Week 8 Hands On Fun

 

I had a hard time finding one to post but I think that this was my favorite. Now Hubby will not think that I am silly for taking these types of photos, never know when you need one for a photo challenge :)

Go to I Heart Faces  to see all of the fantastic submissions.  They give me inspiration and a desire to continue playing with my camera.


Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

P.S.  The work will wait while you show a child the rainbow, but the rainbow will not wait while you do the work.

Mommy can I have a notepad,please ?!?!

I am not sure if our house is similar but we have TONS of  coloring pages that I printed all colored in  and recipes that did not make the Keeper stack overflowing everywhere.  So when I found this post I was screaming in my head... "why did I not think of THAT?!?!"  I have done the little nature books with construction paper and staples for the girls, which they loved so WHY NOT try this.  The girls love to write in little notebooks while in the car, MD office,shopping and at home when they feel a creative urge.  Target bargain bins used to be my go to for these notebooks but not any more, thanks to Steph at  Somewhatsimple.com.  To see her wonderful tutorial go here.


Here is how we did the project this morning at our house ....

 

Scrapbook paper (cover)

Scrap paper (filler)

Hole punch

Sicssors

Ribbon

Matches

Cut down your papers to the size notepad your little one requests... I did not measure and just eyeballed it.  Place pretty paper over the filler paper and fold in half then punch two holes on the top or on the side depending on how you would like yours to open, we opted for top.  Please decide prior to cutting papers how you would like yours to open.  Then feed your ribbon through and tie a "pretty" bow, trim and then use a match to seal the ends to prevent any fraying.  Easy peasy right?!?!  if not go here to see Steph's how to.

And as you can see Pumpkin just had to put her personal touch to her "new" notepad.  Squirt and Peanut will get their chance after they are done with homework today. 

So go find those colored coloring pages you spent hours finding and printing, partially used scrapbook paper and left over ribbon and get some whipped up for your kiddos today... takes just a few minutes and it would be a great surprise for them after their "nap" time or school :)

Yummy Nosh

One of the easiest ways I can show the girls Japanese traditions and culture is with food.  I would be killing two birds with one stone on this.... showing them family recipes passed along from my Mom and losing weight.  So our first really big feast was appropriately done on Chinese New Years.  I spent the day in the kitchen with this kiddos running around salivating and very curious with what was going on.  In future posts I will provide the recipes that I used and found that the kiddos really like. Here is a quick peek at our little feast on New Years....

Gyoza, sunumono, seaweed salad, chicken teryaki

Okay, now I am getting really hungry looking at this photo I think I will work on the first recipe post.... seaweed salad.

iheartfaces week # 7

Yay!  My first submission to I heart faces photo challenge.  Hope you like it I know I had fun doing the Hula in the yard with the girls.

Here is Squirt showing us how to do the Hula ;)

Snow in Dallas?!?!?!

Woke up on Thursday morning and checked the weather at trusty ole Weather.com and it said "Snowing".  Of course I had my doubts so I opened the kitchen door and it was a glorious winter wonderland with softly falling snow!!!  I became a 10 year old in a matter of seconds!  The girls were excited and I felt bad for having to take them to school, but before they went in I made sure that they made a snowball and they immediately took aim at Mommy.  Pumpkin and I were a bit sad that the big girls were at school and I got it into my head to spring them out and come home to play with us.  So after a brief talk with Hubby he asked a question that decided the matter.... "who is going to get mad at you ? Mommy?"  Wait!  I am the MOMMY!  So I pulled out my handy dandy Mommy Card and checked them out of school amid knowing grins from all teachers that passed by.  I was so excited to get them home that I did not have any of that old anxiety of "am I doing the right thing?". How long are they going to be young?  How many more opportunities like this one are going to come around?  Of course I was doing the right thing!  As soon as we came home we threw the book bags in the mudroom got Pumpkin all bundled up and off we went to play!

Hubby was kind enough to come away from his work for a 5 minute break to take a few photos of us in yard. 

The morale of this story  is to take the time and enjoy your kiddos and your surroundings because both are fleeting and magical things.  Believe me I am a strong believer in education but not of perfect attendance. Squirt and Peanut have been working hard and come home with wonderful notes from their teachers and deserve a treat now and then that is not material.  I have made a promise to myself that the next time the weather is absolutely divine and a crime to stay in I will liberate them.  I am optimistic that taking the time to make wonderful memories and showing them that I love them will also help them with their conventional education.

Photo adventure begins

My little adventure in photography has started and what better way then to join in on a photo challenge by iheartfaces.blogspot.com!??!  Okay I have to admit I  might be off to a bit of a rocky start and  missed the challenge for this week "We heart Kisses".    So instead of getting upset I thought I would go ahead and post what I put together from the stash of photos I already had on my pc.

Nothing makes my heart feel so warm and fuzzy as when I see Little Pumpkin coming at me to give a big smooch!  (okay there are many things but this has to be in the top 10!)  Okay let me know what do you think of my "We heart Kisses" photo?  Fingers crossed that I will meet the challenge for next week and I can figure out this Mclinky thingy :)

Mommy! What's for snaaack?!?!

I could be wrong, but, every Mommy will hear "What's for snaaack?!!?" as soon as the kiddos come home from school. The girls and I have found a new favorite and thought why not share?!?!

Here are your cast members :) 

First grab one of your kiddos brown paper lunch bag or you could do what I did in a pinch... I  used one of those small paper bags the girls always ask for  in the check out line for puppets and the like.  Add a 1/4 cup of popping corn kernels to the paper bag.

Drizzle 1 tsp - 2 tsp of olive oil on the kernels and a sprinkle of sea salt - you can use pop corn salt or seasonings if you like

Fold over the top of the bag a few times and then get a kiddo to shake shake shake :)  Reminds me of those old Shake and Bake commercials. 

Pop it into the microwave oven for 2.5 minutes - times may vary this is what we found to work.

Volia!  Enjoy the squeals of delight as they dig in to their well earned snack after a hard day at school.

P. S. For added fun you could do some popcorn painting... I know how fun.  Take some milk and mix in food coloring and then let the kiddos lose and see the wonderful rainbows.  My kiddos are just too impatient to make them pretty to eat.  They would rather eat the popcorn then just do some plain ole watercolors in their sketch pads. 

Uptight Mommy be gone!

The other day Pumpkin, our vivacious four year old, was able to pick out whatever (I do mean whatever) she wanted to wear bearing in mind that it is still chilly outside and that we have plans to visit the library. She beamed her beautiful smile and then ran upstairs to get dressed. When she presented herself to me in the kitchen she was decked out in a Pink Princess costume, white stockings to " keep my legs warm Mommy", and a " crown please!".

Here is Pumpkin in her ensemble for the day. Also of note if she is not a Princess we always love seeing her sock choice.... her socks will not match on purpose :)





Now, if this was about 5 years ago and my little one comes down dressed like this to go out into PUBLIC I would have sent her straight up the stairs to change. I have FINALLY realized that when they find something that they like and makes them feel good and happy why NOT! So I have to say a big thank you to her for helping me with my continued practice with my Why Not attitude. I am just about cured of my stressed out and constant worry about what The Other Mommies think when they look at my kiddos. So the next time your little one requests or dresses themselves in something out of the "norm" just say WHY NOT?!?! They are dressed and happy what more could you ask for! And if they are NOT dressed appropriately for the weather the natural consequences from their choice will help them the next time they pick out their clothes. You will be surprised by how much fun you guys will have doing something as ordinary as grocery shopping or your trip to the library becomes a magical adventure hunting for dragons and fairies. Oh, and do not worry about the possible looks you will get from the Other Mommies you might encounter just think to yourself that they are just jealous of the fun you and your little ones are having ;)



Ja mata ne,
Little Mochi

Valentine Photo Fun

My Hubby chuckles every time I proclaim " I found a new website ...." and he did not disappoint when I bubbled with excitement about this fun and FREE photo editing website. Nothing beats the amazing things you can accomplish with Photoshop but I truly do not have the time or the patients to learn all the tools. I LOVE to take photos of my girls, puppy, just about anything so for those reasons I was on the hunt for something that is simple, fun, and free (free is for me!).


One of my adventures (Goals makes it sound like work so I decided to rename them to Adventures) is to take my photo interest to the next level. Not sure if I can call this MY photo project since we had to have Hubby take the photo. I know, I know... I am a Mommy and that it seems like I have four hands at times but this was just not one of those times. However the composition and editing was all ME :) Okay check out how easy this is ... I went to Picnik.com took a photo from my Picasa account and started playing.

Here is the final photo.




Love the hearts that each little hand made and the girls loved to see the final shot and finding which hands were theirs "look there is MY heart!"


Please have fun with Picnik.com and share your jazzed up photos.

Ja mata ne
Little Mochi

I am so excited to start on this adventure and hope that you will follow along with me as I plan on exploring new (well to me) crafts, food, and bringing back Japanese into our home for my little mochi's.