though, really 'hands' weren't involved much at all...
Let us show you...
Eliana and the
BUM BOUNCE!
Too, too, toooooo funny!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Trampoline!
We brought the mini-tramp out the other day, and although all the children enjoyed it, it was Eliana who got the biggest kick (bounce?) out of it. She has enough weight now to actually get a bit of a bounce going, and gleefully explored all manner of ways to use it.
Here you have her hands-down favourite:
though, really 'hands' weren't involved much at all...
Let us show you...
Eliana and the
BUM BOUNCE!
Too, too, toooooo funny!
though, really 'hands' weren't involved much at all...
Let us show you...
Eliana and the
BUM BOUNCE!
Too, too, toooooo funny!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Too Many Cooks?
Which is a two-boy job.
And a bit of a goopy one. "I can eat this, Ilona?"
Ingredients are measured carefully. It's a serious business, pouring in the sugar.
Then stirred...
When it's all mixed, we love licking the spoons! Ilona is pretty generous with the batter. :)
But the very best part is EATING you banana bread. With your Very Best Friend.
And a bit of a goopy one. "I can eat this, Ilona?"
Ingredients are measured carefully. It's a serious business, pouring in the sugar.
Then stirred...
When it's all mixed, we love licking the spoons! Ilona is pretty generous with the batter. :)
But the very best part is EATING you banana bread. With your Very Best Friend.
Menu Monday
Monday: bagels and cream cheese, cucumber slices
Tuesday: spaghetti, squash
Wednesday: black bean felafels in half-pita with various sliced vegetables
Thursday: Sweet potato soup, bean salad
Friday: Cucumber salad, chicken coconut curry over rice
Tuesday: spaghetti, squash
Wednesday: black bean felafels in half-pita with various sliced vegetables
Thursday: Sweet potato soup, bean salad
Friday: Cucumber salad, chicken coconut curry over rice
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Shoe Girl
Willa loves shoes. Loves them, loves them. Ranged as they are on shelves in the front hall, there is no way we could keep her out of them, even were we to try. The rule with babies and toys (as I'm sure Eliana could explain) is "If it won't hurt the baby and if the baby can't hurt it, it's okay for the baby."
The sole corollary to that rule: If it's going to make an almighty mess for Ilona to pick up, it's not okay. A dozen pairs of shoes scattered in the front hall? THAT's not a mess. Or, not an 'almighty' one, at any rate.
(Thus proving that one person's 'mildly untidy' is another's 'utter mayhem!!!', and probably goes a long way to explaining the normal state of my home...)
Shoes are WONDERFUL!!!
The sole corollary to that rule: If it's going to make an almighty mess for Ilona to pick up, it's not okay. A dozen pairs of shoes scattered in the front hall? THAT's not a mess. Or, not an 'almighty' one, at any rate.
(Thus proving that one person's 'mildly untidy' is another's 'utter mayhem!!!', and probably goes a long way to explaining the normal state of my home...)
Willa tries on Stephen's sandal.
The soundtrack to this activity, which you cannot hear in this picture, was
"Shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe
shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe
shoe, shoe, shoe..."
The soundtrack to this activity, which you cannot hear in this picture, was
"Shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe
shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe
shoe, shoe, shoe..."
Shoes are WONDERFUL!!!
Snoozers
This little girl, though, she's genuinely tired. The stillness of the face gives it away. "Can we please eat lunch soon, so I can go to sleeeeeeep?"
Owen has found something interesting. Is it real, or is it more faking? (And don't you wonder how they can possibly be comfortable in a position that would have an adult screaming in agony? I hurt just looking at that right leg. Ouch.)
Yup, that's real all right! Those busy mornings at the park take it out of a guy!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Menu Monday
Monday:
Chicken vegetable soup, served with enough bread to make it edible with the hands. :)
Tuesday:
Spinach pie
Wednesday:
Macaroni and cheese, cooked vegetable
Thursday:
Lentil curry on rice
Friday:
Orange ginger beef stew, bread
Chicken vegetable soup, served with enough bread to make it edible with the hands. :)
Tuesday:
Spinach pie
Wednesday:
Macaroni and cheese, cooked vegetable
Thursday:
Lentil curry on rice
Friday:
Orange ginger beef stew, bread
Friday, June 11, 2010
Recipe: Indonesian Squash
This was popular with all of them. It's from Extending the Table, page 128, and called, in the cookbook, "Sweet Vegetables". (Sayur Manis in Indonesian, pronounced "sah-YOOR mah-NEES".)
Combine in a large pot:
2 cups coconut milk (I used one 398 mL tin of light coconut milk and added 102 mLs of water to bring it up to a full two cups)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 onion, sliced
1 t ginger root, minced
1/2 t ground turmeric
2 t salt (I'd probably reduce this a bit next time, maybe by half a teaspoon)
2 fresh red peppers, thinly sliced (I skipped this. Red peppers are expensive right now!)
1 jalapeno, thin sliced (optional, but I used it!)
Bring it to a boil. When it's boiling, add:
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Simmer about ten minutes, allowing squash to absorb flavours.
In fact, ours simmered quite a bit longer, so the squash smooshed into puree with the lightest press of a fork. I served it to the children over rice, and they all ate with visible enthusiasm.
And me? I love the stuff, too! For myself, I'd cook the squash less so it would be firmer, but I'm also thinking that, cooked this much, any leftovers could easily be pureed into a really nice, creamy soup! Nom, nom, nom
Combine in a large pot:
2 cups coconut milk (I used one 398 mL tin of light coconut milk and added 102 mLs of water to bring it up to a full two cups)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 onion, sliced
1 t ginger root, minced
1/2 t ground turmeric
2 t salt (I'd probably reduce this a bit next time, maybe by half a teaspoon)
2 fresh red peppers, thinly sliced (I skipped this. Red peppers are expensive right now!)
1 jalapeno, thin sliced (optional, but I used it!)
Bring it to a boil. When it's boiling, add:
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Simmer about ten minutes, allowing squash to absorb flavours.
In fact, ours simmered quite a bit longer, so the squash smooshed into puree with the lightest press of a fork. I served it to the children over rice, and they all ate with visible enthusiasm.
And me? I love the stuff, too! For myself, I'd cook the squash less so it would be firmer, but I'm also thinking that, cooked this much, any leftovers could easily be pureed into a really nice, creamy soup! Nom, nom, nom
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Yes, this is still us!
Blogger has offered some fun new templates, so I've been experimenting. This is the one I've chosen for now. I'll give it a couple of weeks and see what I think after I've had a chance to use it a bit.
Different, isn't it??
Different, isn't it??
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Big Girls Ride The Bus!
An English neighbour was chatting with me as the tots played in the drive, awaiting Eliana's arrival. She commented that prior to coming to live in Canada, she'd only seen school busses on television -- strictly a North American phenomenon, as far as she's concerned.
Eliana debarks (disembarks?) from her Cultural Experience. Who knew?
Eliana debarks (disembarks?) from her Cultural Experience. Who knew?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Onesie, Twosie...
than a one-year-old butt
in a onesie.
Hee.
Monday, June 7, 2010
The Internet is FULL of brilliant ideas!
I happen to know that a few families are Looking Forward to special events. As the summer progresses, there are sure to be more -- holidays, visiting grandparents, concerts, all those great summer things!
If you know the actual date of your event (which sort of precludes New Baby Sibling countdowns) these Countdown Sticks are a great idea. More tangible than boxes on a calendar, they help give your tot the idea of the passage of time, which is a hugely challenging concept for children of this age. (Okay, in truth it's beyond them yet, but this is a nice way to help them inch their way toward it!)
If I were doing this, I'd use the calendar to count the days until the event, then count out the requisite number of popsicle sticks to decorate. If I wanted to encourage the idea of reading a calendar, I might even make a calendar with pockets with one stick in each pocket, and remove one each day.
See? There's lots and lots of inspiration out there!
If you know the actual date of your event (which sort of precludes New Baby Sibling countdowns) these Countdown Sticks are a great idea. More tangible than boxes on a calendar, they help give your tot the idea of the passage of time, which is a hugely challenging concept for children of this age. (Okay, in truth it's beyond them yet, but this is a nice way to help them inch their way toward it!)
If I were doing this, I'd use the calendar to count the days until the event, then count out the requisite number of popsicle sticks to decorate. If I wanted to encourage the idea of reading a calendar, I might even make a calendar with pockets with one stick in each pocket, and remove one each day.
See? There's lots and lots of inspiration out there!
Menu Monday
Monday: Creole Rice and beans.
(Kidney and black beans with onions, garlic, carrots, green pepper, in a tomato sauce seasoned with mustard, wine vinegar, spices, served on rice)
Tuesday: West African Groundnut Stew
(For the two-and-ups: beef and vegetable stew in a broth which will include peanut butter; for the one-year-olds, no peanut butter.)
Much to my surprise, no one seemed that enthused. Hm. Me, I LOVED it!
Wednesday:
Black bean soup, cornbread, corn niblets
Thursday:
Cabbage stewed with apples; rice; breaded fish fillets (just the frozen Highliner kind. Sorry!) :)
Which ended up being leftover rice and beans, and the fish. I didn't make the cabbage. Eliana and Milan preferred the rice and beans to the fish; Owen and Dominic preferred the fish to the r&b; Willa was an equal-opportunity eater, and seemed to like it all well enough.
Friday:
Indonesian squash and rice.
THIS was a hit.
(Kidney and black beans with onions, garlic, carrots, green pepper, in a tomato sauce seasoned with mustard, wine vinegar, spices, served on rice)
Tuesday: West African Groundnut Stew
(For the two-and-ups: beef and vegetable stew in a broth which will include peanut butter; for the one-year-olds, no peanut butter.)
Much to my surprise, no one seemed that enthused. Hm. Me, I LOVED it!
Wednesday:
Black bean soup, cornbread, corn niblets
Thursday:
Cabbage stewed with apples; rice; breaded fish fillets (just the frozen Highliner kind. Sorry!) :)
Which ended up being leftover rice and beans, and the fish. I didn't make the cabbage. Eliana and Milan preferred the rice and beans to the fish; Owen and Dominic preferred the fish to the r&b; Willa was an equal-opportunity eater, and seemed to like it all well enough.
Friday:
Indonesian squash and rice.
THIS was a hit.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Better in Theory than in Practice?
We saw it coming from across the field. Well, we saw it sitting there, still and silent -- far better than the potentially boy-eating garbage trucks that were roaring around the neighbourhood. A big truck, a flatbed, and a riding lawn mower! Milan and Owen spotted it blocks away, and chattered about it the entire five minutes it took us to draw near.
Ooooo! Shiny, red, and a MACHINE. The boys love machines. Love them, love them. The ride-on mower is pretty near boy-sized, even, unlike those giant, noisy, potentially boy-eating garbage trucks roaring around... Oh, I guess I said that already, didn't I?
Owen still loves the garbage trucks, Nora is largely oblivious to them, Willa, cheerfully interested, and Dominic fascinated, but Milan? Milan has become quite nervous of the noisy, lumbering behemoths of late. Wednesday morning outings devote a lot of air-time to discussions of where that truck might be, whether it's going to come down this street, and could he please stand on the other side of the stroller?
We know they can be a little scary because they're very big and noisy, but that the drivers are nice -- don't they wave at us, every week?!? -- and they never drive on the sidewalk, and that it's okay to be nervous, so long as we just keep moving. We know that because it gets discussed. Every Wednesday morning. Lots of times.
Turns out Milan's nervousness extends to ride-on lawnmowers, too. Intrigued though he was, this was a close as HE was going to get to that thing.
So when the nice driver got out of his truck and offered to let the boys sit in the seat, Milan was NOT interested. Nuh-uh, no thanks, no way, no how. Not getting on that seat. Owen, though, he managed to overcome his uncertainty enough to let me sit him up there. Mostly.
I felt for the guy. He worked pretty hard to warm them up, but they were a tough, tough audience!
But when we got home? Did we talk about the bouncy toys? Or the red house at the park? Or that one of the caregivers shared rice cakes with us? Or the giant hole they dug? Or the mud the other kids were making? Or the dog who visited the stroller? Or the squirrel on the play structure?
No, we did not.
We talked about the TRACTOR! And the BIG TRACTOR-MAN! And the TRACTOR! That cuts grass! And the YELLOW HAT! And the RED TRACTOR! And how only BIG boys got to sit on the BIG TRACTOR!
The tractor, the tractor, the TRACTOR!!!
Contrary little critters, two-year-olds...
Ooooo! Shiny, red, and a MACHINE. The boys love machines. Love them, love them. The ride-on mower is pretty near boy-sized, even, unlike those giant, noisy, potentially boy-eating garbage trucks roaring around... Oh, I guess I said that already, didn't I?Owen still loves the garbage trucks, Nora is largely oblivious to them, Willa, cheerfully interested, and Dominic fascinated, but Milan? Milan has become quite nervous of the noisy, lumbering behemoths of late. Wednesday morning outings devote a lot of air-time to discussions of where that truck might be, whether it's going to come down this street, and could he please stand on the other side of the stroller?
We know they can be a little scary because they're very big and noisy, but that the drivers are nice -- don't they wave at us, every week?!? -- and they never drive on the sidewalk, and that it's okay to be nervous, so long as we just keep moving. We know that because it gets discussed. Every Wednesday morning. Lots of times.
Turns out Milan's nervousness extends to ride-on lawnmowers, too. Intrigued though he was, this was a close as HE was going to get to that thing.
So when the nice driver got out of his truck and offered to let the boys sit in the seat, Milan was NOT interested. Nuh-uh, no thanks, no way, no how. Not getting on that seat. Owen, though, he managed to overcome his uncertainty enough to let me sit him up there. Mostly."Are you SURE this thing is safe?"
"Ilona? Are you sure HE'S safe??"
I felt for the guy. He worked pretty hard to warm them up, but they were a tough, tough audience!
But when we got home? Did we talk about the bouncy toys? Or the red house at the park? Or that one of the caregivers shared rice cakes with us? Or the giant hole they dug? Or the mud the other kids were making? Or the dog who visited the stroller? Or the squirrel on the play structure?
No, we did not.
We talked about the TRACTOR! And the BIG TRACTOR-MAN! And the TRACTOR! That cuts grass! And the YELLOW HAT! And the RED TRACTOR! And how only BIG boys got to sit on the BIG TRACTOR!
The tractor, the tractor, the TRACTOR!!!
Contrary little critters, two-year-olds...
Menu, Updated
Wednesday was supposed to be roast chicken, but I had unexpected extra mouths to feed at dinner last night, so there were none of our planned leftovers for today's lunch. Instead, we had ratatouille, left over from this weekend, pureed in a blender with a cup or so of water to make a thick and very nutritious pasta sauce, which we had over spaghettini.
Need I say it went down well?
Need I say it went down well?
