Something on Pintrest Worked!

Today I tried one of the kid's activities I found on Pintrest. It looked simple enough and I had all the ingredients, so I figured I'd give it a go. I'm always keeping my eye out for an activity that both the girls will equally enjoy. This particular one is called "Cloud Dough" and is super easy to make.

 

Source: jugglingwithkids.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

It's just 8 cups of flour to 1 cup of baby oil. Mix it up with your hands and ta-da! It keeps it's shape and isn't gooey or sticky at all. The smell of baby oil is nice too! The girls love the sandbox, so this is a great alternative on rainy days. Of course there's nothing stopping you from taking it outside. In fact it can get a bit messy so that's not a bad idea. I suggest a big tub if you have one, and lots of newspaper on the floor. That being said, it is very easy to sweep up, so clean up isn't the huge task you might think it would be.

Miss. A loved making shapes and burying things. She pretended she was a paleontologist, burying plastic onion rings and pretending they were apatosaurus bones. Each time she dug them up it was a new discovery!

Miss. K (Formerly known as Baby K who has now had a birthday), loved exploring the feel of the"sand". She filled little bowls, poked things with straws, and generally made a huge mess!

They both had lots of fun with it and enjoyed it in their own way. It also keeps well if you store it in a zip lock bag or sealed container. Yay for pintrest!

Yummy Treats That I Didn't Screw Up

The other day I was looking for something to do with Miss.A. It was a rainy, cold, I-don't-want-to-go-anywhere kind of day. I had been lurking around on the Internet, as I often do, and came across an amazing looking recipe for Mint Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies. It happened to be a vegan recipe that used an egg replacer instead of eggs. Which was great because I only had one egg in the house. They looked super yummy and there wasn't a whole lot of calories in them. Which is good, because I'd probably end up eating twelve of them.  After a whole day of fiddling with it, I came to the conclusion I was using the wrong egg replacer (well I think I was), and gave up for the day. However I'm not defeated, I'll eat you at some point my pretties.

Instead I found a recipe that used most of the ingredients I already had out. At Cooks.comI found a recipe for Paula's Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies. I'm not a big fan of chocolate cookie but these turned out really well! I think it was the mint that really made them. Miss. A had no trouble helping me make them and it didn't take very long to do. We were enjoying cookies for dessert fresh out of the oven. The best way to eat them, and my Dad had the same idea, was with a big cold glass of milk. The mint and the cold milk together just made the whole experience. Baby K now knows how to say "cookie" with very little problem!
Here is the recipe from the site:

Paula's Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

1 1/2 sticks of butter or 3/4 cups
1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspon peppermint
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 cups of unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Cream butter, sugars, beat in eggs and spices. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees F on a greased cookie sheet

ream butter, sugars, beat in eggs and spices. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees on greased cookie sheet.



The next morning I found that we pretty much had NO food in the house. I had no idea what we were going to eat. No milk. No bread. No eggs. No fruit. We also had to eat quickly because we had places to be that day. I thought I would see if we could make muffins, maybe add some frozen berries in or something. I looked through a cook book...wait let me stop and explain. A "cook book" is a book that people used to look up recipes and how to cook them before the Internet. If you're still not sure what I'm talking about just Google it. Anywho, I found a recipe in The Joy of Cooking that I thought might work. "Basic Reduced-Fat Muffins" didn't use milk but yogurt instead. I just happened to have some non-fat strawberry yogurt left so I threw caution to the wind and gave it a try. The turned out really well! Two recipes in a row? What were the chances? And apparently each have only 4 grams of fat! Though I'm sure you were supposed to use plain yogurt, the strawberry added a nice subtle flavor to the muffins. It also had big chucks of berry throughout which baked in nicely. Usually when I add berries  the muffin around it doesn't cook evenly. This time no problems at all. It was a very quick and easy recipe. You could easily buy different flavors of yogurt to use depending on your taste. They were very moist as well and perfect for a quick bite for breakfast. I'll probably make them again. Here is the recipe from the Joy of Cooking I used:

Basic Reduced-Fat Muffins

Position rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the over to 400 degrees F. Grease or line a standard 12-muffin pan with paper cups.

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

2cups of flour

1/2 to 2/3 cup of sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda if using yogurt instead of milk

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (optional. I didn't use it)

Whisk together in another bowl:

1 large egg

3 tablespoons vegetable oil or 3 1/2 tablespoons warm melted unsalted butter (I used butter)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of non-fat milk or 1 cup of non-fat yogurt (Obviously I used yogurt)

Add flour mixture and mix together with a few light strokes just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix; the batter will be light but fairly stiff and will not be smooth. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with:

Cinnamon and sugar (optional. I didn't but I think it would be really good)

Bake until a toothpick inserted in 1 or 2 of the muffins comes out clean, about 12 minutes. (or longer for variations with fruit.) Let cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from the pan. If not serving hot, let cool on the rack. Serve as soon as possible, preferably within a few hours of baking.

Outdoor Learning

We're at the point in the winter where there's nothing really left to look forward to. Christmas is over and so is New Years. Unless you are planning a March break getaway (we certainly aren't!), there's only a slow, bleak march towards the spring to occupy your days. Those depressing grey days when the snow isn't white anymore; just a dirty lump of mush. Mush that will freeze solid causing you to twist your ankle. Oh glorious spring! Where for art thou? It's so easy to get caught up in the winter blues and forget that there is actual life outside! Though it may be grey, cold, and uninviting, there is actually a lot of opportunity outside. If you're a toddler and a preschooler anyways. They can often find the silver lining or bright side to anything when we "jaded" adults can not.

Today was centered around exploring everything about the winter and what was in our own backyard. Itwas a kind of "outdoor science" day. At least that's how I sold it to Miss. A anyways. After breakfast we bundled up and when out in the backyard. We noticed how the snow had a crust of ice. We tried to walk on the top without falling through. Both the girls are light so they could do this and thought it was really neat. Afterwards we slid down the toboggan hill that was slick with ice. Miss. A loved the fact she didn't need and sled and took full advantage of that freedom. She went down on her butt, her back, her tummy, over and over again. Afterwards we gathered snow into a bucket and went in for some hot chocolate.

When we were warm and filled with coco goodness we looked at the bucket of snow inside. I showed them a bowl of water and a bowl of ice cubes. We touched them making "observations" about what happened when we did. The water was wet. The ice and snow cold. In our hands they would melt. We asked lots of questions about what we saw. Why did the snow and ice melt? Why do they look like the bowl of water? I asked Miss. A what she thought would happen if we left the snow inside for a while. "It'll melt?" She asked. We decided to find out. She spooned some snow into a bowl which we left on the table while we enjoyed our grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I put onions and tomato in mine. She said that was disgusting! Cheeky monkey!

After lunch Baby K went for a nap. We killed time watching a movie, and when she woke up we checked on our "experiment". After careful "observation" (he he) we discovered the now was now water! "Oh my goodness, it DID melt!" Miss. A exclaimed. I suggested we put the bowl outside in the cold to see what would happen and check it the next day. (Guess what? It turned into ICE!) In the meantime I brought out a bunch of items I found in the backyard. Pine cones, pine needles, leaves, rocks, seeds etc. Baby K loved feeling everything in the box; especially the rocks. Miss. A and I talked about what everything was and what it did. What do seeds do? Why are the leaves and pine needles different? What type of rock is this? Not only did we learn about what things were, what they felt like, and what they did, but also how they smelled. Until everything had warmed up inside, I hadn't noticed the nice pine scent. Now I have some homemade potpourri! Fancy!

Later while I was getting the house cleaned up, we are more than a bit rough on this poor house, Miss. A coloured in pictures of all the things we looked at that day. At the end of the day I asked her if she had a good time. She said yes and that she liked doing all her "experiments" and whether she could do more the next day. Yeah! And that's the story of the day we only watched ONE movie. Tomorrow is "baking and cooking" day.  Which is good, I needed a sous chef anyways.

Music In Your Heart And A Song In Your Step

Parents always love to dish out advice or recommendations to other parents. I think that's part of the job description. Most of the time I'm sure it feels like your spinning your wheels trying to solve some parenting "problem". When we finally find something that works, usually by accident, we want to share it and spare others the learning process we went through. It's only natural to want to share our experiences. It builds community and a sense of I'm not alone in this.

I've mentioned in the past that when I had my first daughter I was reluctant to leave my comfort zone. My comfort zone being my house. However, my daughter was shy and nervous around others, so I felt we needed to get out and socialize. I didn't want her to be a shy wallflower forever. It's no fun. The best way, in my mind, to overcome something is to just do it. So we signed up for a host of Mommy and Me type classes and thrust ourselves into the outside world. Yikes! It was one of the best parenting decisions I've made thus far. Hopefully I'll have another one before she's a teenager.

This is the sharing part. One of the classes I signed her up for was called Making Music Meaningful. This is an amazing class for both parent and child. Actually, lots of grandparents take their grand kids too. The program includes children from four months up to four years. Classes are divided into different age groups all with music, songs and activities appropriate for that group. The kids get to explore and have fun with instruments like maracas, drums, and bells. There are lots of songs and nursery rhymes accompanied with bounces, dancing and skipping. They also listen to music played on the guitar, flute and xylophone. Often when the kids are older they find their way into the circle to clap and dance along with the music.

I started taking my oldest daughter with she was fourteen months old. For the first term she was quiet, taking everything in, but enjoying it all the same. By the next term she surprised me. She wondering into the circle by herself and danced and bopped to the music! She only became more outgoing and happy as time went on. It was something that we both really enjoyed and looked forward to attending together. She stayed in the class until she was two and a half and loved every minute of it. Now my second daughter attends the same program. She's been going since she was three months old along with her sister. Music is in her blood. It calms her when she's sad or stressed and it makes her smile more broadly when she's happy. She's fourteen months now and claps and bops to the music when she's there. It's made a huge impact on my kids and for the better. Now songs and music are part of our lives everyday. If you're looking for an activity to share with your kids I highly recommend it to everyone. If you want to learn more, check out the Making Music Meaningful page.