Friday, September 28, 2012

Sneaky Snacks

Sometimes being a parent is all about being deceptive. Recently, trying to sneak move veggies into my kids diet, I started adding carrot puree when I make mac and cheese. Doesn't look very out of the ordinary, does it? I don't think they would actually mind if I told them (like do like vegetables, they just like cheese more), but I know my husband would ABSOLUTELY mind (I hope he doesn't read this post!).



 I feel like I'm constantly struggling to get protein in my kids. While they're big fans of nuts, they are usually not to thrilled about meat. I decided to try getting them to eat some 'eggs in a basket' (toast and eggs). The plan was to throw on some sprinkles and call it 'Party Toast'. They went for it, hook, line, and sinker.
Now let me clarify, I'm not really a proponent of sugaring up regular meals, but I figured it couldn't hurt when trying something new, right? Oh, and just for the record, this picture was taken before I finished cooking. I didn't actually serve them raw eggs.
What creative things do you do to get your kids to eat something they wouldn't otherwise?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Scrubbing Bubbles

We've been using quite a bit of chalk lately. It's such a fun way for the kids to practice writing and since it washes off, I basically let them chalk on everything. As you can see in this picture, there's chalk on our grill, our fence, our porch, our garbage can, and even the kids' bikes. My husband mentioned that it was starting to look like a graffiti artist lived at our house. I laughed, but then looked out and realized he was right. That afternoon, we headed out with two pans full of soapy water and two sponges with the task of cleaning up our back porch just a little.

 My boy mostly splashed around in the bubbles. My girl, however, found this task very rewarding! She meticulously scrubbed the fence. With each fence post she would get really excited and shout, "Look how clean it is!" I think she found a lot of pleasure in this task (which is great! I've always wanted my kids to love cleaning!).
Shortly after she made it all the way around the fence, my son found a piece of chalk and started the artwork all over again. He would dip the chalk in the water and then draw, making the lines extra dark. That didn't deter my daughter for a second. She just followed right behind him, cleaning the trail he left behind.

Oh, and just for the record, the next day it rained and all the chalk that was left got washed away.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Walk About

What started out as a trip to the park turned into a walk around the neighborhood, which ended up being way more fun. It all started when we were getting out of the car to go to the park and my daughter looked down the street and said, "Mom, can we go on that bridge?" I thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Sure!". She was as pleased as punch. Off we went. Once we got to the top of the over pass, the kids got a thrill from seeing the cars drive under their feet. I'll have to admit, it's been a while since I've been up on one of these things and I kind of got a thrill as well.

After we went on the bridge, we saw a high school football team out practicing. After several shouts of "Football! Football! Football!" from my son, we headed over to go watch. We walked around a little more and not only watch the football practice, but also cheerleading practice, soccer practice, and across the street, baseball practice. For an 18-month-old who is obsessed with balls, it was a very successful afternoon!

Friday, September 14, 2012

So Crispy!

I really like the idea behind 'sensory play'. I spend lots of time on pinterest looking at different ideas. With a limited budget and limited space for storage, its sometimes hard to come up with ideas for sensory play, but when I saw this, I thought it was fantastic! Rice Krispies play! My son usually eats whatever we're playing with anyway, so why not make it something delicious?  We used play dishes to scoop and dump the cereal. They did this over and over and over again. My daughter even tried to count how many spoonfuls she could get in a little cup. 
We also got out the trains because they made an excellent CRUNCH noise and they were driven across the cereal. They also loved the noise it made when they walked across and squished it with their toes. However, once feet were involved, I figured it was probably time to stop snacking.
 


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

"Do it Myself"

 "I want to do it myself!" is a phrase I hear a lot. Last week I had an epiphany. I thought, maybe my daughter keeps saying this because I'm not letting her do enough by herself. So, when she asked, I let her do several things all by "myself". I was pretty amazed by the outcome.

She cut up her own banana.
She vacuumed the living room (and even got most of the corners!).  
 She buttered her own toast.
And she even came up with this idea, to sit on the bottom rung of the stool and use the seat as a table. Her brother thought she was genius and quickly followed suit.
Maybe I should be embarrassed that I never let my kids do these things before, but I definitely have learned something. I've made it a goal to listen when she asks, and try not to be so impatient.

Friday, September 7, 2012

2 Ingredient Dough

Oh how I love Pinterest! I pinned this recipe a couple weeks ago, and I am so glad. This is a bread dough recipe that uses 2 ingredients. That's right. 2. I know, this picture looks like we used WAY too many dishes for a recipe that only requires 2 ingredients, but I'm learning that whenever I cook with these two, it ends up looking like I cooked a ten course meal. Anyway, back to this dough.

All you need is:
1. Self-rising flour.
2. Greek yogurt.

Use equal parts of both, or a little more flour if it is sticky, and just mix it up and bake at like 375 for 10-15 minutes.

The beauty of it is that you can do whatever you want with it. Flatten in out and make a pizza. Mush it together an make bread. Whatever. We made little balls and then squashed in some shredded cheese and ham.

The result?
It was pretty delicious. It tasted kind of sourdoughy (is that a word?) because of the yogurt. The kids really liked it. I'd call the whole thing a success.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Sound Walk

It's amazing the noises kids can make with sticks, rocks, and even metal water bottles on all different surfaces. We went on a noise walk around the Botanic Gardens and listened to all difference surfaces. This was the favorite.