Rainbow Rice

Boys and girls are very different.  This isn't a new realization to me by any means.  :-P  But it was sooooo evidenced by today's activity.  Micah and I made a batch of rainbow rice last night (instructions below).  So I put out the rice in a tub for him to play with while I showered (Liliana was at preschool)....I come downstairs and he's using the kid sized pots and pans I had given him as "jails" for the "bad guy rice."  And the toy whisk was a "super spinner that sucked everyone into the vortex."  He went on for 15 minutes about the purpose of the toy spatula in the fight against evil but it all went totally over my head.  Silly me!  I thought he would have used the pans to bake pretend cupcakes.

(Update-  Oh way too funny!  Liliana just got home from preschool and went straight to the rainbow rice for the first time and was playing really nice, and I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm making a cake!"  Called it.)

So, Rainbow Rice.

It's super easy to dye rice and pasta and then way fun to use it for art projects and sensory tables! 

Get the BIG bag of rice from Sam's.  We got the 25 lb. one for $10 and dyed about half of it.  It seemed like a ton when we were doing it, but I'm going to go ahead and do the other half now because once it's poured into a tub, it really isn't much.

Micah was so totally pumped about digging his hands into the rice!

Scoop into ziplock bags.  Add food coloring (maybe like 7-10 drops) and a splash of rubbing alcohol.

Shake.

Lay out to dry.

Done!

The rubbing alcohol evaporates making the rice/pasta safe to play with...but while drying, your house will smell like your alcoholic Uncle Herb is visiting and on a bender.  Just a warning, so you don't decide to do this on the day your church Bible study is meeting in your home or anything.  ;-)  The scent goes away really quickly.

A note about sensory tubs-  You can use ANYTHING for a sensory table.  It doesn't have to be elaborate.  Put some water/rice/sand/playdough/beans....not all at the same time :-)....in any sort of container and you've got a sensory tub.  Our rule is that the kids have to sit in the kiddy pool while they play, so that helps contain the mess.  I also try to start out with just the plain filler (rainbow rice in this case)...then after they get bored running their hands through it, etc. I add in something new (pots and pans).  Later, I'll switch out the pots and pans for sand toy scoops, etc. to keep them interested as long as possible before switching to a different filler.

There is a ton of research about how important sensory activities are for kids!  Sometime I'll do a post about it because Liliana is a total "sensory-seeker" and I've been doing a lot of reading on sensory disorders and activities....but in the meantime, get creative and have fun!!!

Tray Time

Every year around this time, I start freaking out about winter.  The idea of being trapped inside my house for five months (nine when we lived in Duluth  :-P) makes me start frantically coming up with plans to keep the kids and myself occupied.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!  If you haven't checked it out yet, you totally should!  Zillions of amazing ideas.  I spent most of the day today gathering up and shopping for supplies for various craft projects/sensory tubs/fine motor activities.

Speaking of fine motor activities...I've been putting together trays for Liliana to work on.  The challenge with Liliana is that she is so busy and so constant that I don't have time to clean up the first mess she made before she makes three additional messes.  My solution for this lately has been to turn on Barney, but there are so many better ways to keep her occupied and since I'm trying to be the best I can be (backstory here), I've started putting together trays for her.

I prep the activities ahead of time, so I can quickly pull it out at a moment's notice.  I make sure they are things that will:
1.  require her full concentration and/or teach/refine a skill
2.  be easy enough for her to do on her own or with minimal assistance
3.  keep her occupied long enough to make it worth the effort to put together
4.  be fun and exciting!

I keep the trays hidden away in the office, so they are new and interesting when brought out.  The rule is that everything needs to stay on the tray while she plays.  I brought out this one this morning and it kept her busy for almost a full hour!

Orange is her new favorite color.

She figured out what to do on her own and started making necklaces and bracelets for us. 

Check out her concentration!

Here are a couple other trays I had prepped for this morning.  I ended up not needing them since we decided to go shopping instead (mother/daughter shopping...LOVE IT!)

Old strawberry container with a hole cut in the top (masking taped to be safe), cotton balls and a chopstick to push them through the hole.

Bingo dabbers and paper with different lines drawn on them for her to put the dots on (great pre-writing activity).

Just knowing that I have fun and educational activities all ready to go, makes me more patient when she starts getting "busy."

Who Loves Lefse????

Not me.  It's just okay.  I'm ambivalent about it really.  I wasn't raised on the stuff (no Scandinavian roots here) but I understand that other people get insanely excited about it...my husband included.  And I aim to please.  So when our church offered a lefse making workshop a month ago, I was all over it.

They made it look so easy and it was really easy...when you had two experienced lefse makers standing right next to you, giving you step-by-step hints and instructions.  It's slightly harder on your own.  Especially if you let a month go by and can't remember what the heck you're doing!  But it all eventually turned out and it actually was a really fun way to spend an afternoon.  And my husband is delighted with me (more so with the lefse, I guess.)  So if you want to give it a whirl...here's how you do it!

First, you need some supplies:

Things you should have:

• Large Bowl
• Bath towels
• One cup measure
• 1/2 cup measure
• 1/3 cup measure
• One tablespoon measure
• Cookie Sheet
• Butter knife
• Dish towels

Things you might not have-

• Potato Ricer
• Grooved Rolling Pin
• 2 Lefse sticks (We only had one, and we made it work okay.)
• Griddle (They actually make lefse grills...for $100.  We used our pancake griddle and it worked fine.)
• Cloth covered top for rolling (We just stapled a pastry cloth to our wooden cutting board.  Worked great.)

Ace Hardware, Fleet Farm and Farm and Fleet all carry lefse making stuff (at least around here they do).  And it was WAY cheaper than buying online.  So check there first.

And the ingredients:

• 5 lb. Idaho Potatoes
• Lots of flour
• 1/2 cup plain Crisco
• 3 T. Salt

Here's how you do it:
1.  Peel the potatoes and cook.
2.  While hot, rice into the large bowl.  Then immediately mix in 1/2 cup shortening.
3.  Cover with a dish towel and refrigerate overnight.
4.  The next day, add in 3 cups of flour, 3 T. salt and mix well.
5.  Portion out with the 1/3 cup measure.  It should make about 2 1/2 dozen.
6.  Roll into balls (look for cracks and squeeze them together).  Put the balls on a tray that has flour on it so they don't stick.

Liliana was allowed to "help" with the ball making.  After that, we waited until naptime because she would have been a disaster with all of that flour around! 

7.  Allow time to warm.  At least 30 minutes or two cups of coffee is what we were told at the workshop.  :-)
8.  Make sure your cloth covered board is well, WELL floured.  (Recoat the board with flour often...you really can't use too much flour it seems.)  Put one of the balls on it and pat it down a little bit.  Coat it with a little flour and make sure it's round.  Then roll. 

Side-note:  I'm a bit of a perfectionist (that might be an understatement).  I won't even attempt something if I don't think I'll rock at it and hate when others see me fail.  So I start rolling out the first ball of dough, and it was an epic fail.  Epic.  It was squarish and had holes in it and was stuck to the board in spots.  Jeremy leans over and says to me, "Isn't it supposed to be round?"  Nice.  You can imagine the look I gave him while I shouted "YES AND MAYBE IF I WAS A 90 YEAR OLD NORWEGIAN WOMAN, IT WOULD BE!"  My mother-in-law chose that moment to walk into the kitchen to see how things were going and was promptly booted out of said kitchen until I managed to figure out what the heck I was doing.  I got better with practice.  

Look Jeremy...it's ROUND!!!

9.  This part is a bit tricky...you need to transfer the lefse from the board to the griddle.  This is where the lefse sticks come in.  It's easier to show than explain:

Put the stick on top, and flip the edge over.  It tears easily, so be gentle.

Turn the stick, rolling the dough around it.  Use a butter knife to follow along in case any parts are sticking.

The lefse should be wrapped up around the stick and you carry it over to your handsome lefse cooker.

Handsome lefse cooker than unrolls it onto the griddle.  The second it starts touching the griddle it gets really soft, so you have to do it kind of quick.

10.  The griddle should be set at 350 degrees.  Cook until light brown spots appear.  You have to flip it halfway, but that's easy...just put the stick underneath in the middle and flip it over.  Do not overcook or it gets crispy.

I rolled while Jeremy cooked.  It worked out really well this way.  I would not attempt making lefse with only one person

11.  Stack in a pile between bath towels (I bet you were wondering what those were for!)  The towels help it cool slower, trap in moisture and therefore prevents brittle edges.   

As they cool, fold them in fourths and stack as shown, so the edges cover each other up...which also keeps it from getting brittle.

 Lefse freezes really well.  We put ours four to a bag and froze most of it to take out for holiday gatherings.  Whatever wasn't immediately devoured by the family that is....turns out Liliana loves lefse just like Daddy!!!

Tomorrow's post...Lutefisk!  

KIDDING!  I draw the line at that one. 

Deadwood No More

I've deactivated my facebook account for awhile.  There were a couple factors involved, but a large part is that I feel I need to reexamine my priorities, who I define myself as and how I live my life.  I feel like lately I've been taking a half-hearted, good enough for now, approach to life instead of intentionally choosing to live my life in joy.  I haven't been the wife, mother or woman I want to be and know that I can be.  So I'm taking some space...spending time focusing on my family and my relationship with God.

And it's hard.  There were at least 10 times this morning alone that I went to my computer and hesitated for a moment before walking away.  It's a habit...an addiction really.  The world will not implode if I don't inform everyone that Liliana asked for a pony for Christmas (she did).  I don't have to see what my classmate from high school made for dinner last night.  I will survive. 

This morning, I spent the time I would have spent on facebook reading my Bible instead...after I found it that is.  We moved 4 months ago and I hadn't a clue where it was- which tells you something right there.  :-P  Anyways, there were a lot of things that spoke to me today, but in particular this verse jumped out at me:  "What counts is your life.  Is it green and blossoming?  Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire."  Matthew 3:10 (The Message).  Very rarely, do I talk about anything religious with anyone...mostly because all of my friends are seminarians, are far smarter theologically speaking than I am, and have no problem telling me how wrong I am in my interpretation of things.  :-)  Okay, that happened once, but it scared me enough to never speak up again.  Today, I don't care if I get it "wrong."  When I read this verse, all I could think of was my attitude lately.  Each day with this beautiful family I'm blessed with is such a gift.  And instead of living life purposefully and with a heart of thankfulness, I've been just getting by...and that's such a waste.  It's deadwood and you're better than that Cassandra Ann!....I use my full name when I'm in trouble with myself.  :-)  My family deserves better than that.  They deserve green and blossoming, and so that's what I'm going to focus on this Advent season.  Finding the joy in every moment.  Purposefully playing and laughing with my children.  Going out of my way to make my husband feel like the rockstar that he is.  Being intentional about showing my love and thankfulness to each member of my family and to God.  Good enough isn't good enough anymore.

So pray for me.  That I can stick to it and not slide back into just making it through and that taking this time and space will be productive and fulfilling for us.  And check back often...because I'll probably be blogging my way through my facebook withdrawals.  :-P  Adventures in lefse making should be coming tomorrow. 

Hope all of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving with your friends and families and that your time together was very green and blossomy (yeah, that's a word.)

Three years ago...

Three years ago, our daughter Liliana Grace was born. 

I had been having contractions on and off for two months and was so miserably huge I could barely move.  My hips had separated, causing me to go to physical therapy, stretch marks covered my entire body, and I would lay on the couch for hours and stare off into space and cry because I so desperately wanted her to GET OUT NOW!!!

The night she was born was the Christmas City of the North parade in Duluth- my absolute favorite event ever.  Since I had been having so many early contractions, I was certain that I'd be bringing a newborn out to the parade and had been strategizing ways to keep her warm but still be able to attend.  Liliana solved that for herself by waiting until a few hours after the parade to start labor.  She had a nice warm seat for the parade and still got to enjoy the music.  :-P


My mom has this insane intuition about me.  Our family was supposed to be coming up for Thanksgiving, which was when Liliana was actually due.  But she called that morning and said, "I just feel like coming up tonight.  I'd like to see that parade you keep telling me about and just feel like I should come."  I told her it was a waste of time.  She'd be driving 6 hours round-trip and turning around and making the same trip in a couple of days.  But she insisted.  I have no idea how she knew, when I had been thinking for 2 months that each day would be the day and was always wrong.  She amazes me, and I'm so glad she was there.

When we got to the hospital, I was dilated to about a 3.  We sat there for 15 minutes or so debating on whether they should drug me now or not.  Their concern was that if I was only at a 3, it might run out before I was complete and they wouldn't be able to redose.  I kept insisting that it wasn't going to take long and they just kind of looked at me like "yeah...right.  Wishful thinking."  So after the 15 minutes, I convinced them to go for it....and they checked, and I was already at an 8 and it was too late for drugs.  She was born shortly after.  She came into this world fast and intense and has pretty much lived life the same since.

I see so many of my best and worst traits in Liliana.  She's playful and dramatic.  Fiercely independent.  Dynamic and engaging.   A force to be reckoned with.  She is an emotional mess and wears her heart on her sleeve.  If she sets her mind on something, it's a done deal.  She can be absolutely adorable and mindblowingly frustrating at the same time.  She exudes passion.  She's opinionated about everything and always thinks she's right.  She's amazing and infuriating...and I love that about her.  I think her spunkiness and spirit is wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing about her...even if it means having to be on my toes constantly.

I'm so thankful for the three months of maternity leave I had and for being able to bring her with me to work when I returned; for the two years of doing daycare and this year of being home with her.  I've been able to watch every little milestone and moment of her childhood thus far.  A lot of days I feel like I'd rather be anywhere than stuck at home...but deep down, I know this is exactly where I should be right now, spending time with my little princess.

 

Happy 3rd Birthday, dear sweet Liliana.  Mommy loves you so very, very much!  I delight in your enthusiasm and zest for life.  You are a precious gift to our family, and we thank God every day for blessing us with you.

Someday....

Someday, my table will look like this for Thanksgiving:

But for now, this will be gracing our table this forthcoming holiday:

And I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Organizing Recipes

With all of the moves we have to do, we've done some serious downsizing.  The first thing to go were my cookbooks.  I never used them.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE trying new recipes...but why would I hang on to a whole shelf full of cookbooks when I can go online and find zillions of recipes that not only have pictures, but ratings and helpful comments with tips on how to improve the recipe? 

My favorite two recipe sites are All Recipes and Food.com (formally Recipezaar).  I usually search for something...like "baked chicken" and then when the search results come back, I sort it by "Most Popular" or "Highest Rating."  I rarely try a recipe unless it has 200+ reviews and it's 4 1/2 stars or better.  And before I make anything, I usually read through the "most helpful" comments to see if there is anything that needs adjusting.

The problem with this method, is that I often forget to bookmark a good recipe and then I have to try to find it again later, remember what I searched for and on what site.  So for awhile, I was printing off the recipes and shoving them in a photo album.

I'm less than thrilled with this method.  It just isn't pretty.  And I like pretty.  Then I ran across this blog, and she makes these ADORABLE digitally scrapbooked recipe cards that she gets printed like photos.  They're GORGEOUS and I'm in love.  But since I'm so picky about my recipes, I need to make my own. 

So that's my current project...taking photos of all of the meals I make, and creating a pretty recipe card for each of them.  It's going to take awhile, and I'm certainly not as good at it as she is...but here's one of them that I've done:

The scrapbook stuff is all courtesy of Shabby Princess....that site ROCKS!  I don't have any actual digital scrapbooking software...so I just use the graphics from Shabby Princess and put it together in a word document (as a 6x9 image so when it prints as a 4x6, it isn't pixely) and then save it as a photo.  So far, it seems to work really well!

Someday, far, far from now, when I get them all done and put them in a cute little recipe box, I'll post a picture of the finished product.  I wouldn't hold my breath.  :-P

Easy Sorting/Matching Game

When my mom was visiting, she picked up this container of beads for the kids from Hobby Lobby.  It has beads of all shapes, colors, sizes, etc. including a bunch of animals!

We have had more fun with these beads than I ever imagined we would!!!  Stringing them, sorting them, gluing them, picking them up with tweezers, etc.  We're always coming up with new uses for them!  One day, they were busy painting and I was cleaning stuff up and saw this huge stack of ice cube trays sitting on top of the fridge and voila...

Instant matching game!

I thought I'd help make it easier on the kids and put one of each pair of beads in the ice cube tray and then give them a container with just the other ones in...so all they had to do was put it in the right spot.

Liliana LOVED this and did great at it!  
Micah disgustedly retorted, "Come on mom, this isn't even challenging for me!"  Well okay then.

So then I went with the whole, just put a handful of beads out and they can find their own matches.  That kept Micah entertained for a lot longer.  Until.......

Of course she did!  What the heck was I thinking leaving the entire container open and within reach?!?!  Picking everything up pretty much killed the rest of our activity time.  But the lesson learned (other than putting the beads up high) is that ice cube trays make GREAT matching/sorting containers.  You could use them with all kinds of materials...a nature theme (match the rocks, sticks, shells, etc.), food (make pairs of raspberries, blueberries, etc.), fun foam shapes, legos, coins......lots of possibilities.  Another idea would be to put numbers in the top row and then have them count the matching number of beads into the spot below it.  Ice cube trays...who knew???