Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . Anna squealing happily on her play mat.
. . . Joy telling me that her paper Apatosaurus is safe from her paper T Rex because the Apatosaurus has rocket boots like Syndrome. In their next encounter the T Rex had acquired his own rocket boots, but never fear, the Apatosaurus took him out with his laser.
And another thing . . .
. . . I know that Apatosaurus is technically the correct name for a certain long-necked dinosaur, but deep down I still think it's just a fancy way to say Brontosaurus. Apparently Blogger agrees with me, since its spell checker recognizes "Brontosaurus" but not "Apatosaurus"(it suggested "thesaurus" as the only possible replacement). I guess the Blogger dictionary was created by a fellow Generation Xer.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Thirty-Nine Winks and Free Fro Yo
Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .
. . . Daniel waking up an hour early this morning. That's the last time I let him take a super-long nap after church.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . Anna smiles.
And another thing . . .
. . . I learned that a local Yogurtland store was going to give away free frozen yogurt this afternoon, in honor of the first National Frozen Yogurt Day. As soon as Daniel got up from his nap we headed to the fro yo place. I expected it to be crowded, but I didn't realize we'd have to park a block away and wait in line forty-five minutes. Not sure I'd do it again, but hey, it's fun to do something a little different now and then.
. . . Daniel waking up an hour early this morning. That's the last time I let him take a super-long nap after church.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . Anna smiles.
And another thing . . .
. . . I learned that a local Yogurtland store was going to give away free frozen yogurt this afternoon, in honor of the first National Frozen Yogurt Day. As soon as Daniel got up from his nap we headed to the fro yo place. I expected it to be crowded, but I didn't realize we'd have to park a block away and wait in line forty-five minutes. Not sure I'd do it again, but hey, it's fun to do something a little different now and then.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Laundry and Chocolate Milk
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . Phillip turning on our fun music playlist (rock, country, pop, Latin, all shuffled together) while we did our Saturday chores. It feels good to work together.
. . . Joy offering to help out a lot around the house. She helped clear the floor so I could vacuum, accompanied out back to start the laundry, asked me to teach her how to fold it, and helped me put it all away. I was impressed that she offered to help so much. I've tried to help her be more self-reliant lately, and I think she likes feeling responsible.
And another thing . . .
. . . Joy also has been asking me to teach her to cook things she can make all by herself. I’ve struggled to come up with ideas, since most cooking involves flames and sharp knives (neither of which I feel comfortable letting a preschooler handle). Even most of the ingredients are out of her reach. Still, I wanted to help her learn this practical, fun skill she is showing an interest in, so I decided to try a simple recipe with her this afternoon. It was basically bite-size frozen bananas.
The recipe called for slicing two bananas, spreading a little peanut butter on them, dipping them in melted chocolate, then freezing them. I had to muster every ounce of self-discipline I possess to sit back, keep my mouth shut, and let Joy do things her own way. After all, it doesn’t really matter that the bananas were cut different thicknesses, or that Joy ended up with peanut butter smeared all over her clothes. The important thing is that she is learning her way around the kitchen and having fun doing it.
That said, I need to make a more concerted effort to find some kid-friendly recipes. The only other one I’ve come up with is oatmeal, and that didn’t exactly spark Joy’s imagination.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the banana bites were just OK. Don't think I'll be making them again. On the other hand, the dipping chocolate made fabulous chocolate milk with some milk and a little sugar mixed in. Maybe I'll try that with Joy next time.
. . . Phillip turning on our fun music playlist (rock, country, pop, Latin, all shuffled together) while we did our Saturday chores. It feels good to work together.
. . . Joy offering to help out a lot around the house. She helped clear the floor so I could vacuum, accompanied out back to start the laundry, asked me to teach her how to fold it, and helped me put it all away. I was impressed that she offered to help so much. I've tried to help her be more self-reliant lately, and I think she likes feeling responsible.
And another thing . . .
. . . Joy also has been asking me to teach her to cook things she can make all by herself. I’ve struggled to come up with ideas, since most cooking involves flames and sharp knives (neither of which I feel comfortable letting a preschooler handle). Even most of the ingredients are out of her reach. Still, I wanted to help her learn this practical, fun skill she is showing an interest in, so I decided to try a simple recipe with her this afternoon. It was basically bite-size frozen bananas.
The recipe called for slicing two bananas, spreading a little peanut butter on them, dipping them in melted chocolate, then freezing them. I had to muster every ounce of self-discipline I possess to sit back, keep my mouth shut, and let Joy do things her own way. After all, it doesn’t really matter that the bananas were cut different thicknesses, or that Joy ended up with peanut butter smeared all over her clothes. The important thing is that she is learning her way around the kitchen and having fun doing it.
That said, I need to make a more concerted effort to find some kid-friendly recipes. The only other one I’ve come up with is oatmeal, and that didn’t exactly spark Joy’s imagination.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the banana bites were just OK. Don't think I'll be making them again. On the other hand, the dipping chocolate made fabulous chocolate milk with some milk and a little sugar mixed in. Maybe I'll try that with Joy next time.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Solar Cooking in Winter
Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .
. . . opening a package of valentines and discovering that it contained no envelopes. The other package of identical cards has envelopes included. They cost the same amount of money and came from the same store. Weird.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . an older gentleman offering to help me carry drinks to my table while I was wrangling three children at In-N-Out.
. . . hearing Daniel and Daddy laugh as they played together.
. . . cooking my best solar oven dinner yet. Even in winter you can get the oven plenty warm on a sunny day; the only problem is that the sun sets around 5pm, so you either have to eat dinner early or keep it warm in your oven for a while.
. . . Daniel giving me a big hug.
And another thing . . .
. . . sometimes I feel like Anna is Dr. Skinner and I'm the pigeon, being conditioned to go certain places and do certain things. Late in the day she gets pretty fussy, but she calms down if I walk out of the family room and into the kitchen or one of the bedrooms. As the evening wears on, I find myself spending a lot of time in those rooms.
. . . opening a package of valentines and discovering that it contained no envelopes. The other package of identical cards has envelopes included. They cost the same amount of money and came from the same store. Weird.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . an older gentleman offering to help me carry drinks to my table while I was wrangling three children at In-N-Out.
. . . hearing Daniel and Daddy laugh as they played together.
. . . cooking my best solar oven dinner yet. Even in winter you can get the oven plenty warm on a sunny day; the only problem is that the sun sets around 5pm, so you either have to eat dinner early or keep it warm in your oven for a while.
. . . Daniel giving me a big hug.
And another thing . . .
. . . sometimes I feel like Anna is Dr. Skinner and I'm the pigeon, being conditioned to go certain places and do certain things. Late in the day she gets pretty fussy, but she calms down if I walk out of the family room and into the kitchen or one of the bedrooms. As the evening wears on, I find myself spending a lot of time in those rooms.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Service and Salsa
Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .
. . . losing my house key in my car. I still can't find it. Good thing I have a spare.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . hanging out with Anna on the big bed.
. . . chatting with Phillip over chips and salsa tonight.
And another thing . . .
. . . this morning I prayed for a chance to help someone, and I hadn't even finished my prayer when a neighbor knocked on my door asking for help with something. God truly answers prayers.
. . . while we were watching cartoons this morning, Joy pretended that she was a mermaid and her pet whale kept asking her pet shark questions about what they were watching (e.g. Whale: "Who's that?" Shark:"It's Donald Duck." Whale: "Is his last name 'Duck'?" Shark: "Yes."). I suppose it makes sense that a little girl who loves to ask questions would fantasize about creatures that do the same thing.
. . . you know you've seen the Fantasia Pastoral number way too many times when you start to notice inconsistencies in the number and color of pegasus colts.
. . . losing my house key in my car. I still can't find it. Good thing I have a spare.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . hanging out with Anna on the big bed.
. . . chatting with Phillip over chips and salsa tonight.
And another thing . . .
. . . this morning I prayed for a chance to help someone, and I hadn't even finished my prayer when a neighbor knocked on my door asking for help with something. God truly answers prayers.
. . . while we were watching cartoons this morning, Joy pretended that she was a mermaid and her pet whale kept asking her pet shark questions about what they were watching (e.g. Whale: "Who's that?" Shark:"It's Donald Duck." Whale: "Is his last name 'Duck'?" Shark: "Yes."). I suppose it makes sense that a little girl who loves to ask questions would fantasize about creatures that do the same thing.
. . . you know you've seen the Fantasia Pastoral number way too many times when you start to notice inconsistencies in the number and color of pegasus colts.
Light Exercise and Erupting Milk
Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .
. . . milk erupting because I heated it way too long in the microwave. I thought that could only happen with water, but apparently I was wrong, and I have a burnt finger to prove it.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . taking a walk with Anna and Daniel after we dropped Joy off at school. I used to take lots of walks with Joy when she was a baby, but I got out of the habit when additional kids made my life a little more complicated. I want to start doing it again, though; fresh air and exercise is good for souls of all sizes.
And another thing . . .
. . . I winged it with dinner tonight, tweaking this and substituting that (mostly out of necessity because I didn't have a few things the recipes called for). Sometimes improvised dinners turn out fabulous; other times they're terrible. Tonight's effort just turned out OK, but we were hungry so we didn't mind.
. . . milk erupting because I heated it way too long in the microwave. I thought that could only happen with water, but apparently I was wrong, and I have a burnt finger to prove it.
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . taking a walk with Anna and Daniel after we dropped Joy off at school. I used to take lots of walks with Joy when she was a baby, but I got out of the habit when additional kids made my life a little more complicated. I want to start doing it again, though; fresh air and exercise is good for souls of all sizes.
And another thing . . .
. . . I winged it with dinner tonight, tweaking this and substituting that (mostly out of necessity because I didn't have a few things the recipes called for). Sometimes improvised dinners turn out fabulous; other times they're terrible. Tonight's effort just turned out OK, but we were hungry so we didn't mind.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Sling Cookies
Today's favorite moments included . . .
. . . Anna smiling up at me when I came in to get her up from her nap.
. . . Joy helping Daniel ride his tricycle by pushing from behind as he pedaled.
And another thing . . .
. . . you know you're desperate for sugary baked goods when you're willing to wear a baby in a sling for over an hour while you mix dough, spoon it onto baking sheets, and bake three batches of cookies.
. . . I'm noticing a pattern when three-year-old boys run footraces with bigger kids. The toddlers have no prayer of winning, but when they cross the finish line second they either change the rules ("No, the finish line was THERE") or refuse to accept defeat ("No, I won"). The latter drives Joy bonkers. Even when she knows she is right and someone else is wrong, she feels no peace if the other person disagrees with her.
. . . Anna smiling up at me when I came in to get her up from her nap.
. . . Joy helping Daniel ride his tricycle by pushing from behind as he pedaled.
And another thing . . .
. . . you know you're desperate for sugary baked goods when you're willing to wear a baby in a sling for over an hour while you mix dough, spoon it onto baking sheets, and bake three batches of cookies.
. . . I'm noticing a pattern when three-year-old boys run footraces with bigger kids. The toddlers have no prayer of winning, but when they cross the finish line second they either change the rules ("No, the finish line was THERE") or refuse to accept defeat ("No, I won"). The latter drives Joy bonkers. Even when she knows she is right and someone else is wrong, she feels no peace if the other person disagrees with her.
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