Just Another Winter Weekend

This weekend was certainly a busy one. Actually, I didn't even leave the house except to go to the grocery store for our week's food and to take the 3 boys on a 2-hour neighborhood walk, where Jaguar started his nature collecion with some itty bitty pinecones and some various acorns. Bobcat walked pretty well, but I carried him in my sling most of the time, and Lynx was quite conversational and satisfied with the wet washed look of all the plants and trees.

Bobcat discovered a fascination with moths. He was quite scared of them...well, he is still very frightened when they randomly take flight near him, but he loves to look at them and talk about them as he points. We went around last night and counted all the moths up in the corners of the walls and on the ceiling, and I noticed they look like little hearts upside down ~ how perfect with the upcoming Valentine's Day.

Today was our baking day, as it usually is on Sundays, so Jared was in charge of making Apple Poppy Seed Bread in the bread maker. It called for apple sauce, of which we had none, so he is seen here cutting up apples for our homemade apple sauce. We have honestly not yet tried it, which is silly because fresh bread that is warm out of the oven or bread maker is the best. Once we try it, if it is good, I will create a posting with the recipe.

Lynx is seen hand-creaming the butter and sugar for our Dark Chocolate Heart Cake made from scratch (usually we are guilty of using cake mix). He was quite "buff" this time because he did it completely by himself and without complaint. Our electric mixer is from like the 1950s passed down from my grandmother, and it isn't performing too well. We can't afford a new one, so we make due. His cake was very yummy, soft and moist and very tasty! A recipe worth sharing! The recipe of course didn't call for making a heart, but we decided to anyway because I found a heart-shaped cake pan at the thrift store and it again was inspired by Valentine's Day, though it is a little early. It is actually called  Dark Chocolate Cake I, and we modified it to half measurements.

They were determined to build a house. They took the cardboard box cutout house from the back deck, some mats, chairs, a couch cushion, and blankets to create the structure and bedroom of their house. Lynx created a laundry room with a washer, a kitchen with a sink, cupboards, and a full pantry. They even had a mailbox out front. Lynx plays wonderfully with his brothers...when he wants to ;). They took a trip to the store (their bedroom), where Lynx was inspired to make tons of money and setup an elaborate display of merchandise to purchase and price tags. This literally took up hours of their time. Yay!

The look of satisfaction as he savors our newly founded houshold snack, Nori. Nothing like a nice helping of tasty and mildly salty seaweed. Yum!

We decided to attract our local birds by creating some delicious treats. Jaguar helped me to prepare our Suet, a mixture of cornmeal, oats, peanut butter, lard, flour, and so on. It is fairly dry, but it globs together pretty well. When we were done, we put some in the hanging net seen below for the birds to feed from. We also strung peanuts on some yarn and tied each end to nails at both ends of the somewhat weathered birdfeeder. The rest of the huge batch of Suet was placed in old jars and stuck in the freezer. Unfortunately, we did this late in the day, so we can only expect the birds tomorrow morning. In addition, Daddy pulled himself away from his continuous studying and played some basketball outside with the boys.

They read, I ironed and did some more loads, Lynx rode his skate board, Jaguar his scooter, Bobcat practiced his talking and skills of imitation, we all did a lot of cleaning, hanging out, and so much more.... Good night (or day) to you and I hope you enjoyed our weekend full of simplicity.

Wondrous Winter Walk in the Woods

Walking in any nature setting with your children is a very spiritual and educational experience. There are new things to be discovered in every direction. Jaguar and I were scoping out mushrooms. We saw a few different kinds. In fact, mushrooms have become so fascinating, I will post a blog specifically on that in the near future. We took another walk yesterday and found at least 6 different types...too bad I didn't have my camera. Jaguar and Bobcat were touching moss and lichen, sticks and ferns, waterways and patches of snow. Jaguar was discovering that snow melts when put into water because the comparably warmer temperature. It was luckily not too cold, or I may have chosen a much sunnier path. Either way, getting your children out into the wild will spark their imagination and sense of exploration. It is simply magical.  

Kitchen Play...Work, Rather

Bobcat and Jaguar both were mesmerized by washing the dishes and playing in the water. As you may already know, it is very important to give young children the opportunity to engage in water play...or work...however you want to look at it. The bath tub, a pool, near the waves on the shoreline, at the edge of a lake, splashing in a puddle, playing in a water table outside...these are all wonderful and vital experiences. Since winter is very chilly where we live and far travels aren't in the cards for us lately, we have only the indoors to play with water. The bath is always a place of amusement for these 2, but now we have discovered the kitchen sink. For my 22-month-old, it is a place of sensory experience and a learning zone for science. My 4-year-old gets the benefit of coordination and both sensory and practical experience. You can guarentee there will be somewhat of a mess, but it is easy to clean up, it's just water.

Recently, I decided to fill the big bottom drawer in our kitchen with various cooking utensils, tupperware, and pots and pans with their lids. This is mainly for my youngest, but his bigger brother decided to get involved. Bobcat learns how to match, create different noises, to nest, to stack, to clean up....Jaguar flexes his imagination pretending to cook many different dishes as he sees Mommy doing all the time. This is also a great opportunity for them to get into stuff, as young ones will inevitabley do...well, mainly Bobcat. It is better to set them up for learning success and preoccupation rather than to constantly shew them away from exactly where they want to be, the room you are in at the time.

Snowy Winter

Snow is one of those magical wonders to children. I never got to see much of it growing up in the Bay Area, but now that we live up the mountain, east of Sacramento, we experience it at our own home in the Winter. We also enjoy driving up further to the Crystal Basin area and sometimes even Tahoe. With the little ones and little money while my husband is in school, we just enjoy the simplicity of Mother Nature's icy downpour. We build lopsided snowmen, make snow angels, crunch it between our fingers, explore, throw snow balls, and best of all, sled! Even if you don't live in the snow, it is such a priceless experience for little ones to at least visit it. There is supposed to be quite a bit more coming this season, so get out and play with your children. Taste it, feel it, jump in it, run in it, build with it, throw it......Possibilities are endless. Jaguar is determined to build a "snow fort" when it snows again. I said, "How about an igloo?" and he concured.

Homemade Christmas Play Dough

Making Christmas play dough couldn't be any easier. Just follow the recipe from the play dough article from November of 2009. The white is simply made with no dyes. The red assortment was made with about 40 drops of red food coloring and 7 drops of yellow. And the green was made with about 20 drops of green and 7 drops of yellow, once again. Below, are some ideas for sculpted Christmas creations. The other colors utilized are the leftovers from the Fall collection of play dough.

Never Too Old to Play with Play Dough

Play dough is one of the age old activities for young children. However, working with your hands to mold artwork is beneficial for any age and can bring a family together in a fun, often funny manner. Play dough can be easily made at home, where you know the ingredients are safe (in case your little ones munch a few pieces). In fact, there are several recipes that can be utilized, including edible picks that include peanut butter and honey. They are quite easy to find on an internet search. I chose to use a traditional recipe, as shown below. I made 5 different colors with food coloring to represent Autumn colors. We all had quite a bit of fun creating, cutting, rolling, molding, cookie cutting, mashing, building...Well my husband and I just molded a turkey and a couple of faces...The kids really did all the work.

Recipe for Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients (add food coloring last). Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan, let cool slightly, and knead until blended and smooth. Store in a plastic bag or airtight container when cooled.

Fill Your Child's Dress-up Box on a Dime

After Halloween, we are left with costumes that have probably only been worn once or twice and will be outgrown by next year. So, what do we do with them?

Well, I throw them in a "dress-up bin" and the kids can dress themselves for imaginative play anytime they want. This year, we were all pirates.
Another great way to fill the dress-up bin, and thereby your child's imagination, is to hit the post-holiday sales. Halloween items are often 75% off the original prices. You can purchase a couple costumes and a couple wigs for under $10.

Furthermore, you can also go to yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, or make your own crafty costumes and accessories.