Playing Together

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Cooking with Kids

April 9, 2010 in Family Activities, Playing Together | No comments

Cooking with kids has many benefits.  For one, it allows us to spend more time with our kids while doing something that could isolate us from them.  Another plus is that oftentimes when kids have a hand in making the meal, they will be more likely to eat it.  Cooking also provides countless teaching opportunities, the science of raising dough, using measuring cups, and learning fractions are just a few examples.  There are several great recipes on the Internet that are intended for cooking with children, or you could just involve them in your regular meal preparation.   It does take a little patience, and there will likely be more of a mess to clean up when it’s all said and done, but the memories and learning will be worth the effort.

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Diary of a Yummy Mummy {Blog Feature}

January 11, 2010 in Blog Feature, Playing Together | No comments

I have semi-recently ran across this fabulous blog, and I just can’t get enough.  Robin, the author of  Diary of a Yummy Mummy is a former prosecutor turned SAHM living in Boston.   After finding her blog, I dove into the archives and read several of her past entries.  It was immediately obvious to me how wild she is about her son.  I’m not going to claim that I know Robin personally, and I’m not trying to pass judgement, but from what I gather, she is a wonderful example of somebody who hasn’t lost herself yet completely relishes her role as a mother.

She has recently begun IVF treatments and actually had 17 egglets retrieved just yesterday.  In a recent post, she mentioned the fact that she felt like she was living on ”borrowed time” with her son before their 2nd child is born.  She’s already planned trips and thought of ways to spend quality time with her Little Man before he gets a new sibling.  I can completely relate to that feeling!  However, it was apparent to me that her little guy gets plenty of quality time with his mum without any extra effort.  

Anyway, after debating over several possible posts to feature, I picked one that I love for many reasons:

Sunday, January 3, 2010

It has pretty much been snowing here non-stop for about 4 days (4 days!) We all know that a little snow can’t stop us from going outside, but it can make getting around much (much, much, much, much) more difficult. Today I tried (emphasis on tried) to make it to yoga but alas Mother Nature got the best of me. My husband was working which meant we were going to have to use our favored mode of transportation, the train. Our normal 20 minute commute to the gym turned into a 90 minute one leaving me with a choice, take the LM to the bookstore (which I promised we would do before class) or head directly to one of my favorite yoga classes. Leaving the house I was sure that we had plenty of time to to both.
This was before I practically ice skated my way to the T (which ended up getting stuck due to the ice.)
Pushing what looked like and empty stroller down the road.

My little man definitely enjoyed the ride despite the white out conditions.

One look at this little face and I knew that there was only one choice.

And we spent the next 2 hours watching the snow fall from inside Barnes andNoble. Hey, there’s always next weekend!
-I love that while Robin got herself, and her son bundled up, braved the cold, and headed out to go to Yoga, one of her favorite things, she put herself aside and took her son to the book store:).  I love it! Besides, how could you resist that little face?  Seriously!
I highly encourage all of you to head over to Diary of a Yummy Mummy, Robin will have you laughing, crying, and leaving feeling inspired.
Thanks Robin! 

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Family Night

January 11, 2010 in Family Goals, Family Night, My Family, Playing Together | No comments

Our family tries to get together once a week, completely unplug, and spend some quality family time together.  We usually hold a little family meeting, let the kids teach lessons about values we want to instill in them, play board games, or read stories.  I love the time we spend together and our kids still look forward to it every week.  We usually have our family night on Monday nights.  So, I have been thinking a lot about our plan for tonight.

In honor of the new year, tonight we are going to set goals to accomplish.  We will set family goals, and individual goals.  Most will be shared with each other, but there will probably be some personal ones as well.  We also review the goals we set last year and evaluate how well we did with them.  We do this every year, typically the Monday directly following New Year’s Day, but last week we had a get-together with the extended family so we are a bit late.

I really enjoy this tradition.  I feel like it gives us a sense of direction and allows us to have something clear and concrete that we would like to accomplish as a family.  That way, when we are faced with a decision, we can determine whether or not it fits in line with our family goals. 

For instance, this morning my husband and I were talking about the goals we might set this year.  We wanted to propose a family trip to Hawaii at the end of 2010.  Doing so would force us to put extra money away to save for the trip.  Shortly after that conversation, my husband said, “we really need to carpet our basement.”  I was able to point out that if we want to go to Hawaii, and that is our chosen goal, we should get the money we’ll need for that trip saved and stashed away, then if we have extra, we could finish the basement.  Without the concrete goal of going on a family vacation, it would be easy to spend a little money here and there, then by the end of the year we wouldn’t have the money we’d need for the vacation. 

We aren’t always good at reaching our goals, but at least it gives us something to work towards:).  I guess our best is all we can expect.

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And a Happy New Year

December 31, 2009 in My Family, Playing Together | No comments

I can’t believe 2009 is almost over!  This year has been one I won’t soon forget for reasons both good and bad.  Above all, I am thankful that after the end of another year my family is healthy, happy, and safe. 

Everything else is just extra.

I have LOVED having the kids home during their Christmas break.  We have been completely lazy and loved every minute of it.  Last night we spent several hours creating martians.  When they unwrapped the Martian Making Kit at my parents’ house on Christmas I silently cringed.  I figured a gift that would produce such a mess would surely have to come from the grandparents, but after much begging, I finally gave in to their pleas and opened the kit.

I had a ball.

I never thought it would be so much fun making martians.  The atmosphere was so relaxed.  We had no need to hurry, the kids could be late for bed, and the mess could wait.  We were able to sit, create, and chat.  It was perfect.

On a side note, my littlest princess has been enjoying her big brothers’ legos.  She enjoyed them so much that she just had to stick this

right up her nose.  Luckily, we also got the game Operation for Christmas, so I have been brushing up on my tweezing skills.  I was able to successfully remove the gear shifter without a hitch.

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