Thursday, May 31, 2012

Memorial Day birthday party

This past weekend we went to a birthday party at a friend's house.  It was a blast!  We played in the bounce house and water slide and the pool.  Everyone loved the water and it was such a fun way to kick off the summer.  The pinata was gigantic and full of toys and candy.  It was so fun to see the kids all dash for the candy.  But the water slide was the main attraction.  I had to try it out.  I'm glad we were able to celebrate with our Army family here and that I was able to capture so many great moments.

Calla loves playing in the pool.




Zander takes his turn to swing at the pinata.

Gabe takes his turn trying to break open the pinata.




My favorite part of any birthday party.  The candy shuffle.


Monday, May 28, 2012

Kindergarten Graduation with Gabe

Last Thursday was Gabe's Kindergarten graduation program.  Hard to believe my first born is already old enough to be graduating Kindergarten.  I knew it was coming, he's been singing the songs at home for a couple weeks already, but it is another thing to see your baby in a cap and semi-gown.  Really tugs on your heart strings.  I recorded it all to share with you.

The class sang numerous songs, they were all very cute.  I don't know why the preview makes them all look like they are ghostly white, I assure you the actual video footage is not like that.  In fact, it really is worth it to wait for the HD version to load.  One resounding trend you will notice with Gabe throughout all the videos is that he is always doing his own thing.  Rarely are his moves in time with the song or the rest of the kids.  He's just off in his world.  Doing what he wants.  And that is Gabe at his finest and the best description I can give for his personality.


I don't know the actual name of this song, but I do know it's the opening credits to the movie "Lilo and Stitch" (one of my all time favorites).  I love that the majority of the kids don't know the words.  


Here is the same song, but the teacher says "Show us your surf board moves boys!"  
Of course, Gabe does his own thing.  What a goon.


Singing the ABC's backwards.  Naturally.


"Yellow Submarine" made so popular by the Beatles.  Excuse the shakiness of the camera in the beginning, Matt was transferring me the camera and then I handed Calla off to him.  Also about halfway through, there's a pause in the singing and Gabe debuts as "The Captain" (I'm so proud!).  
He even gets lines ("At your stations!"  "A life of ease.")!

And then the ceremony.
Gabe's teacher put together a slideshow of pictures from throughout the year and put it to super sappy music and forced (okay we WILLINGLY watched) us to watch it while the kids got on their caps and semi-gowns.  After the slideshow, the pomp and circumstance started and the kids slowly walked back in.  


I personally love the board shorts with the cap and semi-gown.  
I feel like it's a look I'll be seeing again, like maybe at his high school graduation.


Kids names were called and one by one, they received their "diplomas".  


And then the last song was sung - "New York, New York", but the words were changed to "First Grade, First Grade."  "Start spreading the news.  We're leaving today.  We're going to be a part of it:  First grade, first grade."

Not a dry eye in the house.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Make Your Own: sight word practice cards

This idea hatched from numerous other ideas put together.  As you know, I am a tad obsessed with using contact paper and glass frames as dry erase boards.  Also, every week at school Gabe is given a list of sight words for him to write on a flash card and to practice writing and reading.  I decided to combine the two ideas and make sight word practice cards that he can write on.

I took the wide lined paper (the one with a solid line on top and bottom and the dotted line in the middle) you can get for kids to learn to write with and wrote out the Kindergarten and half of the First Grade sight word list (list is included below).  Then I cut them out, making sure to leave an extra line of space below the word I wrote (so Gabe had a space to copy it).  The hardest part was covering the whole thing (front and back) in contact paper and leaving enough room around the edges so the contact paper would adhere to itself and create a seal.

From there, the cards are done!  Gabe can take a dry erase marker and pull out a card (I store them in an empty oatmeal container) and practice sounding out the sight word and then spelling it out below the word that is already written.  Once he has them "memorized", I will read the sight word to him and he sounds it out for himself and writes the word on the back of the paper.  When he is done, he flips the card over to see if he spelled it correctly.

This is one of the easiest projects I have done and is more time consuming (all the 'laminating' of the words) than anything.



The link below is to PDF files you can download that have the 1000 most frequently used words in the English language.  I only made flashcards for the first fifty for Gabe.  This is just a good resource to have in general and the website itself (www.k12reader.com) is a good source of information and education to help make sure your child is on track.  There are lots of printables and free worksheets too!

Fry Word List - 1000 high frequency words

Monday, May 21, 2012

Submitted!

Thank you everyone for voting on which photos I should submit!  The pictures have been submitted and you can view my profile and entries here!  Tomorrow aday.org will be launching a website completely devoted to displaying all of the photo submissions.  On May 30th, they will announce which pictures have been chosen to be published in a book entitled, A Day in the World, to be released in October 2012.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

aday.org Photo Submissions

I signed up to be a photo submitter for a project called "ADAY.org - Picture Today Inspire Tomorrow".  They asked the photographers take pictures of a day in their life and then catagorize them based on three criteria - Home, Work and Connections.

"On this one single day we ask you to pick up your camera and help us photograph daily life. What is close to you? What matters to you? We will connect your images to images from all around the world, creating a unique online experience where photographs will be shared, compared and explored. Your view on life will be preserved to inspire generations to come."

As always, I shot pictures of my kids in different activities at different times of the day.  I haven't completely decided which catagory to place them under, but I think I need to narrow down my submissions first.

I am allowed to submit up to 10 pictures, but am conflicted about which ones to upload.  That's where I need help.  I have set up a poll at the bottom of this post.  If you could look through all 24 possibilities and click the ten that you like the best, I will submit them on the last day - the 22nd.  Please vote!  It will help me decision immensely!  Thanks!

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty One

Twenty Two

Twenty Three

Twenty Four


Pick ten pictures for the aday.org photo submission:


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

My version of vegetarian lettuce wraps

My kids love fruits and vegetables.  I am lucky that way.  When we fight over eating food, it is almost always over eating meat.  There's just something about it they don't like.  So instead of constantly fighting with them, I decided to start including vegetarian meals into our weekly rotation.  Also, I watched the documentaries Forks over Knives and Food Inc.  If you haven't heard about them, check 'em out.  

I won't go off on a tangent about how our food production has been taken over by big businesses and thus the quality of our meats and dairies have been driven down to create a higher profit margin.  

I won't, I promise.

Anyway, I have now decreed (and I can do that because I am the household chef) that we will have three vegetarian dinners a week (to start).  I began this effort last week and this was one of the first recipes I made.  I was inspired by Pioneer Woman - Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps and really just upped the vegetable count (because I lucked out and have kids that like veggies) and added rice.

My recipe for Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps:

1 head of Romaine hearts
1 package extra firm Tofu
1 can water chestnuts
1/2 can of baby corn (or 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels)
1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas (you could definitely use pea pods)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
1 cup of white rice (optional)
1 cup of shredded or matchstick carrots (to top at the end)
Add garlic and ginger to taste

I started by cooking my tofu to get a good color and flavor out of it.  Put it in a non stick pan and crank up the heat.  I added peanut oil to keep it from sticking to the pan.  Try to break the tofu into as small pieces as possible (they will resemble scrambled eggs), I ended up using a potato masher to smash it.  The tofu is done when all the water has cooked out and it has turned a golden brown color.  

While waiting for the tofu to cook, I cut the water chestnuts and baby corn in a small bite size dice (they give a good crunch factor).  Then I dumped all the veggies (minus the carrots) in with the tofu to cook a little but remain crunchy.  Add in the soy sauce, garlic and ginger to season the mixture and continue cooking until the liquid has been absorbed.  

Turn off the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar.  I layered the wraps, putting white rice on the bottom, tofu filling in the middle and added a sprinkling of shredded carrots on the top (the picture below is sans carrots, we ran out).  You can add or take away as much or as little of this recipe as you want.  I love how easy and light this recipe is.  You can eat as much as you want without feeling guilty about inhaling all the good food.  If you wanted to incorporate meat, any of them would work with this recipe (shredded chicken, shrimp or finely cut beef).


Gabe ate two lettuce wraps and then more lettuce by itself.  Zander ate about a cup of the tofu and rice mixture and I had three or four lettuce wraps (sans rice) and we had plenty left over.  I ended up using the tofu mixture with fried rice later in the week.  It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  The kids actually ate more than they normally do and there were no power struggles over food.  It was very liberating and inspiring and reinforced this effort as the right thing to do.

Side note:

Did you know you can freeze plain rice?  I didn't until I read that you could on one of the blogs I follow.  It's easy and makes meal preparation much faster if the rice is already cooked!  I cook a double batch of rice (2 cups of rice and 4 cups of water), take out about a cup and a half (about half of what was made) and put the rest in a freezer safe bag.  Leave the bag open and cooling on the counter.  Once it's cool, seal it and make sure to get all the air out of the bag.  Put it in the freezer until you need it.

To use your frozen rice, take it out of the fridge roughly 4 hours before you need to use it.  I leave mine on the counter (it's already cooked and won't go bad) to thaw.  Once it is thawed, pour it into a microwave safe bowl and add about a tablespoon of water or oil to help reconstitute it.  Cover it (so it can steam) and place in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes.  The time really depends on your microwave.  I have done this twice now and love the result.  It makes cooking so much faster!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

My energy/granola bar recipe (and other breakfast recipes reviewed)

I posted this "recipe" before and had commented about how it was almost too sweet because of all the honey.  Since then, I have been trying to modify it so that it will make energy bars that are the perfect combination of sweet and savory, but also have a little fruit and crunch to them.  I found that the base of this recipe is fantastic and if you want to customize it to your tastes, feel free.  Below is the original recipe (given to me by a dear friend) and then below that is my alterations:

QUICK TIPS:

*You really do need about 2 1/2 cups of some kind of "liquid" to create a sticky enough base so when it is refrigerated it becomes a bar that sticks together completely.

*I have made this so many times, I almost have my altered recipe memorized and in all the times I have made it the only times it completely works (where the bars stick together) is when I food process the oats (I use old fashion oats instead of granola) and the dried fruits until they are finely chopped.


My version of Energy/Granola bars -

2 cups old fashioned Oats
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup whole almonds
3 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup honey
1 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

Put 1 1/2 cups oats, all the cranberries, raisins and almonds into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  I usually have to do this in batches in my small blender.  If you have slivered or chopped almonds,  you just saved yourself a step!  Dump the finely chopped goodness in a large mixing bowl along with the other 1/2 cup oats (fully in tact), 3 cups of rice cereal and cinnamon.  Gently mix until combined and set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, pour in the honey, peanut butter and vanilla extract and microwave on high for two minutes.  You want the honey to be hot and liquid.  Stir the mixture so they are completely combined and smooth, no lumps of peanut butter.

Pour the honey/peanut butter/vanilla mixture over the cereal/oats/fruit mixture and stir until completely combined.  You want to make sure and get everything completely coated in the wet mixture.  It will resemble a cookie dough mixture.

Line a 13x9 pan with parchment or waxed paper and dump the cereal mixture in and spread it out in the pan.  Refrigerate for several hours.  After at least four hours, I pull the parchment paper out of the pan and cut once down the middle (length wise) and then usually 10-12 times wide, making between 20-24 bars.

They are so good.  We eat them constantly and they never last more than four days.  I like them for a quick breakfast for me or an after school snack for the boys.  We have even eaten them as a dessert.



Other breakfast food recipes:

Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones
I don't really know how these can be "skinny" since it wants you to cover them in sugar, but they were delicious.  I (of course) used dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.  They were a little dry, but I think that's because I baked them the day before and then reheated them in the oven.  Definite try!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
I made a few alterations to this recipe, but loved the way it turned out.  I used coconut oil, dark chocolate cocoa powder, dark chocolate chips, and Greek yogurt.  The bread was very moist and tasty.  I put it in two regular size loaf pans and cooked it for about 40 minutes (but my oven runs hot).

Easy No Rise Cinnamon Rolls
I have posted this recipe before, but I just wanted to include it again.  It really makes delicious cinnamon rolls that are super easy to make.  They remind me a lot of the kind you buy in a tube, more so than the traditional bread-y, yeast-y cinnamon rolls.

Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal
We didn't really like this that much.  I think it's because we are so used to regular oatmeal.  This was a little dry for our tastes.  Try it for yourself!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Pancakes
I made this for one of the nights Matt was gone (he despises brinner aka breakfast for dinner) and I loved how they turned out.  I am always on the look out for an easy pancake recipe and this definitely is.  It also made enough for us to freeze and eat later.  They tasted just as good the second time around.  I am a big fan of anything I can make that freezes and reheats later!

Glazed Doughnut Muffins
I didn't use the icing recipe she includes, but I loved the muffin recipe.  Instead of using a regular sized muffin pan, I used a mini muffin one (I love the idea of small bite size food, especially for my kids) and it made around 36 mini muffins.  They remind me a lot of the cake donuts we get in the fall to dip in our apple cider.  I love that they are muffins that can withstand a dunking in coffee.  Very tasty!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

T-Ball season



T-ball season is officially here.  With three practices and two games under Gabe's belt, he is finally getting back into the groove of things.  This is his third season playing and by far his favorite sport.

Baseball (T-ball for now) is also the sport I take the most seriously.  During soccer, I was all about playing for the fun of it.  Let them run around and maybe kick the ball.  But something happens to me when we get to the field.  I turn into my Dad and the competitive switch gets turned on.  All of us kids (on my Dad's side of the family) played and watched t-ball, baseball and softball.  It's the one sport I literally grew up with.  And I love it.  I love everything about it.  The hardest part of this season (for me) is not to MAKE Gabe love it.

I want Gabe to enjoy playing the game, want to improve his skills and want to be good.  I want him to get it.  To know how to catch the ball, where to throw it, how hard to hit the ball and when to run from base to base.  It's coming, I know it is.  I constantly have to remind myself he is only six years old.  It's a balancing act between getting him to enjoy practicing at home and letting him (well) be a kid and run around.  If I force it, he will give up and not develop a love of the game.  How do I stand back and let him be "bad" though?

Maybe "bad" is the wrong word.  You know what I mean.  A "dandelion picker."  Is that too harsh?  I told you - something happens to me when I get on a ball field.