My First Kitchen

This is the Kidcraft Pastel Kitchen and it was a BEAR to put together. JP started at 6 p.m. and I helped out here and there until we completed it at 12 a.m.

Ballet Petite

Christmas Eve

Sentences!

Well, Bean is well on her way to speaking in sentences! She said, "Bajee eepuhneh!" Which means, "You have pretty pants!" She said, "Seh een neh!" "There are the birds!" and a whole host of other things.

I have a new work load involving tons of chores which seem unending---laundry, clean-up, clean-up the floor, mop!(that stinks) and the vacuuming...then repeat again and again. What a pain! That's only by 2 p.m. Usually, I give up around 3 p.m. and try to pick-up again when she goes to bed.

I think that Bean is happy that I'm home with her. She doesn't have any "lash outs" of anger. Instead, she is loving and sweet and very happy spinning around the house until she falls down.

This week major happenings:

1.) must buy calendar---purse and home
2.) Start Music Together Class
3.) Organize closet into "Mom" clothes
4.) Look for an art class for Bean
5.) Set-up a few playdates

11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating---NYT

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/the-11-best-foods-you-arent-eating/?em
Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it.
Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

playing outdoors? hmmm...

So, it's been 5 days. I am utterly exhausted from trying to keep up with Playdoh, coloring, dancing, taking the baby around in the stroller, coloring, pouring all the legos out and strewing them around the house, picking up said legos, big blocks, and then socks are off, breakfast, change of clothes, puzzle time, lunch time, clean-up, change clothes, bottle (I KNOW!), raging in the crib...and repeat day after day.

Today we tried to go to a Gymboree class but there was a problem at the tysons gymboree so, we had to make other arrangements and ALAS we ended up at the dreaded mall. Well, I wasn't alone! There are tons of moms hanging out at the mall. It's kind of depressing and now that I'm trying not to shop like I did when I worked it's just not fun.

Total expenditures at Tysons I

Janie and Jack: $40--leather spring shoes, 2 pairs of white lace socks
Coastal Flats: $30--fish sticks (stellar for the bean) and crab roll for me
Lord and Taylor: $77 Lambswool sweater for JP and a stuffed overpriced big bird for B
Train Ride: $5 (total RIP OFF!!!!!!) for 2 people and it was about 5 minutes

Total Damage: $152

That's me "not shopping" so, it's best if I am not around the mall or I need to come with no money at all and my own food!!!
Teachers Article December 2009

This article is excerpted from a column in the Northern Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children's Child's World.


I've been talking to parents recently about why children should play outside in the winter. It is a reasonable question. When the weather is chilly or windy and wet, why not just stay inside and curl up? For those of you who exercise daily, this thought will undoubtedly cross your mind but you remember that you will feel better if you just get up and get out---so out you go. You've probably got special clothes to wear when you run in the rain or bike to work in winter. If you can't stay comfortable, exercise is no fun.

Kids feel the same way. Outside they can shout and run and feel how strong they are by swinging from a bar. They exercise and feel better mentally and physically. As long as the children are properly dressed they will be comfortable outdoors. Some outerwear is so bulky the kids feel like little sausages --no one can move in clothes like that—if children can move freely, they will be active.

Outdoor play is just plain healthier than indoor play even in winter. Indoor surfaces and air in a classroom with the windows closed is much more likely to harbor germs than the outdoors. Germs and viruses cause illness in humans—not being cold or wet, no matter what your grandmother told you.

Sometimes you might notice that a child seems a little lost outdoors. Outdoor play makes different demands on children's social and imaginative play skills than classroom play. Indoors, childcare programs have toys and materials such as dressups, art materials and housekeeping supplies that suggest specific play themes. Spaces are more confined indoors and the children are more likely to interact with each other.

Playing outdoors can be challenging for preschoolers and for that reason it is particularly important. Outdoors children have to be able to pretend that a rock is a stove or a cliff or a cave. There is typically more space outdoors so children who want to play with others have to convince others to play with them.

Being in natural environments and having a role model who validates one's interest in water, plants and insects are key factors in becoming a person who cares about the environment. Author Mary Rivlin says, “Since so many factors in contemporary life combine to restrict children from the natural world, it is incumbent on school people and others who work with children to help them reconnect to the natural world---the sky, the wind, the rain, the trees and plants, the streams and ponds. The grounds of schools are particularly important places for this reconnection to begin because children spend so much time there…Education is better when it is not limited to classrooms and better when play undergirds it.”

Happy New Year and a Happy New Me?

I will be starting my brand new job tomorrow as "Mom-in-Chief" of little B! I am really scared that I will not be able to live up to everything that I have in my mind that makes a good SAHM(Stay-at-home-mom) or that I will end up becoming a slob or even worse one of those crazy, preachy SAHM's. Ugh! In any case, I am looking forward to spending days with B doing fun things like taking music and tumbling classes, swimming and doing craft projects at home.

My old hangouts: Neiman's, Nordstrom

My new hangouts: Michael's and the playground

I will keep you posted!