Cinderella in Training

Little Pumpkin has found a new love.... cleaning the windows, tables, basically anything with her sisters homemade cleaner. It is starting to smell like an orange groove in here ;P 

We have recently started using these so the Girls can help around the house and I love these homemade cleaners for a few reasons.....
1. I do not have to worry about harmful ingredients and fumes {well maybe if there is TOO much sprayed during cleaning ;)}. 
2. It is safe for ALL my girls to use.  One of the girls has a tree nut allergy and we found out the hard way that some commercial natural cleaners contian coconut oil.

This is my little Pumpkin this am doing her best Cinderella impersonation....

  Here are a few recipes Squirt brought home from her visit to our city's environmental learning center.

Window and Mirror Cleaner

 3 tbs vinegar

2 cups water

3-5 drops essential oil

spray bottle

Put all the ingredients into a spray bottle, shake it up a bit, and use as you would a commercial brand.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

pour 1/4 cup baking soda into basin

drizzle with 1 cup vinegar and let set for 5-10 minutes

scrub with brush and flush

Creamy Soft Scrubber 

{great for the bath tub}

pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into a bowl

add enough liquid detergent to make a texture like frosting 

scoop mixture onto a sponge and wash surface and rinse

Counters

pour a bit of baking soda on a damp sponge

wipe counters and sinks then rinse

Don't forget to whistle while you work ;)  Cleaning is always more fun when everyone is wiggling and giggling to their favorite song.

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Monday's Music

A great new artist that I found from a movie and another blogger hope you enjoy the two songs so far that the Girls and I have added to our play list ;)

Pumpkin loves this song and it has been getting a lot of play time since we watched 
How to Train Your Dragon ~ Now they love to see this video "ITS BEAUTIFUL!"

Go sing, too loud
Make your voice break- Sing it out
Go scream, do shout
Make an earthquake...

You wish fire would die and turn colder
You wish young eyes could see you grow older
We should always know that we can do anything

Go drum, too proud
Make your hands ache - Play it out
Go march through crowds
Make your day break...

You wish silence released noisy drummers
You wish white noise surrendered to summers
We should always know that we can do everything

Go do, you'll know how to
Just let yourself, fall into landslide

Go do, you'll know how to
Just let yourself, give into flood tide

Go do!

Tie strings to clouds
Make your own lake - Let it flow
Throw seeds to sprout
Make your own break - Let them grow

Let them grow (Endless summers)
Let them grow (Endless summers)

(Go do endless summers)

You wish surprise would never stop wonders
You wish sunrise would never fall under

You wish surprise would never stop wonders
You wish sunrise would never fall under
We should always know that we can do anything

Go do!

{I know I am ;)}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Sunday Citar

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesday

{one} do you still use a checkbook?yes. i only use it to pay bills though. i use a debit card or cash for all purchases.

{two} what size shoe do you wear?7.5 all depends on the shoe

{three} scary movies or happy endings?Happy Endings!!! I am not able to watch scary movies ~ big chicken

{four} do you prefer spontaneity or stability?stability

{five} what is the most embarrassing cd that you own?I have a couple of zydeco cd's

{six} do you watch reality tv?not really ~ I try not to watch these shows

{seven} what is your favorite home-made meal?I love my Mom's Okinawan Soba ;)

{eight} do you have any allergies?after 10+ years in the Dallas metroplex I am developing a small allergy problem

{nine} if you could open your own restaurant/store, what would it be?

for some strange reason I have always wanted to have a flower shoppe

{ten} would you ever go skydiving (or have you been)?why would you jump out of a perfectly flyable plane?!?!?!

 

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo

Wordless Wendseday ~ Halloween Candy is EviL

{how can three Little pumpkins hold SO much candy?!?!?}

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xoxo

Sunday Citar

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

Scottish Saying

One need not be a chamber to be haunted;
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.
~Emily Dickinson

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,
Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"
~Dexter Kozen

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

 

Fat Witch Brownies

My cooking adventure today was Brownies :)  and with a name like Fat Witch Brownies how can a girl go wrong?!?!  Well for one, you do not have the bittersweet chocolates but then again when did NOT having all the EXACT ingredients ever stopped me from trying a new recipe!?!?! 

Melt 14 tbs unsalted butter 

{Hubby was like "now we know why the Witch is Fat!" }

and 1/2cups + 2 tbs of chocolate chips 

 {calls for bittersweet chocolate chips Ghradelli but I just used what I had on hand} 

cream together 1 1/4 cup sugar,1 tsp vanilla , 4 eggs

add the cooled chocolate and mix until well blended 

sift into the mixture 1/2 cup unbleached flour plus 2 tbs and a pinch of salt 

{here I used my bleached all purpose that we had on hand}

 gently mix till well blended

 pour into a greased and floured pan and bake at 350 for 33 minutes or till pick comes out clean

cool for an hour  then....

Serve with milk and ....

listen to all the nummy noises your little ones will make ;)

okay she has lashes that would make a giraffe jealous, I know that I am!

To get a printable version please visit Plain Chicken and make a batch for your ones ;)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

xo

It's the little things...

Finally able to tie a cute bow.

 YUMMY homemade chicken soup.

 

 Daughters who think that you are "pretty" and want to take your photo ~

Taking the steps to make an my little Idea a Reality ;) 

{stay tuned to see my sketch in full color}

Just a few things that are making me happy today... 

 

What is bringing a smile to your day?

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

  xo

Post It Note Tuesday

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo

Class pet ~ NoT what you think ;)

 Meet Abs.  He is a leopard gecko and Peanut's Class pet.

Yup!  Suckered into watching the class pet over the weekend.  And the kicker ... I forgot we had him on Friday.  So we had to WALK home with a huge glass aquarium.  The whole time I was terrified that something in the tank was going to tip over and squish this little guy.  Saving grace.... Hubby was sweet talked into going with us to pick up the girls from school so we tag teamed carrying him all the way home :)

Peanut... aka lizard sitter extraordinaire!  She was so proud and happy to show him to her sisters and help them hold him and making sure that he was fed and such.

Squirt with Abs... I think he is trying to find an escape route :) 

Pumpkin is loving snuggles from Abs ;)

So proud of the Girls for taking such good care of Abs and surprising Mama by NOT being scared to hold him.  Quite the opposite.... we had to remind them to put him back into the tank after they each had two turns playing with him.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

xo

Monday's Music

 Halloween is this weekend and what better way than to play the theme song to a movie that I still have NOT seen all the way through to this day!   I am the one that has to have a blanket and my feet OFF the floor whenever there is anything scary on the telly ~ even this theme song gives me the willies!  Pumpkin likes this song then again she also does not have the association to link scary little Linda Blair to this song.




Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesday

{one} have you ever crawled through a window?Nope!  I am a good girl ;p


{two} what’s one subject that you wish you knew more about?Latin


{three} who’s your favorite villain?hmmmm....  not sure maybe the Hamburgler he cracks me up


{four} have you ever hit a jackpot on a slot machine?No


{five} what is your favorite disney movie?My FAVORITE is Beauty and the Beast... the girls know not to ask what Movie Mommy wants to watch ;)


{six} if the whole world were listening, what would you say?Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato


{seven} if you could choose one song to describe you or your life, what would it be?

You and I  by Ingrid Michaelson

{eight} your desk: messy or organized?I have an organized mess... go ahead and ask me for something I will go right to it


{nine} have you ever had surgery?No.  I did however work with patients with back problems and IF eligible I enrolled them into FDA clinical trials for surgical implants 
{ten} if you could have any animal as a pet, what would you have?horse... always wanted a horse ;)

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo

Wordless Wendseday ~ Sleeping Beauty

sweet sweet slumber

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi
xo

Post It Note Tuesday

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Its not just for toys.....

Looks like sharing is not only good for your toys ... will remind the Munchkins to share their happiness and joys as well ;)

Three Little Pumpkins sitting on a fence

Pumpkin puree is not common in the supermarkets now so when I saw how to make your own puree I had to try it. Here is my little pictorial adventure with this process I followed from  Annie's Eats .

three little pumpkins sitting on a fence....

this was the hardest part for me... ever since I was little I really do not like scraping out the pumpkins so icky and sticky

finally done baking in the oven... house smells so pumpkiny right now

be very careful this stuff is HoT... I was impatient and hurt my fingers

can not wait to bake with this yummy goodness... just one problem ... What to make?

{out of my little pumpkin we got a tad more than 1 cup}

And the winner is.... Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies :p

The girls and I were so happy that this adventure was a success!  Making your own puree is super EASY ~ which means a lot when I say that ;)   The puree we got from our little pumpkin had a mild flavor and would be a great way to sneak some orange into your picky eaters diet.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesday ~ my late edition ;)

Sorry so late, took a little holiday from the pc today to enjoy the sun with the Munchkins ;)



{one} have you ever milked a cow or a goat?No thank you ;) 

{two} what sound does your alarm make when it goes off in the morning?something really annoying but NOT annoying enough some mornings. 

{three} chocolate milk or hot chocolate?Hot chocolate!!! 

{four} what is one of the quirkiest things about you?okay this is a hard one!  there are so many things 

{five} are you more like your mom or your dad?I look like my Mommy but think and act like my Dad....  

 {six} do you sleep with the tv on?sure.

{seven} if you were a crayon, what color would you be? ocean (aka blue)

{eight} ross, joey, or chandler?LOL.... I would have to say Chandler Bing! 

{nine} do you play any musical instruments?I learned how to play the flute and trumpet... not too sure if I could now. 

{ten} what’s the worst thing you’ve ever cooked/baked?We moved into our FIRST apartment and I got a cookbook and thought I would try a curry chicken salad, foolproof right?!?!  So wrong... not sure what happened but it was so bad and Hubby to not hurt my feelings ate his first serving and did NOT go back for seconds.  Now anytime I have a misadventure in the kitchen it still pales in comparison to my chicken salad debacle.


Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
xo