Kids in the Kitchen

I love teaching my girls to cook or at least to love trying new foods. If they choose not to love preparing food, I hope that they will understand and appreciate the fine art of good food and all that it takes to prepare a meal.

Yesterday I offered to let my daughter prepare supper, which she excitedly accepted. I had her sit down with recipe books and decide what she’d like to make. She found one recipe in a book, and the other one she found online by searching Google. We live in a new era, don’t we?!

Next, I had her make a grocery list and then check it against what we already had in the refrigerator and cupboards. Then we looked at what was on sale this week and headed to the store. She shopped for the ingredients, did the preparations, made the meal, served everybody, and then helped with clean up. She did a fabulous job!

She made a sausage and cheese Stromboli, which is a fresh bread baked with meat, cheese, and seasonings inside.

She also made stuffed green peppers topped with cheese. The recipe she chose had hamburger, rice, onion, garlic, tomatoes, green chilies and cumin. I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but you get the idea.

Not only did we talk about life skills like shopping, budgeting, and healthy living, we also got an opportunity to do math, science, and most important in my book, sanitation. We talked about handling raw meat, washing hands, and sanitizing the kitchen during and after cooking.

Traveling in Spirit to Rwanda with Friends

Some close friends of mine are traveling to Rwanda for 11 days and leave tomorrow. I am in awe of their courage and faith. The opportunity presented itself, so my friends and their  two sons are going to spend time in orphanages there. This isn’t their first time traveling abroad; in fact that is how I got to know and love them. We traveled to China together back in 2004, and formed a bond that continues today. If you’d like to follow this amazing blogging mom’s journey, you can find her journey at http://www.nowthatihaveseeniamresponsible.blogspot.com/ 

I will be following closely, as the Internet and all its wonders offers me the chance to travel to Rwanda with them in spirit. I am excited to hear about their trip when we see them this summer, and gather once again to bring each other up to speed on all that has happened in the past year.  If you feel so compelled, I’m sure they could use your prayers of safety and protection. I also pray this trip is all they’ve planned for it to be, yet I know a piece of each of them will be left there once they’ve seen and experienced all that is to come. It is impossible for your life to continue as it once was once you’ve seen.

God Bless you Jan, Greg, Ben and Sam. We love you.

Family Valentine Activity

Here’s a great Family Valentine’s Day Activity:

Years ago when I worked as a counselor at a girls’ group home, we invented a fun activity to boost self-esteem. The girls decorated boxes and left them in the living room for each other and the counselors to leave fun notes each day. We’d leave self-esteem boosters, compliments, memories, etc for each girl. It was so much fun to watch them open and read the notes that had accumulated.

Last year around Valentine’s Day, I was remembering this activity and thought I could adapt it to our family. I had our kids each decorate a “mail box” with a slot (mom and dad each did one too) . We placed them in the family room and took turns leaving notes, pictures, coloring pages, etc. for each other for 1-2 weeks prior to February 14th. Then on Valentine’s Day, we all opened our boxes and read the notes. We had to help read to our youngest, but it was fun to read things like:

• You look so cute today in your purple outfit
• Thanks for helping mommy set the supper table
• Thanks for reading me a story daddy
• And, of course, pictures our youngest drew to depict what she wanted to say

This was definitely a fun activity that the kids still talk about and ask to do again and again. I hope you can adapt it to your family and let me know how it works or if you do something similar.

Mommy’s Helper

As mothers we have to be more loyal than a boy scout, more disciplined than a drill sergeant, and more vigilant than a Navy SEAL. Having children is MORE than a full time job, it requires constant vigilance. Like a soldier on the battle field your senses are on high alert. The smallest squeak of a floor board or creak of a door could signal an emergency. A cough or a sneeze in the middle of the night could mean an early morning doctor visit. There are no lunch breaks, and no trips to the water cooler to visit with friends. You don’t even get to clock out at the end of a hard day and go home.

I recently broke up a fight between my two year old and four year old without even opening my eyes. They climbed into the bed with me before the sun came up, (naturally), and started fighting over who was going to lie next to me while I was still asleep! I didn’t even open my eyes. I simply rolled over, grabbed my two year old and placed her on my other side to separate them.

Taking your kids to the grocery store can seem more terrifying and dangerous than a juggler walking a tight rope. You have to keep a baby from screaming, a toddler from knocking over a display of soup cans and a preschooler from throwing every item made with high fructose corn syrup into your grocery cart. You have to make sure no one shoplifts candy while you are checking out AND you have to actually be able to purchase the items you need to sustain your family for another week.

Being a mother is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting on a good day. Your children don’t think twice about waking you up in the middle of the night to discuss the smallest detail of their day, or to ask for a Band-Aid for a perceived “booboo” you can’t even see.

Thankfully, when we are exhausted, out of answers and out of gas, Our Father is not. He is constant. He is watching, waiting, and hoping that we will come to Him in the still of the night to discuss the smallest details of our day and to ask Him to heal our perceived hurts.

1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” “For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13 NIV) Go to Him like a child and pour out your frustrations; let Him be Mommy’s Helper.

About the Author: Robin O’Bryant is a stay-at-home-mother to three daughters under five years old. Robin survives the drama and hilarity of motherhood by making fun of herself in her syndicated family humor column, Robin’s Chicks and on her blog by the same name. (www.robinschicks.com) She is represented by Jenny Bent of The Bent Agency and is currently revising her first book, a collection of non-fiction humor.

A Geeky Family Christmas

Was your holiday as geeky as ours? Normally this wouldn’t be a term I’d use to describe our family, but this year was a little different.

We started out our holiday with the impending snow storm of 2009. Like the neurotic winter driver that I am, I started worrying about driving on bad roads about a week before the first snow flake fell. The plan was for me to take the kids and dog with me from Minnesota to South Dakota a day early, with my husband about a day behind us.

This is Geeky Point 1) We drove separately out of state to my parents.

Living in Minnesota can be interesting, and we are used to adjusting our schedules around the weather. Therefore, I pulled the kids out of school a little early to get on the road before the bad weather. As it turned out, we arrived at my parents about two days before the storm arrived.

We had a great holiday playing games with the kids, eating lots of food, making a trip to Barnes and Noble, playing out in the snow, etc. During a great game of Quiddler (which I highly recommend BTW) my sister, oldest daughter, and I looked up to see this:

 

This is Geeky Point 2) My six year old was walking on her monkey stompers, wearing a pair of goggles. It was hilarious.

Later that day we watched the Griswolds have their Christmas plans ruined by geeky uncle Eddie. It’s a family tradition in our family to watch that movie, as it doesn’t make our own seem quite so crazy. I also got the chance to see “Ralphy” walk down the stairs in the pink bunny outfit his aunt sewed for him in “A Christmas Story”.

The final episode was our family Christmas picture, complete with our ugly sweaters we had prepared.

Final Geeky Point needs NO further explanation:

 

We had a great Christmas break, as I took the kids and spent an extra week in NW South Dakota at my husband’s parents too. It was really nice to have extra time to visits and get away from our routine.

How was your Christmas?

Baby Nemote, Formerly Known as Li Ming

I’m not sure if my daughter’s new dolly is named after Nemo the fish or the remote control for the tv. Either way, her baby is saddled with an unconventional name; Nemote. While her name might be odd, she is an absolutely beautiful Chinese baby doll that I got from Precious Baby Dolls.

We gave her to our daughter for her second birthday, and I love this picture of her seeing the doll for the first time. It was love at first sight.

Being an adoptive parent in a multi-cultural family means searching for toys and gifts that have anything but blue eyes and blond hair. I’m sure other adoptive parents can relate. It’s very difficult to find a variety of dolls with authentic features that are high quality and value. The reason I am writing this is two-fold.

First, I want to help out another mom I connected with online. She started her own doll company, and for those of you who know me well, motherhood and small business are two of my greatest passions. The backbone of this country is family and small business; therefore, I love what Mary Beth is trying to do. Plus, she has an awesome name.

The other reason I am writing this article is to pass along how impressed I am with little Nemote. (It just doesn’t have a pretty ring to it, does it?!) She is well made, soft in the body, and durable in the head, arms, and legs. Her eyes and even her hair resemble my daughter, who absolutely loves her. She even wanted to share her glass of water with her, and proceeded to dump a glass of water on poor baby Nemote. Luckily, it didn’t hurt her one bit. We dried her face and the little red outfit didn’t even bleed.

For those of you who shopped for silk doll clothes in China, I have to say this dress is well made and even lined. None of the clothes we bought in China for dolls and barbies were lined.

If your family is multi-cultural like ours, there are many nationities of dolls to select from, and all are made with love. You can see the entire doll collection at http://www.preciousbabydolls.com/ You can follow Mary Beth on Twitter at Twitter.com/adoptedbabies

They also have a cute clip on YouTube:

What’s Your Favorite Holiday Movie?

I am a bit of a movie junkie, and I love humor. Therefore, it hard for me to choose between these:

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
• A Christmas Story
• Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
• Home for the Holidays (Holly Hunter version)
• Trapped in Paradise

While “Elf “is not in my top list, I do enjoy his uncontrollable enthusiasm for Christmas. It’s also easy to watch “The Santa Claus”, “Home Alone” and “The Grinch” with the kids, as long as it’s not too many times.

What’s your favorite, must-see holiday movie each year?

What I Know

It wasn’t long ago that I heard the word “centenarian” for the first time, and I had no clue what it meant. I turned to the Internet to learn that it was in reference to people living to be 100 years old. I’ve been mesmerized by that word ever since. My great grandmother lived into her late 90’s, and I know I’m very lucky to have been a part of her life. I have been giving this much thought lately, as I try to figure out what to get my grandmothers for Christmas.

Having raised their children, purchased their homes, traveled the countryside, worked hard, and long been in retirement, clutter is the last thing they need. I try to send photos, write letters, and make visits as much as possible. I know that is what truly means something. Yet, I find myself wanting to wrap a little gift to bring along; a little something that says “thanks for helping me to appreciate baking” and “thanks for teaching me the value of saving money”. All of my childhood memories of the holidays include my grandparents, so why wouldn’t I look for a unique item that might bring a smile?

Well, I am happy to report I think I found a great gift this year. It’s a little hard-covered book called, “What I Know- Uncommon Wisdom and Universal Truths from 10 Year Olds and 100 Year Olds” by Roger Emerson Fishman with Joe Rohrlich. I connected with Joe Rohrlich online, and he sent me a beautiful autographed copy of the book. It’s full of great short stories and funny bits of wisdom from people ten to one hundred years old. It’s the type of book you can pick up, flip to any page, and enjoy reading a little or a lot at one time. You quickly see yourself, your kids, your parents and your grandparents in the stories and humor.

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is sip a hot coffee and peruse the isles of Barnes and Noble. In fact, I took all three of my girls there yesterday, as part of our annual holiday shopping day. What I know is that “What I Know” is available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, and I believe Target even has it. It is very new though, so do a little searching and I’m sure you’ll find it.

*To my family, ahh…well, this idea is obviously already taken. Don’t even try to rush out and get to grandma before me.

Christmas Cards and Letters

Is writing an annual Christmas letter a thing of the past?

I’ve been wondering this a lot lately.

With blogs and Facebook a part of my daily life, I am able to stay in close contact with my friends and family. We post updates, so we know all the news. We Facebook throughout the whole year, so there’s rarely any surprises. We post pictures and videos by the dozens.

As I sat down to write my annual letter and think about the cards I wanted to send, three things happened.

First, I won a $100 gift certificate to smallfri.com I checked out their site and realized I could use the gift certificate for personalized Christmas cards. I got really excited to send cards, and immediately started to think about what pictures I wanted to use. They turned out very unique and fun, so I know they will be a welcomed delivery over bills and junk mail, right? ( As a way of saying thank you for the gift certificate, I offered to mention where I got them. In return I was given a code for my blog readers to use to save: confessionsmom10 to get a 10% discount on orders over $49 and confessionsmom15  to get a 15% discount on orders over $99)

Second, I realized that only about half of my Christmas list is on Facebook. Therefore, I still want to keep in touch with those I don’t talk to regularly.

Third, I love writing Christmas letters. It’s such a great way to reflect on the year, give thanks, and end the year on a positive note. Regardless of what has happened in the past year, a Christmas letter can focus on love, friendship, family, and blessings. Plus, I love getting Christmas cards, letters, and pictures. I don’t want that tradition to change.

I hope people embrace social media, as well as enjoy it. But, I really hope people will continue to write and send their annual Christmas letters/cards/pictures. Will you?

Lefse

Being born and raised in Minnesota means being familiar with heritage dishes like lefse and lutefisk. While I’ve never developed a taste for boiled fish soaked in lye, I do love lefse.

If you’ve never had lefse, it a type of flat bread. It’s made of potatoes, butter, cream, and flour. It’s very thin and moist, and it looks similar to a tortilla.

Many people eat it with just butter, butter and white sugar, butter with cinnamon/sugar, and butter with brown sugar.

I’m on team “Butter with Brown Sugar”!

Two weekends in a row we’ve had a lefse making party at our house with family and friends helping to make six batches of lefse to eat, share, and freeze for later this winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve made lefse via my husband’s grandma’s recipe and a family friend’s recipe. Both are exactly the same, except one insists on Russet potatoes and the other tells us to use red potatoes. That is definately the heritage part.

Lefse Recipe:

5 Cups riced potatoes (ricing is key)

1/2 cup butter (real of course)

1/2 cup cream (whole of course)

2 cups of flour

Rice the potatoes while they are hot. Melt butter/cream with hot potatoes and mash. Then put in the frig to get COLD. After a few hours, you can mix the flour into the batter, which will be moist and sticky. You can use extra flour to roll the lefse out, but too much will make them dry and brittle. Good luck! 

Do you make lefse? If so, which “topping team” are you on?

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