Thinking Thursdays: Croc gets a home (How to sew a river scene)

Yup, Mr Croc has a new riverine property: his very own riverbed.  I thought I'd try to make a felt play scene for the boy to go with his new reptile pet (click here to get instructions on how to make your own croc), so I dug out those rolls of felt I had sitting in the cupboard and got to work with a scissors.  Making the playscene is quite straight-forward, you would just need a large piece of brown felt for the base (I bought all my felt from Daiso, of course, you could buy nicer felt, but I just used whatever I had at hand).  Then you'll need to cut out a windy river and sew it down:

I was trying to recall my Secondary school geography, and only could remember about meanders and ox-bow lakes... so I added one little ox-bow lake in just for fun!

Cut out grass, or whatever kind of vegetation you would like to have around the river, using green felt.  Sew the base down, so you can ruffle everything up, such that they stand up to give a nice 3D effect:

Then cut out pebbles using grey felt.  Mine were sewn down for the bottom-half only, so that they form pockets where you can hide stuff like other animals or perhaps little yummies for your riverine friends:

Then collect all sorts of river related stuff like pebbles, and scatter them around:

Voila!  One happy croc, and probably one happy child!  (Mine got up from his nap and saw the scene, and instead got very UPSET because Mama had sewn on flat FAKE pebbles on.  He tried to rip them off because he only wanted real pebbles!)

It was quite fun working with felt.  I'm not a good seamstress (you can see all my messy sewing there!), but felt's great to work with since it doesn't fray.  Hopefully this play scene will lend itself to some hours of creative play... I'm hoping to use it with his other animal figurines, and perhaps use it to teach geography next time!

Oh, and the croc books that we're loving currently are:

   :: Cornelius, by Leo Lionni

   :: I'd Really Like to Eat a Child, by Sylviane Donnio 

   :: The Enormous Crocodile, by Roald Dahl

We recently started reading the last title, and I was quite surprised since the boy actually sat through the entire book!

Ok, gotta run and cook dinner... meanwhile, do share if you have any fav croc-related books!  Have a blessed weekend!

PS: The "Art Adventures" page has been updated, so hop over if you're looking for ideas for crafting with kids!

Thinking Thursdays: If you see a crocodile...

Junior J has this certain fascination with crocodiles.  Crocs also seem like a favourite choice for children authors too, so we've read plenty of books starring this creature.  Recently, since the usual paint and paper routine was taking its toll (Will try to update the Art Adventures page when I have time! :p), we decided to make our own toothy green friend.  Here's how:

:: Gather materials, and a willing helper.  You will need 2 toilet paper rolls (1 must be cut up as shown below), green paint (or whatever colour you would like Mr Croc to be), green & red construction paper, white drawing block, thin masking tape, glitter glue (optional, but fun!), and stuff to make the eyes with (you can try buttons, or just draw them in.  We used goggly eyes, and if you do, be warned that those will be the first thing your lil helper will run away with!).

:: Tape the 2 longer half-pieces of toilet paper roll to the other paper roll, using masking tape (normal sticky tape is harder to paint over), as shown. Tape it with the mouth wide open, so that you leave some room for the mouth to open and close (very important for crocs!).  Do tape the inside of the mouth too, since croc will probably do alot of roaring so you want his mouth to stay intact as long as possible!  Cut off the sharp corners, such that the mouth has a nice rounded front.

:: Stick the 2 smaller half-pieces of the toilet roll to the bottom of the body, as shown, using tape again.  You could also cut out claws for your fearsome friend to have a better grip on his prey... 

:: Scrunch up construction paper in a cone-like shape and stuff into the back end of the body, and secure with tape.

:: Get lil helper (who by now should have messed up quite a bit of tape while helping you) to paint the whole body in your selected colour.

:: Leave overnight to dry.  Cut out sharp teeth from drawing block (you will need 4 rows), and tape them to the inside of the mouth, and cut out a nice tongue from red paper (it'll be one with a nice rounded edge, save the forked versions for snakes and lizards!), and tape that down too.  Then get lil helper to paint the inside of the mouth (you can see from the pic, I forgot to tape in the teeth first, so he painted the mouth twice to cover up the tape!):   

:: Stick/draw on the eyes for your ferocious friend.  You could add scales/markings using glitter glue, and perhaps draw in nostrils for the snout too.  

:: And there you have it!  Now go sing:

"Row row row your boat,

Gently down the stream,

If you see a crocodile,

Don't forget to scream!"

Ok, gotta run, will be back in the next post to share the croc-related books, as well as how to make the river scene for your new friend.  But before I run, have you made anything out of toilet paper rolls recently?  Do share!

Messy Mittwoch: Packing for baby

Hello!  I won't hang around for long today, since I've loads to pack for baby.  I've finally gotten down to getting the baby clothes out of storage, washed, and the newborn stuff packed into some sort of order (I tried to get Junior J to help today, and was showing him how tiny the baby will be... he was interested at first, but then decided the most fun thing to do would be to fling all my neatly folded piles everywhere!).

There's still loads to do though, since there's still bags of clothes to be sorted: Cold clothes for both boys (donated by friends, for the move next year), all the other clothes for baby J (who has quite abit of stuff since we have hand-me-downs from friends, plus his brother's stuff, PLUS gifts), and Junior J's clothes that he's outgrown, or has yet to break into.  Its quite amazing how much clothes they have, and I'm very sure Junior has more clothes than I do!

One of my headaches is storing the tiny stuff for Baby J, like the bootees and mittens.  We had a shallow drawer with compartments for those when it came to Junior J, but that drawer is now overflowing with art materials.  In addition, I'll have to store baby's stuff in our bedroom, since baby will be rooming with us before we move next year.  So I've just stuffed them all into one compartment in the drawer for now.  Any ideas or tips for this?

Thankful Tuesdays: Sinking sand

Little boy has been waking up almost every hour for the past two nights.  I'm not sure if he's falling sick again, but I've spent the nights scrunched up next to him so that both of us manage to get a little more sleep.  The days have been spent in mild dis-orientation, with snatched naps on the sofa.  However, I'm glad that the boy's appetite is better now, and he's been quite a good kid in the day (less tantrums, less "I don't want"s, more cheerfulness).  So while its a season of change, I am very thankful for the steady, unchanging nature of God and His promises:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

No merit of my own I claim,

But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found!

Clothed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne!

What are you thankful for this week?

Monday made: Almost 3...

The weekend was one of those busy ones.  There was the breast cancer fund-raiser (where I was glad to see the ladies having fun getting their fingers rather messy with glue).  And my dad's birthday.  And... little boy turned 32 months too!  

For those who have been reading this blog for awhile, you would know that I try to make a monthly layout about the little boy, to record down the major events/milestones for the month.  However, I realized that in the coming months, that might not be possible with the arrival of Baby J (And I realized, soon, I will need to scrap for 2 little boys instead!).  

So instead of 12 x 12 inch layouts, I decided to make a mini 6 x 6 album to record Junior J's development from the 32nd-36th month.  Now the album is just full of empty pages, but I'm hoping to put in photos and the usual loads of journalling, and since its a smaller space to work with, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the memory keeping!

And here's the cover of the album, which will contain loads of heart-felt thoughts:

I really love the Tim Holtz keys. :)

Patterned paper from Bo Bunny's Etcetera collection (I cannot resist any vintage looking paper, especially those with maps on them!).  Prima flowers, and of course, AC thickers.  

How was your weekend?  Did you manage to do any crafting or creating?

Foodie Fridays: Savoury stews

I like cooking stews.  You dump this whole bunch of stuff into a pot, leave to simmer, and get a nice comforting meal at the end of it.  I used to like using all those Japanese mixes to prepare stews, but ever since Junior J came, I've been trying to make our stews from scratch to avoid adding various additives and MSG.  So here's our own "mish-mash" recipe for beef stew (which my mum turns up her nose at, and refuses to try, since her idea of stew must be one that contains OXO cubes):

Beef Stew (served mixed with pasta)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

:: Beef (500 g, of a cut suitable for stewing, chopped into chunks)

:: 3 large carrots (sliced)

:: 2 large tomatoes (sliced)

:: 1 can of canned tomatoes (we use Hunt's whole tomatoes, which has no added salt or MSG.  Alternatively if you have access to good plum tomatoes just add 4 more tomatoes instead!)

:: 1 large onion (diced)

:: 3 cloves of garlic (diced)

:: 8-10 button mushrooms (sliced)

:: White wine

:: Herbs (I add thyme and 2 bay leaves)

:: Salt and ground black pepper

Steps:

1. Heat up 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan.  Fry garlic and onion.

2. Add beef, salt and pepper (amounts you can tweak to your taste by adding more later on if necessary), and stir-fry for 5 minutes, and add half a cup of white wine.  Leave to simmer on stove for about 10 minutes on low heat (I'm ok with adding wine for cooking food that we feed Junior J, but I try to leave it out on the stove for the alcohol to evaporate.).

3. Add fresh tomatoes and mushrooms, and stir-fry for a minute or two.  Dump everything from the pan into the slow-cooker.  Add carrots, canned tomatoes (including the sauce in the can) and herbs, stir and leave to simmer on low for at least 4 hours.  

4. During the simmering process, you may want to add more salt (you can add grated cheddar before serving too!), and top up some water if you feel the stew is too dry.

5. Serve with pasta for a simple hearty meal!

This is one of the beefy meals that Junior J does eat (he's not too fond of the taste of beef, but he loves anything tomato-based).  Usually I prepare this while cooking lunch, such that the meat gets to sweat it out for at least 6 hours, yielding something that's soft and easy to eat for fussy toddlers. :)  If you don't have a slow-cooker, you can leave it on the stove to simmer on low heat as well, but you'll have to stir periodically and add water, or the stew will dry up!

Do you have a favourite stew recipe?  

~~~~~~~

Do you have any tried and tested recipes for meals suitable for the whole family?  If you have some easy-to-prepare, healthy recipes, do drop me an email at john(dot)jus(at)gmail(dot)com, with the ingredients, steps, and if possible, a photo of the food!  We'll post the recipes on Fridays, with a link back to your blog if you have one... :)

Thinking Thursdays: Bible stories for kids

While we've not been doing much bible-related activities these few months... Junior J and I have been reading stories from the Bible almost every day.  We used to try to read a story or two, plus a Bible passage every morning after he woke up, but that made the whole moving from bed to breakfast table process very long (especially on days the boy woke up grumpy!).  So now this routine has been shifted to at night.

Right now, the boy seems to prefer the stories about Jesus and the miracles he performed, compared to the stories of various people in the Old Testament.  Perhaps its because the whole myriad of characters in the OT can get pretty confusing.  However, he does have certain favourites, such as Noah, and Jonah (I think he just likes any story with animals in them!).

I've yet to find an ideal collection of Bible stories though.  We've been ping-ponging between the two books shown above (or sometimes we read actual passages from the NIV version, and then I paraphrase the passages), and I must say I prefer the ones in the Candle Bible for Kids.  Junior J also seems to be fascinated with the maps that have been included inside, but I'd admit I'll prefer something with less cartoony illustrations instead.  Does anyone have other titles to recommend?

Meanwhile, we're just glad to say that all those stories seem to be having a positive effect on the boy.  On days the boy is being difficult, you just have to ask him about "what happened to Jonah when he disobeyed God?".  He immediately gives in!  (But of course we try not to use this method if possible.)  We also get funny conversations like this one during breakfast:

Junior J (examining his spoonful of pear): God says I can eat pear!  And I can eat apple!

Me: Oh, did He tell you that?

Junior J: Yes, but I'm not supposed to eat the fruit!  (Referring to the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden)

Thankful Tuesdays: Babies make you trust God

I have been feeling rather apprehensive about number 2.  Yes, I know, the excitement is there, but still, I am quite worried when I recall what we faced the first time round...  The post-natal recovery after Junior J was slow and painful, and I still can remember all  the difficulties we faced in the earlier days.  The house full of people (it was CNY and we didn't manage to finish spring-cleaning), all the difficulties nursing, the cotton-wool feeling in your head from trying to sleep in 30 minute intervals as Junior J woke every 2 hours to feed for 45 minutes...

Right now, at about 2 weeks more to full-term, we're also contemplating hiring a confinement nanny (long story that).  And we've just received news that the lady that we previously hired for post-natal massage would not be available as she would be overseas.  We're also wondering how little boy will take to having to share our time and attention with a small squalling bundle...  And to top it off, it may be Copenhagen instead of Germany next year, but everything is still uncertain.

In the early days.  Grainy picture, but still quite a keeper, yes?

So many question marks.  Its going to be a tiring time ahead... but I think one thing we've learnt for sure is... while being parents is challenging, God always brings us through.  Perhaps babies are just lessons in trusting God, all wrapped up in wriggly limbs, mittens and loads of poop... and I am thankful that our God is one faithful God that sustains, provides and strengthens.

What are you thankful for this week?

PS: Since I am on the topic, any parents have a good confinement nanny, and a post-natal massage lady to recommend?  Please do leave me a comment, or drop me a note!

Monday made: Crafting with clay

Over the weekend, I attended a clay-making class by Forever Blooms, that taught you how to make flowers using an air-dry clay known as Claycraft.  It was rare to be able to have to have the time to attend a craft class (ever since Junior J came along, I've only attended one scrapbooking class, and I've yet to finish those layouts!), and I must say it was a good break for me (my in-laws very nicely babysat, as hubby had to go to work).

I admit that making those roses were challenging.  We had to roll out the clay into thin petals, in just the right shape and size.  As I rolled and re-rolled the clay, I kept thinking I should have just stuck to working with paper, since I couldn't seem to get the petals right!  Thankfully, we all more or less got the hang of it, and our teacher was pretty patient with us.  We ended up making 3 roses on our own, complete with stems (made with clay too), and it was rather therapeutic spending a morning working with your fingers, while chit-chatting with a friend.

The clay itself was interesting, since it has to be kept moist to remain pliable (my extremely dry hands seemed to drain moisture from the clay since it kept cracking...).  The clay dries in about 24-48 hours, so there is no need to bake it (unlike other clays like Fimo).  Since the clay is supposed to be non-toxic, I'm now trying to think up projects for the little boy to do with this clay... and I'm also thinking of making some flowers to embellish some scrapbook layouts too!

Have you worked with air-dry clay before?  What did you create from it?

Saturday scrapping: Resting (or trying to)

The adrenaline from the previous two weeks of coping while the hubby was away has worn off.  All of the sudden, the tiredness from baking baby and toting him around has seemed to hit... and the onset of pretty strong Braxton Hicks contractions have been giving us scares off and on.  So I've been trying to rest a little more this week, since the hubby was on leave (to recover from his trip).  His parents came to visit again this weekend, so both of us have been able to do some major decluttering while they babysat Junior J, and we also managed to dig out some of the baby essentials that have been stashed in the storeroom.

With all that has been going on (plus, Junior J caught a cold and a bad cough, and seems to have passed it to me too!), I've not been able to scrap much.  However, I'm happy to say that I'm almost done with the preparation for the fundraiser I'm helping out with.  All the materials have been prepped and packed, and now I'm currently finishing up the samples... Will share more next time!

Gotta go and glue some stuff, meanwhile, I hope you're having a restful and blessed weekend...

PS: Less than 24 hours left to enter into the Cup Critter giveaway!  If you like using recycled materials to craft with your kid, this giveaway is for you, so do check it out!

Foodie Fridays: Prawns, Penang-style!

Ever since this pregnancy, I've been loving sour food.  Dishes like pork ribs in black vinegar and anything tomato-sauce based...  Recently, I got hubby to cook these assam prawns when he was home after his trip.  Its a really simple recipe, but really yummy (even Junior J loves them), so I thought I'd share it here:

Assam Prawns 

(for 2, as a side dish)

Ingredients:

:: 7 Medium to large prawns (no need to remove the shells, which is the nice part!)

:: 7 cloves of garlic, diced (you can reduce this, but we like it garlicky)

:: 2-4 tablespoons tamarind paste 

:: 1 small onion, sliced

:: Light and dark soya sauce

Steps:

1. Mix tamarind paste with 1/2 cup of water, stir to mix (or in hubby's words, "use your hands and squash it all up!"), add prawns, set aside.

2. Chop up garlic and onion.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan.  Fry garlic and onion til fragrant.

4. Add prawns, along with tamarind paste to pan.  Add 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce and a dash of light soya sauce (this is optional).

5.  Stir-fry over medium to high heat until paste thickens and prawns are cooked.

This dish is easily cooked in 10 minutes... simple right?

~~~~~~

Do you have any tried and tested recipes for meals suitable for the whole family?  If you have some easy-to-prepare, healthy recipes, do drop me an email at john(dot)jus(at)gmail(dot)com, with the ingredients, steps, and if possible, a photo of the food!  We'll post the recipes on Fridays, with a link back to your blog if you have one... :)

Thinking Thursdays: Magnetic doodle boards

Most kids have one of these... you know the doodle boards where you can write on, then erase using this little slider at the bottom?  Recently, Junior J has been fascinated with printing on the board using magnets.  He makes patterns with them, and then adds other scribbles using the pen...

So if you do have magnets, especially those alphabet ones, how about letting your little one print words on the board (great for younger ones who cannot write yet)?  Or you could print the words, and get them to match them with the actual alphabet magnets... or try different shape magnets too!

Do you have a magnetic doodle board at home?  What learning activities do you carry out with it?

Messy Mittwoch: Crafty storage

More packing has been going on, as usual.  One of the areas I've been tackling has been the study, since my craft materials have experienced an explosion (for some reason, most scrappers seem to experience this... scrap stuff seems to take on a life of their own and multiply like mushrooms after a rain!).  Guess its time for another scrappy giveaway soon!

Anyway, a problem I've had is trying to store my tools in an appropriate place.  Everything used to go into plastic boxes into a cabinet in the study, but that meant I had to walk over from the table and dig them out every time I wanted to craft. Half the time I didn't use things, since I either forgot I had them (out of sight, out of mind), or was too lazy to dig it out.  Packing up after each project was a pain, since the table was scattered with tools and bits and bobs and I had to gather everything and put them back in boxes in drawers (hubby was always complaining as well, since he'll have no space to work when I was in the midst of a project!).

I've found that having things at hand, in view, would be most ideal...  As punches rank as one of the most frequently used tools on my list (since I use them for Junior J's and my own craft), I dug those punches out of their box (they were bursting out of the box anyway!), and planned on getting one of those little metal racks meant for storing stuff in the kitchen.  I chanced across a rather pretty white one, in one of those shops that sells all the random stuff like buckets and batteries, and was quite delighted when I managed to squeeze in all my punches neatly into two shelves (after some shuffling here and there of course):

The top shelf houses the smaller punches, like the Daiso ones that I frequently use with Junior J,
while the bottom level holds the border punches and the larger punches.

Now cleaning up is much easier, since I can just put back the punches immediately after using them, instead of leaving them scattered all over the table!  Its also a bonus that I can easily get to any punch I want, without having to rummage inside a box...

For more ideas on storing your stuff, take a peek at my pinboard on smart storage, and if you're searching for craft storage solutions, check out the Crafty Storage blog... those pictures of organized craft studios can really send you into a packing frenzy!  

How do you store your craft materials?

PS: Speaking of crafting, have you taken part in the Cup Critter giveaway yet?  You just need to hop over to the Facebook page and leave a comment! ;)

Thankful Tuesdays: Light up my life

We had a mini mooncake party yesterday night after dinner.  The little boy had agreed to keep the mooncake "to share when Papa is back", and we sat around the dining table, all 3 of us (plus Mr Moose, who was Junior J's invited guest) and cut the mooncake with much pomp and celebration.  We finished it all up (Mr Moose got the crumbs), and then got out the little boy's lantern and went for a walk in the park downstairs.  All of us enjoyed watching all the people walk by with their own lanterns, looking at children playing with sparklers, just soaking everything in...

The boy's lantern was from his Por Por.  He was allowed to choose (there were all sorts, from the plastic ones that played music and had flashing lights, to those with cartoons and all sorts of patterns), and insisted he liked the traditional, plain paper ones best (I was quite relieved, since I thought those were still the nicest!).

So this week, I am thankful for things that make life a little brighter in their own ways:

:: God painting the skies every day, with sunsets, sunrises and rainbows.

:: The hubby safely reaching back after being overseas for 2 weeks... (We made it, and Baby J didn't make an early entrance, phew!)

:: Friends who swing by to chat and bring food for you.

:: Clear skies today after 2 days of yucky haze.  Hurray for clean laundry drying in fresher air!

:: Light that makes things grow, and helps us see...

:: This little boy, who gets 20 minutes of play from a piece of string ("I'm fishing for worms, Mama, to feed the fish!).

What brightens up your life these days?

Monday made: Cup Critters (and a giveaway!)

Hello!  How was your weekend?  Little boy and I managed to squeeze in some more crafting over the weekend and got started on these new craft materials from a little Cup Critter kit sent over from Hocusadabra (all the way from Hong Kong!).  Junior J had a good time examining the different parts and experimenting with how everything fit together...

And he was able to help me poke the holes into the cup (using the little tool provided) so that we could attach the various parts using clips... 

At the end of it all, we got a new little penguin friend, with very little mess generated!  I was happy I didn't have to do major cleaning up (which sometimes happens when we work with paints/glue), and the boy was delighted that he managed to make his own feathered friend...

"Hello Mr Penguin!  You are from the South Pole..."

I must say I'm really impressed with the idea behind the whole Makedo range, which includes these Cup Critter kits.  Basically, the various kits provide reusable plastic parts, such as the turquiose re-clips, which are basically fasteners that can hold different parts of your project together securely (unlike glued-on parts which may fall off after constant handling).  Yet they can be easily taken apart too, so you get to reuse them in other projects!  The Cup Critter kits also come with this handy little black tool that helps to punch holes in cardboard/paper (for inserting the re-clips), and was really great since Junior J could use it and I didn't have to worry about him poking his eye out (which you run the risk of, if you use toothpicks or satay sticks!)   

Aside from those reusable parts (which can be saved for the next project after your child's animal friend falls apart from constant "attention"), the Cup Critter kits also came with all the paper parts needed to complete 2 animal friends (even extra eye stickers were provided!).  Little prep needed, no mess to clean up, and useful parts that we can re-use for other projects... We like!

Makedo also has other useful tools/parts, such as the safe-saw (that allows kids to cut cardboard safely without using a penknife) and lock-hinges, which are provided in other kits (you can browse their whole range here).  All in all, there are kits that provide just these tools and parts, which you could use to make your own creations.  There are also kits that come with the tools and parts, along with other materials to make various items from recyclables, such as a dollhouse.  These are great if you don't have a project in mind to start of with, and you get to reuse the parts later on for other projects...

So here's the good news, Hocusadabra is giving away a Cup Critter Kit (the monkey and rabbit combination seen on the right below) to one lucky reader of this blog!  All you need to do to enter would be to:

1. Hop over to our Facebook page and like the page if you haven't done so.

2. Leave a comment under the link for this blog post (on the FB page that is!), sharing about the projects you might try to do with the Makedo kits.  (Please note that only comments on the FB page count, and this giveaway is restricted to those staying in Singapore...)

Giveaway ends next Monday, 19th Sept, at 12 noon.  So just hop over and share ya?  All the best, and have a great week!

~~~~~~~

An update: Our lil cup critters will be heading to their new owner, Cephas, very soon!  Pearlyn, do drop me an email to claim the kit ok?  Congrats, and have fun crafting with the materials!

Saturday scrapping: Notes for a sweet friend

A dear bible study group mate would be flying off to greener pastures today, and we are really going to miss her!  She was one of those who showed love in all the little practical ways, helping to wash up after gatherings, always checking if I needed dinner before Bible study, and would sometimes pop by to play with Junior J as well.  The boy loves her, especially since she brings him to catch butterflies! ;)

So anyway, here's a little notebook for her, with a strawberry (its our group's inside joke), glitter alphas (love them when they are not pink, haha!), glimmer mists and butterflies...

I realize I'm quite a wimp when working with lots of colours, but I liked how cheery it turned out, it suits her sunshiney personality!

Papers and strawberry from one of the old AC collections.
Doily has been misted, butterflies from Jenni Bowlin.

Have a blessed weekend folks!

Foodie Fridays: Canned cannellini

Wow, the week has really flown by, and its Friday again!  I love how beans are packed with fibre and protein (great when the kid doesn't like to chew meat), and came across these white beans some time ago when I tried making minestrone soup.  So here's a quick little recipe using cannellini beans (that come in a can):

Oops, no picture of the food this round.  Everytime I cook this, I forget to take a shot! :p

Simple Cannellini   

(Adapted from a recipe in "Cooking Italian with Kids", which I borrowed from the library)

Ingredients: 

:: A can of cannellini beans

:: 1/2 a small onion (diced)

:: 1 garlic clove (crushed)

:: 2 tablespoons olive oil

:: 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped, optional)

Steps:

1. Rinse a couple of times and soak beans for about an hour (as beans may be soaked in salt water).

2. Put beans in saucepan, add onion and garlic, season with black pepper and olive oil.

3. Set aside for 30 minutes.

4. Heat beans gently til warm, stir periodically.  

Pretty simple yes?  It just needs a little bit of planning before hand to factor in the soaking time, and gives you beans minus other stuff like tomato sauce (think baked beans, but without the sauce).  Some kids that love picking at beans to self-feed might like this... let me know if you try this! 

~~~~~~~

Do you have any tried and tested recipes for meals suitable for the whole family?  If you have some easy-to-prepare, healthy recipes, do drop me an email at john(dot)jus(at)gmail(dot)com, with the ingredients, steps, and if possible, a photo of the food!  We'll post the recipes on Fridays, with a link back to your blog if you have one... :)

Thinking Thursdays: Telling the time

Junior J has started trying to tell the time from the clock in the living room.  He would peer at it, and proclaim that it is 5/6/7 o'clock!  (He gets mixed up between the two hands, and just randomly picks one and shouts out the number that the hand is pointing to... haha)

Oddly enough, we've also been reading "The Grouchy Ladybug" to him recently (perhaps that is where he started getting interested in looking at the clock...).  In the book, this ladybug goes around picking fights with various animals at different times (I just wish we didn't have to repeat "Hey, want to fight?" 10 over times!):

I like how the book shows the time, both in text, as well as in the form of little clocks at the top of the page.
Also, we've been looking at the position of the sun at the different times of the day. :)

So when we read this book, we settle down with a little clock (from a maths manipulatives set I bought sometime ago from My Playschool), and as we encounter each mention of a time, Junior J gets to turn the clock.  Initially I wanted to use another clock (the Melissa and Doug version, which allowed for both hands to be moved independently), but the clock was a shape-sorter as well and I didn't want the boy to be distracted.

Right now, the boy manages to stay on task for the first half of the book, and is getting the hang of identifying the 2 different clock hands.  However, when he loses interest, we just finish reading the book and leave it as that, so we've not gotten down to identifying different times when the minute hand isn't pointing at 12!

Oh, and here are some other related activities you could try:
:: Grouchy Ladybug lapbook
:: Other ideas (from the Eric Carle website)

How do you teach your child to tell the time?

Messy Mittwoch: Some progress

I've been using little pockets of time here and there (of 10 minutes or so) to clean and declutter when the hubby is away.  When the in-laws were here last week, they voluntarily helped with some of the kitchen cleaning, and my FIL also helped me to clear up my really messy garden (he's the one with the green fingers).  And finally, I think we're seeing a little bit of progress here and there.  Here's one area that took a blasting:

This was our really messy piano top, which had all sorts of bits and bobs scattered on it.  I cleared everything off, gave the cloth runner a wash (but decided to do without it finally, to allow for easy dusting), and this is the end result:

Little boy brought back flowers for me from a trip to the market with his grandparents. :)
And I love our calendar, which features different artwork each day based on Bible verses.

The other side of the piano has a lamp and this phototray (one of my fav projects!).  All clear!

Have you been decluttering too?  Which areas have you been working on?

Thankful Tuesdays: Go slow

Things have slowed down considerably now that I'm taking care of the little boy on my own, as the in-laws went home on Sunday.  Its impossible to rush, not when you have a toddler that retorts "I don't want to come on/hurry up!", when you try to ask him to move faster (this drives my mum nuts when she takes care of him!).  Being one month away from term also adds to the "slowness", and just yesterday I found it difficult to get up from sitting on the floor to chase the little boy at the library...

So its been the two of us, moving slowly along, his little hand in mine ("my hand disappeared into Mama's hand!  Where is it?").  The little boy with his little toddler steps, and me lumbering around with the belly.  And I give thanks for this slowing down, with its accompanying long reading sessions, of just hanging out together.

So this week, I'm thankful for:

:: Our God, who is our source of strength and help and hope and peace.

:: Quiet times in the morning before the boy wakes up.

:: Journey mercies as the hubby travels.  And friends that God throws into his path as he tries to familiarize himself with the place we are going to move to next year.

:: Helping hands from the in-laws last week, which gave me some time to rest up... as well as the time they could have playing with Junior J, flying kites and kicking balls and just having a whale of a time:

:: Easy snacks like muesli bars that fill the tummy on a busy day...

:: This smile:

Junior J's idea of a smile.  More a grimace really, but oh well!

:: Paint and artwork and general learning messes.

:: Poop for the past two days! (Yes, when you are a parent, your priorities change drastically.  Seeing poop in the potty for the past 2 days has made me ecstatic!)

What are you thankful for this week?

Weekend wonderings: Lessons from flying a kite

Children.  They are always changing.  Growing, learning, and becoming.  And I find that idealistic me has a hard time keeping up with the changes, always hoping things will be "just so".  One day, the boy is the sweet little boy, always obedient.  Then the next, its temper tantrum time.  Or he catches some bug and falls sick, and there's the sleepless nights, the crying, the coaxing to eat the meds.  Then when you think life is back to normal again, he starts to act up when you have guests, or starts having poop problems.  Change really seems to be the only constant, especially with kids...

So I realized that like with all things, I must learn to let go.  While I need to hold on fast to the things that matter (like God and family and friends), like how we hold on tight to the kite string even though the kite is tugging at our hands to fly away...  I must also learn to let loose for the rest, and not sweat the small stuff.  Must let out some string, so that the kite can catch the wind, and soar.  And when I do, I'll be able to truly enjoy the journey that is life, imperfect though it is!

~~~~~~~

Pictures taken during the Kite Festival that was held over the weekend at Marina.  Little boy had a great time flying his kite with his Ah Kong and Ah Ma.  Were you at the festival too?