Got a Picky Eater? Never Give Up!

When I first began learning to cook, I made a dish of orzo with diced red bell peppers and zucchini.  My future husband looked at his plate with absolute horror.  He claimed to despise bell peppers, zucchini, and anything even remotely resembling rice.  Since that incident 6 years ago, I have rarely served any of those 3 items.  But this summer I've been on a low-carb kick.  And I happen to have lots and lots of zucchini in my garden.  I noticed this recipe for Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats on Heavenly Homemakers awhile ago, but figured I could never serve it to my husband.  Surely he would turn up his nose at it.  Surely he would complain the house smelled funny because I was cooking something "wierd".

However, going low carb (or should I say no carb?) can get really boring.  I was making the same dishes twice a week.  And the fastest way for me to get bored with my healthy food is to eat the same thing over and over.  So one night, when we had some leftovers that I knew my husband would eat, I decided to try making the Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats for my kids and myself.  They were quick to throw together, and I let them sit in the oven on low heat while I put the baby to bed.  When the boys were on their way home, I cut out some triangles and taped them to toothpicks to make 'sails' and stuck them in the 'boats'.  My husband walked in and smiled.  He was really hungry and ate 1 1/2 zucchini boats without complaint.  In fact, he said "they were not bad." 

"So," I said, "could you stand eating these once a year?" 
"No, these are good!" he said. 
Wow!!  I was giddy! 

The next day, he requested a leftover boat for his lunch.  And then the next day he did it again!  My husband, a self proclaimed hater of zucchini, actually wanted to eat a dish based entirely on zucchini! 

I have seen him do this with other foods too- fresh pineapple and sauteed broccoli, for example.  Maybe it's because nobody ever properly prepared these foods in an appealing way.  Maybe he wasn't exposed to them enough.  Maybe he just needed to pretend his food was a sailboat!  Who knows?  The point is, when it comes to serving food to your picky spouse, you have to get creative and don't give up!  Now, I don't expect him to ever love rice, but maybe someday he will ask me to cook some butternut squash.  I think I could carve it into the shape of a boat....

Gardening With Baby

We had a cool day after some extreme heat last week.  We jumped at the chance to garden.

There's something for everyone in the garden.

Nice kitty.

 Now let me examine your teeth.

Oooh, there's a paw!

Hee hee!



I'm so funny!



Water Baby

Almost as soon as the Great Flood of 2011 happened, it was over.  Now we are officially into summer!  We bought a $20 blow-up pool and tried it out for the first time today.  It met with approval.

I love summer!!!

Color Collage

I've started researching various arts and crafts for kids because 1) I plan to homeschool my kids, 2) my son is at the age where he can start doing things independently, 3) I anticipate my nephew will be spending lots of time with us this summer, and I want him to have something to do besides watch TV when he's at our house, and 4) I really enjoy them!  I am looking for projects that would be enjoyed by a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, and they should require pretty basic supplies.  So, without further ado, I present our first craft, the Color Collage!  I got the idea from Art Projects for Kids.  The idea is pretty simple: pick a color, cut out magazine pictures of that color, and glue them all together on a piece of paper. 



My 6-year-old nephew made this one.

 My nephew didn't need any help, although I did give him a couple of pictures from the magazine I was using.  In turn, he gave me a few pictures from his magazine, so there was some good teamwork going on!

My son didn't really "get" the whole concept, but he enjoyed practicing with the scissors and the glue.  Plus I felt good about spending "quality" time with him. 



The one my son and I made.


This little project also opened my eyes to the fact that I felt the Little Buddy needed my help to do the whole thing.  I'll have to keep this in mind on future projects, and remember to let him take responsibility for his own work.

Mud Boots

Have a Counting Party

Are you trying to teach a little one about numbers and counting?  Why not throw a counting party? 

There is a Barney episode called "A Counting We Will Go" in which Barney and his friends throw a counting party.  My son wanted to watch the episode over and over again.  I was inspired to throw my own counting party for him.  My parents, mother-in-law, son, and daughter were the only guests, but we had a great time.  I plan to do it again when my daughter starts learning her numbers. 

To set up the party atmosphere, we decorated with balloons and put on crazy hats and beads.  We also got out the New Year's Eve noisemakers to make it more exciting.  You could even send out invitations to family members, decorate with streamers, and set out finger foods that can be easily counted (berries, grapes, and carrot sticks are healthy choices, but my son really liked the chocolate chips).

So what do you do at a counting party?  You can:

- sing songs about counting
   - The Ants Go Marching One by One (be sure to march around the house while you sing)
   - 99 Bottles of Pop on the Wall
   - Knick-Knack-Paddy-Whack
   - Roll Over (There Were Ten in the Bed)

- write out the numbers 1 to 10 on a big piece of poster board and let the kids color in the numbers

- count things like stuffed animals or toy cars

- read books that mention counting or numbers, such as
   - Ten Little Puppies by Marian Harris
   - 1 is One by Tasha Tudor
   - The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey (the puppies count themselves)
   - Baby's First 1-2-3 Book by Amy Barton

- recite the nursery rhymes "One Two, Buckle My Shoe..." and "Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed..."

- for older kids, play games involving counting and numbers, such as Hide-and-Seek or Hopscotch

Our counting party only lasted about an hour but we had a lot of fun.  Doing something out of the ordinary such as having a party makes learning exciting.  Let your imagination run wild and you too can create a fun learning atmosphere for your child!

How do you teach your kids to count?

I've been away...

As you've probably noticed, I've been neglecting this blog for some time.  I've been busy with real life and also have been feeling uninspired.  It seems everywhere I turn there is another blogger who is writing about something I want to write about, and I feel like I would be unoriginal if I were to write about the same topic.  One of my goals here on this blog is to write original content.  I mentioned this to my husband the other day, and he told me "That's how everything is.  You just need to do it better than everyone else."  Sometimes he is so wise and makes me feel good without even trying!  So, it's back to blogging!

On that note, I'd like to share about how sneaky my 2-year-old has been lately!  Today after lunch my husband got some cookie dough out of the freezer.  My son immediately asked for some, even though he had hardly eaten his meal.  My husband told him that if he would finish his turkey he could have some dough.  My son protested a bit, then finally shoved about 3 bites' worth into his mouth.  Husband dropped a spoonful of cookie dough on the plate and turned to put the dough away.  Son quietly held his hand up to his mouth and let the turkey slide out.  He started to put it back on his plate, staring at the cookie dough.  I laughed and showed my husband what our son was doing.  He couldn't help but laugh too.  After more protests, the turkey was eaten, as was the cookie dough.  He's got a big sweet tooth, just like his mom!

It seems there is a pattern forming here.  A couple of nights ago his dad was eating chocolate pie and he wanted some, so we told him to finish his dinner and then he could have dessert.  I walked out of the room to tend to the baby.  When I returned, his plate was clean.  "Good job finishing your food!"  I dished up his dessert as promised.

About 20 minutes later, while doing the dishes, I noticed food in the sink- the same food that had been on my son's plate!  What a sneaky little boy!

One Way to Occupy a 2-Year-Old

'Tis the season of presents, and you know what that means... lots of boxes!  I like to give my son an empty box, a couple of markers, and maybe some stickers if I'm feeling really wild.  Coloring a big box keeps him occupied longer than coloring a piece of paper- 15 minutes compared to 5.

I let him go crazy with this box while helping my mom put out her Christmas lights this year.  He was getting antsy and starting to wander away from the yard. 

I'm always looking for things my 2-year-old can do to entertain himself that keep him out of trouble, make minimal mess, and are quiet.  Any suggestions?

The Things Kids Say

I've been reading this book about how good food makes your kids smarter, so this morning when my son reached for the cheesy, processed crackers instead of his freshly-cooked egg I said, "Better eat your egg so you get smart!  Those crackers will make you dumb.  You don't want to be dumb do you?"  My extremely independent son said, "Lemme be dumb please!" 

Bottoms Up!

What is my kid doing?

 I think this is a yoga pose called "Downward Dog".

He used to do it randomly, without warning.  Now he still does it randomly, but he lets you know beforehand.  "MyDoSomeYoga!"

Maybe he is trying to find his center in the midst of the baby's crying..... or something like that.

Yeah, my two-year-old does yoga.  We're very worldy, sophisticated hicks.

A Girl Could Get Used to This...

My son has become quite the little charmer!  For the past couple of weeks, he's radomly been saying, "You're beautiful Mama" (except it kind of runs together, like, "yerbeauifullmama").  It is so sweet!  Just in the past few days, he's started to add, "You're amazing Mama" ("yermazingmama")!  It's lots of fun to be a parent when your kid thinks you are Beautiful and Amazing!


My son at about 9 months.

Linked to Finer Things Friday.

Bath Talk

So the past two nights, as I've drained my son's bathtub, he's been telling me, "Don't dump me down the drain Mama.  Might get lost."  Where in the world did this come from?