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Where has time gone???? Holiday season around our home has always been chaos (the good kind) We all love the holiday season and look forward to it yearly. The best of of it….it’s the homemadeness of Christmas! My kids love making their own decorations and Christmas gifts. We try to choose a yearly Christmas theme and this year we decided to do “Homemade”. Andrew, my eldest is so creative when it comes to coming up with ideas of what to make. He helped in making our homemade Christmas cards, soap gifts, food gifts, and lots of decorations.
We thought it was quite appropriate to chose a homemade theme this year as many families are worried about spending too much money this holiday season (us included). In addition, I have always treasured homemade gifts over store bought gifts…it tells us that the givers have spent cherished moments making the gifts for us and that means a lot to me.
So, here are our 5 cherished homemade holiday moments of 2009:
1. Christmas Card
Our yearly homemade Christmas card. Except this year, Andrew came up with the idea (inspired by Saxton Freymann’s food art books) of making our family portrait out of vegetables. It was so fun doing this…the biggest challenge of making this was getting all these lovely veggies to stand up! We used mushrooms, broccoli, coconut shavings, sushi rice, black peppercorns, etc…we loved the fact it challenged us to be creative in using the different types of foods. Of course, we didn’t waste the food in the end…we had a lovely lunch and dinner using the veggies in our photo.
2. 25 Day Advent Activities
We love doing these every year. This year, instead of making envelopes out of paper and recycling it and having to redo the envelopes again next year, I made these envelopes out of felt. I got this idea out of this great blog. They are so simple to make and the best part is coming up with the activities for the kids to enjoy. Here is a list of the 25 activities we did this year:
1. Make salt dough mini ornaments for Jesse Tree
2. Paint mini ornaments
3. Make Christmas Give Wishlist
4. Make a List of 10 Thankful things
5. Make one Christmas wish item ornament to hang on tree
6. Pin the nose on Frosty game
7. Snowman food.
 
8. Christmas baking.
9. Eat fancy ice cream after dinner.
10. Paint our toenails in Christmas colours.
11. Purchase a gift for charity.
12. Eat dessert before dinner.
13. Sing Christmas carols
14. Go sledding
15. Make Christmas stocking for baby
16. Play board games
17. Watch a Christmas video
18. Make food gifts for neighbours.
19. Make “Thankful tree”
20. Play in the Snow
 
21. Take kiddies to go shopping so they can buy something with their saved money.
22. Make toasted marshmallow people on a skewer.
23. Call one person to wish them “Happy Holidays”
24. Celebrate baby Soleil’s 1st Birthday and put out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeers.
25. See Christmas lights and family dinner.
Do you have a 25 day activities list for Christmas? Would love for you to share.
3. Decorations
The kids love making all sorts of decorations for the home. What makes homemade decorations so special is that none of your neighbours will have the exact same thing at their homes. We use our cricut machine to cut out pictures and the kiddies draw on them and put them up. We also had many many homemade drawn ornaments for the tree this year as well. Lots of drawings of family and snowpeople.
4. Homemade Gifts
The kids loved making homemade gifts for everyone. As part of our advent activity, they all made wishlist of people they would like to make gifts for. The first thing they made were 10 cards for a card swap. We got lovely homemade cards from kids around the world. The kids loved going to the mailbox and checking for cards sent to them. We also madelovely snow globe soap with miniature surprises in side. For some reasons, they wanted to put marshmallow in all their gifts so we came up with decorating the marshmallows as gifts. Of course, lots of Christmas pictures for everyone. I also made homemade gifts this year, I made several photo books for family members and sewn aprons, and my new found art is glass etching…it was great fun!
5. Christmas Music
There is always an abundance of musical songs playing in our house. This year the kiddies learned some new Christmas songs to sing and play on the piano. Some of their favourite tunes include Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. They would sing these songs throughout the house and even make up their own versions replacing words in the songs with their own silly vocabulary…which sometimes makes no sense at all but very funny! Once they have mastered singing the songs, I would play a simplified version of the song on the piano and they would listen and learn. So far, they have learned how to play Jingle Bells and for some reason, Happy Birthday!
We had a wonderful Christmas this year because it was “homemade”. We didn’t feel the pressure to have to buy gifts for our family and friends and we got to use our creativity to make our gifts. It was great family bonding doing all sorts of Chrismassy stuff and most of all I am hoping my kiddies have learned that Christmas is not about “receiving gifts” but more importantly it is about sharing, loving and connecting with family and friends. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and would love for you to share any of your treasured moments.
Our family always enjoys cooking and baking. So, we are always on a constant search for new ways to prepare our family meals and desserts. I am am a big fan of collecting recipes and hopefully before I reach the age of 100 I will be proud to say I have tried and tested ALL the recipes I have in my recipe collection. However, as of now, I am focusing on meals I can prepare with my kids because I truly believe that our children learn so much more when they are doing things in an experiential way or in other words, by doing it hands on. So, for us, what better way for them to learn to cook and bake than by trying it themselves.
As my children are fairly young, they don’t do the actual cooking but they help out a lot with the preparations such as peeling, washing, measuring, mixing, stirring, etc. This I find is also a fun and great way to help your children learn and practice everyday skills such as math, reading and following instructions. More importantly, it is a fun way for you to spend quality time with your children.
There are a lot of good books on cooking and baking with children. Here are some of the ones I have used and liked.
1. “The Kid’s Holiday Baking Book” – we have tried some recipes in this book and our favourite ones are the Halloween and Christmas recipes. My children loves making rolled out cookies, they love rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes and then decorating them to their own liking. This book is also great to introduce your children to learn about cultures, traditions and religions around the world using delicious recipes.
2. “Kitchen for Kids : 100 Amazing Recipes Your Children Can Really Make” – It is quite difficult to find a recipe book for children that children can actually make themselves! In this book the recipes are meant to be easy to prepare, for example, there are no complicated steps and instructions, the children does not need to learn how to use adult kitchen appliances to make good tasting food. As I have stressed above, cooking with your kids is not only about the cooking and learning but more importantly, it is about allowing your kids to learn new skills in a fun environment, you and your children spending valuable time together and for your children to gain more confidence with themselves after seeing the results of their creation.
3. “Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes : a Cookbook for Preschoolers and up” – This is a classic cookbook which I love. You can definitely use this book to introduce your young children to the culinary world because of its easy to follow instructions and lots of full color pictures to reinforce the recipe instructions.
4. “The Creative Family : How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections” – Although this is not specifically a cooking book but I love it because it shows how families can become creative again without having tor resort to high tech fillers for time.
5. “Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes” and “Roald Dahl’s Even More Revolting Recipes” – First of all we are big fans of Roald Dahl and this book I thought was a great way to get my children interested in the culinary world. This book is a collection of recipes based on and inspired by food in Dahl’s books. Some examples of recipes you find inside these books are Glumptious Globgobblers, Hot Noodles from Poodles on a slice of Garden Hose, and Stink Bug Eggs, are just a few examples of fine recipes in this book.
If you get a chance, why not be adventurous with your children and spend some quality time with them creating good food!
Share with me your favourite children cookbooks and your family favourites.
“Images are better than words” – so true. With this in mind, I decided to give my little ones a task…that is…to take 5 photos of what they feel “family” means to them. I was truly amazed and surprised of the outcome! I thought they would take silly photos of their favourite toys and bugs and all that stuff they like…but not so! Having done this exercise, it has confirmed my belief that we need to give more credit to children than they receive. Our children are truly geniuses in their own magical way!
Enjoy the photos and maybe you may do the same with your children and anticipate for the outcome.
Andrew’s photos:
Jansun’s Photos:
Cibo’s Photos:
We can’t believe Fall is here already and yet we are still enjoying nice warm weather! My kids are soooo looking forward to Fall this year as they are a bit older and starting to understand and see the beautiful colours that Fall brings with it. The leaves are turning a beautiful orangy yellow, there is a feel of a bit of cool weather and best of all the kids can see how bugs and animals are preparing for the long winter months.
The kids have always enjoyed bedtime storytimes ever since they were wee ones…we ready everything…I mean literally everything…sometimes when we run out of books to read and haven’t had a chance to head to our library, we even ready Catalogues and great conversations come out of that!
Here is a our all time favourite Fall books to read:
We love the way the story narrates about how the animals prepare and live through the Fall and Winter seasons. My kids also love the illustrations in this book and I love the way how Rylant describes her story with great metaphors and similes.
This is a cute book on celebrating the Fall season. Great way to give us ideas how to celebrate the season.
My kids love all the “Mouse First..” books. Unfortunately they never really got a chance to actually make a big pile of leaves and be able to jump in and play in it! This is what we miss most about Vancouver, BC! We live in a relatively new community where trees are still very young so that means we don’t get a lot of leaves “falling” during the Fall season, we a lot of times we just live and experience vicariously off reading wonderful stories about children being able to play and frolick in big piles of leaves through stories.
I think all children are fascinated with animals, bugs and nature. My kids love being able to look at bugs up close and touching and feeling them and finding out how and what they eat and what their buggy babies look like. This book is great in illustrating how animals and bugs get ready for the change of weather.
My kids love Eyewitness books. They always have spectacular images and really good short and concise explanations so easy for the younger ones understand. A book about trees always seem to fit into our Fall reading because we always get questions about why leaves fall, why they turn colour and how they “grow up” again. Eyewitness books are great for answering those questions.
Happy Fall/Autumn to All and would love for you to share your favourite fall stories with us!
As I woke up this morning to the bright faces of my children and lovely Yorkie, it suddenly dawned on me that even though I spend many days and hours with my family, many of those times, I am not really “present” or not really “there”. Days come and go and I realized I am living a life like a robot. We are so caught up in our everyday activities, we stop to smell the flowers, hug our loved ones or even smile at a stranger. In our hustle and hurried world full of deadlines, stress, debts, and all sorts of health worries, we forget about what things are most important to us.
As I got ready to start the day today, I wanted to take this day, September 11 to remind us that nothing is more important to us than those around us whom we love, cherish and look forward to seeing each day.
So, here are the 5 important things September 11 reminded me to do:
1. Hug my family and show my gratitude and appreciation to them for who they are and the joy they brought to my life.
2. Say “Hello” to my neighours. These days with drive in garages we tend to so easily “not know” who our neighbours are.
3. Review my Life Goals list and make sure I am on track to achieve at least one goal on my list this year.
4. Give thanks to all that I have.
5. Cherish the Earth that we live in and promote peace throughout the world because there’s only ONE.
Sending everyone hugs and happiness….
We are forever inundated with “stuff” for new mothers or mothers to be. They range from large ticket items such as cribs, strollers, car seats to luxurious things like baby heartrate monitors for the home. When I was carrying my first child, I too, on a whim bought some of these “much needed” things and later found out that they were either not needed, therefore, not used, or they were too cumbersome to use. After, being blessed with four happy, healthy, loving children, I have learned there are some things that I could not live without and worth the money you paid for it. I am sure depending on each family’s circumstances, our priorities and needs differ, but overall, I feel these items are worth it.
1. I love my stroller and if this is your first child, try to invest in a double stroller (even if you don’t plan on having a second child). If you did purchase a single seater stroller and later decide to have another child, you are likely going to purchase another stroller, likely a double one this time, so, why not purchase one in the first place and save yourself some time and money. If in the end, you decide not to expand your family, a stroller with extra storage is always good. Strollers don’t come cheap but there are still some good strollers out there for a decent price. You don’t need to spend over $1000.00 to get a good working stroller, the important thing is to find a stroller that will fit into your lifestyle. After spending endless nights researching for a stroller when we were expecting our second child, we narrowed down our choices to two strollers. 1. The Chariot and 2. Valco Baby Jogging Stroller. I was never an “outdoors” enthusiasts and in the end I decided that the majority of the time I will use my stroller for short walks and probably grocery shopping and shopping so I didn’t need a “sports” stroller. I liked the Chariot but some of the things didn’t fit into my lifestyle. I spend quite a bit of time “shopping” and just browsing in indoor facilities (like malls and stores) so I felt that the Chariot being extra wide could potentially be problematic as many stores have very narrow aisles. So I opted for the Valco Baby Jogging stroller (which I still use with my fourth child). I love using it because it handles very good, even using one hand, it also has the option of putting in a toddler seat and a stand up step at the back. The main reason I also opted for the Valco Baby was that it was very compact when folded. Not many strollers at the time gave me that option, so just for this function, I was sold. So, when purchasing a stroller, the most important thing I feel is to look at your family’s lifestyle and buy a stroller that fits it. The link for these two companies are: http://www.chariotcarriers.com/ and Valco Baby is
2. Britax Car Seat. This is one of my most luxurious purchases. These car seats are so comfortable and I have gotten great usage out of them because the car seats are very durable, especially the cloth cover (I know this because I have washed them way too many times and they have not given on me yet). The only downside I found with these car seats is that they are very wide. However, if you don’t need to put four car seats at one time in your vehicle, it shouldn’t pose a problem. I also love the whimsical designs on their seat covers too!
3. Fisher Price Ocean Wonders take along swing. My swing lasted at least 3 of my kids…the only reason we had to get rid of it was not because it broke but we left it at our restaurant and it got smoke damage due to a fire! This item was a life saver for me and I believe any parent who have to look after an infant and other young children. The hands free swing is a good idea, the lights and music were all suitable for what my baby enjoys looking at and listening to. I also like the fact that it was close to the ground so if baby accidentally fell, there wouldn’t be the worry of the baby getting hurt due to the fall. In addition to this, it is very easy to fold up and transport. I have taken this with me on holidays and friend’s homes. I love this swing…if I was to have another child, I would definitely buy this again. Here’s the swing I purchased:
http://www.fisher-price.com/img/product_shots/J0418_b_1.jpg
4. A handheld blender. When baby starts solid foods, having a handheld blender makes life so much easier preparing fresh homemade purees for your baby. Now you don’t have to rely on store bought “filler filled” jarred baby food. When my first born started solids, I bought the Braun hand blender and still am using it for my fourth child today! Having a hand blender makes clean up fast and easy (especially important when you don’t have the time and sometimes the energy to clean up).
5. Baby Carrier. I found having a baby carrier indispensible when you have a newborn and 3 other young children to take care of. By having a baby carrier, I was able to fix dinner, play with the other kids, homeschool my older child and EAT!!! There are many carriers out there, the important thing is to look for a carrier that will fit you and your lifestyle. I got a carrier that allows me to carry a newborn to being able to carry my baby on my hip and also being able to carry her on my back. I’ve used this carrier for all four of my children and still loving it.
These are just some of my favourite mommy things that I love and use all the time. Many different mommies have many different needs and wants….I am more of a practical mommy. I spend on baby or children items that I feel is worth what I am paying for and more importantly to spend on something that I know I will use! This way with the money I saved I can put that aside for there education!
What are some of your favourite “mommy” or “daddy” things? Share with me!
Many of us go through our days without knowing what we did, how we did it, and left wondering where time went. I am also guilty of that….many a days I have wondered how I was able to drive to my destination when I don’t remember driving there…Did I run any red lights??? In our current society, things tend to move way too fast for us to truly enjoy life and most of all to spend quality time with our children and family. With everything that is going with our lives…who has time…right????!!!! We must make time, we need to slow down and cherish the time we have with our family and to have some ME time for ourselves. Video games, televisions, and computers are not adequate substitutes for this. 2009 so far has been quite challenging for us and has completely revised my thinking of how I should be living my life. All around us we hear news of tragedies, natural disasters, pandemics and the list goes on…why not make today the day to hug your kids or your loved ones and show them how much they mean to you in your life. There is no better time than now …
1. There is no better day than today!
2. Hugging is healthy for the body, mind and, soul.
3. Hugs are fast, free and non-fattening!
4. When there is a misunderstanding or when things go wrong, a hug can say a thousand words.
5. Your child will feel wanted, loved, important and secure when you hug him/her. This adds to your child’s self-esteem and self confidence.
So, don’t wait for your child’s next birthday or when your child excels in his school, just give your child a hug for no reason at all. Join me in making it a ritual and give your children a hug daily!
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