Fall

Notes about right now

I've see this list on numerous blogs, so here's my take:

Making : an effort to put the dishes away
Cooking : banana bread
Drinking : Earl Grey tea with milk
Reading: some really trashy James Lee Burke book that I can't even remember the title of
Wanting: to have things settled
Looking: for houses in Charlotte
Playing: Trouble with Mollie (the game with the popper)
Wasting: time dealing with stupid administrative issues
Sewing: an apron as a gift
Wishing: for a cure for cancer
Enjoying: the cooler weather and the feeling of fall
Waiting: until the kids go to sleep to grade exams
Liking: the space in our living room, now that I moved the sofa back a bit
Wondering: why cranberry red is such a popular paint color in the south
Loving: how much Mollie and Lucy care for each other
Hoping: that the new baby will fit into the family without too many growing pains
Marvelling: at the crap that's on TV
Needing: a babysitter
Smelling: the baby powder I put down as a deterrent to the ants
Wearing: stretchy black skirt, T-shirt, Cure Leukemia bracelet, no shoes
Following: my heart
Noticing: cobwebs everywhere
Knowing: my priorities
Thinking: about the huge list of things I have to do (let alone want to do)
Bookmarking: quinoa recipes
Opening: the doors to let the breeze in
Giggling: at Lucy wearing at least 20 sets of Mardi Gras beads, a dozen bracelets, and nothing else!
Feeling: like I need a day off

School Lunches

Here's an update on the bento box lunches:

Week 1: Mollie hardly ate anything. I think she felt overwhelmed by too much food, too many containers, etc. I experimented with using muffin cups instead of lidded containers, but then some foods took on the flavor of other foods and the pretzels got soft; in short, it didn't work.

Week 2 (and beyond!): We received a lovely (and timely!) package from my friend, Lauren. It contained a simple Sigg lunchbox and foil stickers to decorate it with. And a drink bottle. My first reaction was that it seemed small. As it turned out, it works great! It holds the perfect amount of food for Mollie and it comes home completely empty almost every day!

I had saved some BPA-free baby food containers and they fit perfectly inside the box. A typical lunch includes any combination of:

protein: Babybel cheese, yogurt, peanut butter sandwich, hard boiled egg, bagel & cream cheese
veggies: carrot sticks, sliced bell pepper, steamed broccoli
crunchies: animal crackers, graham crackers, trail mix, pecans, pretzels
fruit: grapes, apple slices, berries, dried fruits, applesauce
drink: water, milk, or juice

She also gets a small snack (packed separately), usually crackers or dried fruit. And occasionally she gets a treat (small pieces of candy or a few chips).

Now that I know she knows how to open everything and has time to eat it, I might experiment with a few new foods. Thanks for the box Lauren- it has been a success!

I've gotta get me one!

I saw this motto on someone's blog recently (I'm sorry, I can't remember where I saw it) and thought, "Crap! That's my motto!" So, tonight I was working wasting time on the internet and I came across retroplanet.com. They have this dishtowel and some other vintage-inspired items. I am particularly enamored with the dishtowels...















http://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/26676

Bento

So, Mollie starts kindergarten on Monday! We decided that she will bring lunch from home, at least for the first week or so. The school lunches might be okay, but I am afraid that they are not big on fresh fruits and veggies and I think Mollie would choose PB&J every day. I shouldn't pre-judge, but I'm guessing the sandwiches are not made on whole grain bread with low-fat peanut butter.

So, I'm thinking of trying a bento-style lunch. You know the cute little Japanese boxes with small servings of different items? Mollie loves going to salad bars because she can select small amount of a variety of foods. And she is big on presentation, so I think it might work. I'm getting inspiration from Shannon's blog: What's for lunch at our house?

Now, I've just got to find some containers that will work. I am headed out grocery shopping and keeping my eyes peeled for just the right box. If I don't find something, we'll use some of the yogurt containers and small Tupperware that we have here and see how it goes.

Happy Half Birthday, Lucy!

Lucy is 18 months old today!

She is such a joy! For such a small person, she has big presence. Doors don't close, they slam. She doesn't take one crayon, she dumps all 64 of them out. She doesn't just pet the cat, she lays down on top of him.

Her absolute favorite thing to do is play with balls. She likes little bouncy balls and big beach balls, glittery balls and bakis (basket)balls, golf balls and baseballs; she likes balls. We have to avoid the big bins of bouncy balls in the store because she gets really excited (legs pumping and yelling, "Ball! Ball! Ball!" ) and then upset if we don't buy one.

She also enjoys balloons (bwoons), shoes, combing her hair ('pitty'), and reading "Moo, Baa, La La La!" by Sandra Boynton. She makes some good funny faces and adores Mollie.

My favorite thing is how she will just walk into the room and squeeze my legs in a hug! Happy 18 months, little Lu!

Printmaking

We were inspired by this post at whip up (linked from A Crafty Crow, a GREAT website for creative kids' projects) to try printmaking using fruits and vegetables today.

Mollie's friend Bella joined us and it was a lot of fun! We tried both acrylic craft paint and washable crayola paint. Both work well, but it was best to thicken them up a little with some flour (to a paste consistency).

The fruits and veggies we used were things I had around the house that were a bit past prime:
garlic
onion
apple
butternut squash
asparagus
lemon (my favorite, by far)
bell pepper

Slice the produce, make the paint paste, dip the produce in, and make prints! It helped to have some sponges to wipe off excess paint; a light coat of paint works best. The girls enjoyed touching the different fruits and veggies and discussing which textures make the best prints.

The produce manager at our grocery store said he would give us some of the expired veggies to use next time. I would love to try a pomegranate, star fruit, and corn on the cob. You don't have to waste the whole fruit/veg either- you can just use a thick slice and eat the rest! If you use non-toxic paints, rinse and throw the produce on your compost pile after painting.