something like this:
- White short grain sushi rice (you could use brown for more nutrients, of course) rolled into a circle (using saran wrap so your hands don’t stick to the rice) and decorated with seaweed paper. I personally prefer the Korean seaweed paper because it is wonderfully salty in flavor without having much sodium at all. You can buy it at Trader Joes or at any Asian market – it’s a tasty snack!
- An egg omlette (just an egg with a little salt or soy added for flavor). This one was done in the Japanese omlette pan Keiko gave me, but any shape will do. A real Japanese woman would have formed the omlette into a heart or some other cute shape, but mine was too loose to work with. Novice!
- Edamame with a little salt. Very nutritious and packed with protein. Easy to eat with your fingers if you like.
- Pineapple chunks. Any fruit is fine, but we had sliced a pineapple this week, so that’s what I sent.
- The little container has soy sauce in it (maybe ½ tsp) for the rice ball.
(Hint: I generally only make this lunch for her following a night where I made Japanese rice for our dinner. I don’t want to cook up a batch of rice just for one rice ball. I make a little extra for dinner and use it for lunch).
2. Try pita instead of bread
Today I sent:
- A whole wheat pita cut into triangles with hummus for dipping.
- Slices of gruyere cheese. Sydney loves gruyere, but it’s expensive so we rarely buy it. You can use cheese sticks, or just cube, slice or make sticks out of any block of cheese your kids like. Between the hummus and cheese she’ll get plenty of protein and calcium.
- Cucumber slices.
- Blueberries and clementine slices.
Other tips:
One thing that has helped me get a variety of nutritious items into her lunch (that don’t include nuts or deli meat and can be eaten cold!) is to have a running list of ideas written somewhere in case you just don’t know where to start one night.
To simplify my weeks, I also try to do some prep work on Sunday afternoon while Pierce is napping. Cut or cube cheese, slice carrots, hard-boil eggs, etc.
I try to get at least one fruit, one veggie and one form of protein along with a whole grain in there each day.
I rarely include chips because they are empty calories – with the exception of sweet potato chips which we buy occasionally from Trader Joes. They are an excellent source of Vitamins A and I just overlook the fact that they are fried!
Ok, hope those ideas helped get your creative juices flowing. I’ll post more pictures and ideas another time. If you have ideas to share, please leave a comment! I get lots of my ideas online and from other people!
PS – the lunch container I use is just a Ziploc brand container. It comes in a two-pack for about $2. Each compartment is sealed, so no leaking. I like that there is only one lid to open since Sydney’s lunch is short and time is of the essence! Plus, no waste.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Disney World
We just got home from a really great week in Disney World with the kids. We spent six days exploring Epcot, Magic Kingdom and some of the amenities at our hotel. There are far too many photos to fit within the limitations of this little blog, so I'll just post a few. Overall, we had a great time and highly recommend an off-season visit. The prices were lower (although that's not saying much, Disney is expensive no matter when you go), and there were almost no crowds. Aside from the first Saturday we were there, we really didn't have to wait in line more than a few minutes for any of the rides. It was so nice to just say, hey, let's ride this one, and hop on. I honestly don't know that I would like Disney in the high season. In fact, I'm sure I wouldn't. Especially with two very young kids with no patience for long lines. The weather was great except for the first day (burrr!!) and we enjoyed the break from the cold.
Some of the highlights for the kids of our week included:
Hugs and kisses from lots of their favorite characters.
Getting faces painted.
Driving a race car all by themselves. (This was certainly a favorite for both kids!)
Riding on a boat to get to the parks in beautiful weather.
Strenghening their immune systems by touching every single trash can and running their hands over every single hand rail in all of Disney World.
Flying the planes in tomorrowland.
Getting to spend some of the money they had saved and been given by relatives on toys and candy.
Dessert with almost every meal.
Swimming in January!
I could go on and on... let's just say we indulged in pure fun for six straight days. What a treat for all of us. :)
Some of the highlights for the kids of our week included:
Hugs and kisses from lots of their favorite characters.
Getting faces painted.
Driving a race car all by themselves. (This was certainly a favorite for both kids!)
Riding on a boat to get to the parks in beautiful weather.
Strenghening their immune systems by touching every single trash can and running their hands over every single hand rail in all of Disney World.
Flying the planes in tomorrowland.
Getting to spend some of the money they had saved and been given by relatives on toys and candy.
Dessert with almost every meal.
Swimming in January!
I could go on and on... let's just say we indulged in pure fun for six straight days. What a treat for all of us. :)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Reading in the new year
Both kids and I love to read. I am so happy to see Pierce enjoying reading as much as his sister. I was kind of concerned the second child just wouldn't be into it. But he is. And I am thrilled. He read me a book today and I thought you all might also enjoy learning about "Trucks." (Excuse the gum in his mouth! Yikes - a rare treat, a bribe, really). Although it might sound blurred, he actually gets all the words right and has memorized the entire book.
Sydney was given seven chapter books for Christmas from various people and she has already finished all of them!
As for me, I have decided to get more specific than usual with my new years goals and create a list of books I'd like to read in 2012. I always make new years goals ("resolutions" if you like). I know people say, "Why bother?" But I generally accomplish 75% of mine. That's good enough to motivate me to keep making them. I write a list to keep me accountable and I revisit it periodically throughout the year. Generally, one of my goals is to read a certain number of books. But, I've never put any thought into which books until I'm ready to read them. So this year I read on the Money Saving Mom blog that she always picks her books ahead of time and is able to hold herself accountable for a more specific goal. I like that idea and wish I'd done it back in November so that I could ask for some of them as Christmas gifts! Oh, well. I came up with 12 books in several categories that I enjoy reading/learning about. Half of them I can get at my local library for free and the other half I ordered online with a little Christmas money I got.
Here's what I'll be reading (theoretically) this year:
Catholic/Christian books:
Twelve Extraordinary Women (John MacArthur)
A Biblical Walk Through the Mass (Edward Sri)
My life with the saints (James Martin)
The Handbook for Catholic Moms (Lisa Hendey)
Personal Finance:
The Money Class (Suze Orman)
Money Saving Mom's Budget (Crystal Paine)
Non-fiction:
Real Food on a Real Budget (Stephanie Langford)
Kisses from Katie (Katie Davis)
Fiction:
An Imaginary Life (David Malouf)
Big Stone Gap (Adriana Trigiani)
Loving Frank (Nancy Horan)
Suite Francaise (Irene Nemirvosky)
What are you enjoying reading in the new year?
Sydney was given seven chapter books for Christmas from various people and she has already finished all of them!
As for me, I have decided to get more specific than usual with my new years goals and create a list of books I'd like to read in 2012. I always make new years goals ("resolutions" if you like). I know people say, "Why bother?" But I generally accomplish 75% of mine. That's good enough to motivate me to keep making them. I write a list to keep me accountable and I revisit it periodically throughout the year. Generally, one of my goals is to read a certain number of books. But, I've never put any thought into which books until I'm ready to read them. So this year I read on the Money Saving Mom blog that she always picks her books ahead of time and is able to hold herself accountable for a more specific goal. I like that idea and wish I'd done it back in November so that I could ask for some of them as Christmas gifts! Oh, well. I came up with 12 books in several categories that I enjoy reading/learning about. Half of them I can get at my local library for free and the other half I ordered online with a little Christmas money I got.
Here's what I'll be reading (theoretically) this year:
Catholic/Christian books:
Twelve Extraordinary Women (John MacArthur)
A Biblical Walk Through the Mass (Edward Sri)
My life with the saints (James Martin)
The Handbook for Catholic Moms (Lisa Hendey)
Personal Finance:
The Money Class (Suze Orman)
Money Saving Mom's Budget (Crystal Paine)
Non-fiction:
Real Food on a Real Budget (Stephanie Langford)
Kisses from Katie (Katie Davis)
Fiction:
An Imaginary Life (David Malouf)
Big Stone Gap (Adriana Trigiani)
Loving Frank (Nancy Horan)
Suite Francaise (Irene Nemirvosky)
What are you enjoying reading in the new year?
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The post-Christmas purge
Is it just me? Am I the only one who feels a sudden and urgent need to clean, organize and purge the minute Christmas is over? Maybe it's a natural reaction to all the excess - to need to rebalance with a reduction of some sort. On the 24th, I always sit on the couch and stare in wonder at the beauty of our 9' tree, the warm glow of the lights, the colorful gifts beneath, but as soon as the 26th rolls around, the tree suddenly seems a monster consuming our living room, the toys have taken over, the Christmas knick knacks seem to be attacking our once peaceful house. And every year on the 26th, I am totally over it. I need to clean and get organized for the next year!
So this year, my purging and cleaning project ended up being the playroom. We had a monstrous entertainment center with a 350-lb TV (from before the days of flat screens) and loads of AV equipment (a VCR and old Xbox, etc.) that was NEVER used taking up a large portion of that room. I had been hinting at Brett for some time now that I would like to get rid of that monster, and he had been giving me lots of push back. The problem is that the entertainment center was too big to get down our stairs (it really tore the walls up going in and we swore it would never go out in one piece). So, a few weeks ago, I visually reorganized the playroom, then went to Ikea to get what I needed to make it happen. And Brett finally agreed to attack that monster up there. He took the entertainment center apart piece by piece until it was just a pile of wood, screws and hardware. Sadly, it had been a relatively expensive piece from Bassett, but we decided it was not worth ruining our walls to get something out that was of no use to anyone, since TVs don't need those big entertainment centers anymore. Our neighbor helped Brett carry the 350-lb TV down the stairs, down the sidewalk, and back up his own stairs into his playroom! We were so glad to find a home for it!
With all our newly reclaimed space, we put in a larger (adult-sized!) table and chairs for art projects and homework. Previously we just had a toddler sized table, which has been great, but we are ready to move on to something bigger at this point. We also got some storage units for managing all the toys up there. And two book ledges for forward book display. The kids really flock to the little library now that their favorite books are front-facing and easy to access. Pierce sits in the Elmo chair and reads all the time. It's so cute.
So, I can breathe a sigh of relief as we have tackled one major project to start the new year fresh! We spend a LOT of time in that room, so it is a real blessing for the kids and me to have it organized and functional. Brett did all the work since I am not supposed to do any heavy lifting and I also am not in the least bit mechanically inclined. Thanks, Brett!!!
So this year, my purging and cleaning project ended up being the playroom. We had a monstrous entertainment center with a 350-lb TV (from before the days of flat screens) and loads of AV equipment (a VCR and old Xbox, etc.) that was NEVER used taking up a large portion of that room. I had been hinting at Brett for some time now that I would like to get rid of that monster, and he had been giving me lots of push back. The problem is that the entertainment center was too big to get down our stairs (it really tore the walls up going in and we swore it would never go out in one piece). So, a few weeks ago, I visually reorganized the playroom, then went to Ikea to get what I needed to make it happen. And Brett finally agreed to attack that monster up there. He took the entertainment center apart piece by piece until it was just a pile of wood, screws and hardware. Sadly, it had been a relatively expensive piece from Bassett, but we decided it was not worth ruining our walls to get something out that was of no use to anyone, since TVs don't need those big entertainment centers anymore. Our neighbor helped Brett carry the 350-lb TV down the stairs, down the sidewalk, and back up his own stairs into his playroom! We were so glad to find a home for it!
With all our newly reclaimed space, we put in a larger (adult-sized!) table and chairs for art projects and homework. Previously we just had a toddler sized table, which has been great, but we are ready to move on to something bigger at this point. We also got some storage units for managing all the toys up there. And two book ledges for forward book display. The kids really flock to the little library now that their favorite books are front-facing and easy to access. Pierce sits in the Elmo chair and reads all the time. It's so cute.
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| Our "library" using $10 photo ledges from Ikea. |
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Our new school room for art projects, homework, puzzles, crafts. This is a dining table from Ikea along with chairs for both little people and normal people. The storage unit (also Ikea) is just removable plastic bins for drawers - easy for little kids to use and replace. |
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| I also bought these plastic storage cups for crayons and markers from Ikea. They were meant for storing kitchen utensils, but they are perfect for arts and crafts. The easily pull off the rail and sit on the table. $1 each. |
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