Playgroup

Beauty Takes Concentration

Do you know, I've never let them wield the nail polish brush on their own, but Chelsea was in charge of this activity.

Seems they do just fine on their own!

With a little -- okay, a LOT of -- concentration!

Dominoes

This is a new game: animal pictures on one side of the wooden tiles, regular domino dots on the other side. We're using pictures for now. We don't all entirely get the matching concept yet, but we're enjoying trying!

Menu Monday

Monday: Stuffed peppers, carrot sticks
Though most of them like green peppers raw, it appears they're not so fond of them cooked, so they all ate the stuffing without complaint, they all left the cooked pepper behind. Maybe next time!

Tuesday: Eggplant lasagna
Nora didn't like it! Nora eats everything! I thought this would be more popular than it was -- three cheeses, after all -- but it was met with only middling enthusiasm. Everyone except Nora ate a full helping, but that's all they wanted.

Wednesday: Stir-fried noodles with vegetables and tofu
Hm. Nora didn't want this either, and Nora loves tofu. I'm thinking she's either deciding to try out the food power-struggle, or her cold has taken her appetite away. I'll wait and see.

Thursday: Peanut butter sandwiches, cauliflower

Friday: Felafels  
They all liked the falafels! These were made with black beans, a last-minute decision when I realized I hadn't any softened chickpeas. Oops.

Bead Co-operation

Ella and Ada played together with this toy for some little while the other day. While it may look like Ella is trying to take it from Ada in this picture, what is in fact happening is co-operation: Ella is holding it steady while Ada uses it to pull herself to a standing position.

And now Ella is lifting the beads to the top so Ada can grab them and knock them to the bottom, so that Ella can lift them to the top so Ada can ...

Bzz, Bzz, Bzzzz

This is a goofy game I was given by a friend whose children have outgrown it. There's this tray, see, shaped like a flower, onto which you place twenty little plastic spheres, each with a small metal bump on it.

Each player wears a headband, dangling from which is a plastic bee about the size of two walnuts. The bee has a small magnet in its belly. As you can see from Dries' face, it takes concentration.

The idea is to lift as many beads -- pollen balls, one assumes -- from the tray with your bee, and place it in your small, hive-shaped personal tray. You are to do this without using your hands, technically, but we are realistic about these things around here.

I enjoy the goofiness of this game. Your children? They just enjoy the game.

Stroller

Another peek at the toddler-mobile. Normally Addie would be walking. (Normally, Addie insists on walking!) Either she was tired that day, or, in the interest of speed, I pulled rank and deposited her in that front seat. (She doesn't look too upset!)

It's lovely to be able to get the whole lot of them out and about!

Menu Monday

Monday: Swiss chard skillet.
Addie, who approached the table saying that she wasn't going to be eating, thanks very much, had two largish helpings. Ella and Nora ate one, rather unenthused, helping apiece, and Ada grazed and nibbled here and there.

Tuesday: Mashed potato pie (mashed potato lower layer, lentil-veg filling, mashed potato-cheese dolloped topping)

Wednesday: Quinoa casserole
This was so breakfast-cereal-ish, sweet and tasty, I was sure they'd love it. Quinoa, almonds, cranberries and mild feta, topped with maple syrup! It's like dessert for lunch!!! They hated it. Uniformly, across the board. Not one of them enjoyed their single mouthful. Huh. Guess we'll consign that to the 'my family only' file. (For breakfast, too. Not sure why the cookbook considered it a main dinner idea.)
Thursday:  Dosas  (Indian chick pea taco)


Friday: Grilled cheese sandwiches, cucumber slices and cooked carrot sticks

PUSH!

Those little plastic containers we use for snacks have snap-on lids. Addie likes to snap her own lid, thank you.

It takes a looooot of effort, though!

I have no idea why...

My camera is very, very slow on the draw. When I clicked, I had three little faces smiling at me. When the screen displayed the picture I'd just taken -- which takes a good two or three seconds, a long time in the life of a toddler -- I got this.

Do not ask me. No idea. None.

What have we here?

Rebekah joined us for a morning! Ada, of course, knows Rebekah, but it seems there was something veeeery interesting about her that Ada had not before noticed...

Whatever could that be?

Good thing Ada's got the pincer grasp down pat. It's perfect for grabbing hold of teeny round things...

Menu Monday

Monday: Italian vegetable soup (mine uses navy beans because that's what I had!)

Tuesday: Broccoli-cheese soup, baking powder biscuits

Wednesday: Swiss chard skillet

Thursday: Black bean felafals (with grated zucchini for moisture instead of hamburger)

Friday: Chicken stew (chickpea version for Ella)

Vegetable Muffins

This is adapted from the "Ratatouille Frittata" recipe that appeared in the Citizen last Friday. (If you follow that link and scroll down, you'll also find the Oven-baked Falafels your children enjoyed so much as well, among other recipes.)

Ingredients:
3 - 4 cups vegetables, medium dice
(Anything you like: mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, red and/or green peppers, steamed tender-crisp cauliflower or broccoli...)

1/2 onion, medium dice
1 clove garlic, minced

6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
grated cheese

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease muffin tin. (Or use non-stick.)

2. Put chopped, raw vegetables in medium bowl, except onions and garlic (and mushrooms, if using).

3. Saute onion till soft, about 5 minutes. (If using mushrooms, sautee them with the onion.) Add garlic. Toss for another minute, then mix into bowl with remainder of vegetables.

4. Divide the vegetable mix among the 12 muffin cups.

5. In medium bowl (save on dishes and use the now-empty vegetable bowl!) mix together eggs and milk. Pour egg mixture over the muffin cups. Top with grated cheese.

6. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before removing from muffin tins. May be served hot or cold.

All Ada!

Thought David and Rebekah might enjoy seeing pictures of their little girl ENJOYING herself at daycare, particularly after this morning's clutch-and-wail drop-off. Don't worry! It'll get better!

And really? During the day, she's about this chipper, most of the time.

And once in a while (maybe the two bites of gelato helped) she gets downright giddy!