30 June 2011

No, She Can't Count to Ten

Recently, we visited the pediatrician for Heidi's 2.5 year check-up. Aside from the excessive questions about why I don't give my children milk, one part of the conversation stuck out for me, enough that it is still bothering me to this moment.

Pediatrician: "Can she count to at least ten?"
Me: "Um...no...She has counted up to as much as six before, but, um.. no."
Pediatrician: "Does she know her colors?"
Me: "Uh..she's doing a lot better with them...she has been picking them out a lot more recently..."
Me: "But she knows a lot of other things...She can recognize most animals, even ones like elephants and zebras..."
Pediatrician: "OK..."

I have many problems with this, obviously, but before I get into that, here are some of the things Heidi does know (or can do):

- She knows the difference between an airplane and a helicopter, recognizes trains, bridges, cars, trucks, jeeps, motorcycles and especially garbage trucks.
- She can identify most animals, including (but not limited to) cats, dogs, birds, frogs, turtles, fish, elephants, giraffes, horses, cows, ducks, chickens, geese, crabs, bears and bugs (yes, I know they're not technically animals...)
- She has known all her body parts for well over a year now.
- She knows that sitting in the driver's seat of the car, she should put the key in the ignition. Yes, this is so thrilling to me.
- She has know that a key is used to unlock a door for well over a year, despite me saying anything to her about it.
- When she pees in her diaper, she takes it off and puts it in the laundry room. (This makes more sense if you know that we cloth diaper.)
- She says, "Thank you" for almost everything and is starting to also add "Please" and "No, Thank You" to her repertoire.
- She loves to "cook." In fact, this is how 80%+ of her play pans out. (No pun intended.) She usually "makes" soup, dishes it out on to various "plates" and serves it to all of us complete with spoons.
- She understands 'Canal etiquette,' meaning she automatically moves aside to allow other people to pass when we are walking there (e.g. bikers, runners).
- When playing with other children (not Piper) she is always polite enough to give them back their toys when they get upset about sharing.
- She knows the moon, stars, sun, rain and wind and has now started telling me when it's light or dark outside and when it's raining.
- She loves to draw with any medium she is given. She is also particularly fond of gluing things into a collage and wiping the glue all over herself.
- She is intensely musical. She dances and sings every day, plays one of the various instruments we have (harmonicas, recorders, drums) and loves movies with music in them. I don't ever want this passion to be stifled.

I'm currently taking a class at my church and this past Sunday, one thing spoken by the teacher really struck me (though I unfortunately must paraphrase because I didn't write it down).

If you give a child blocks with letters on them, the child has infinite possibilities. When you teach them to spell, their possibilities are suddenly limited, restricted. This is how I feel about Heidi "knowing her numbers and colors." Right now, she has endless possibility in her life. She has the rest of her life to conform to the rules society imposes on her and know the things she's "supposed to know." I will not limit her potential (yet) with these finite rules.

Often, when I ask her what a specific color is, she says, "color." It wasn't until just the other day that it hit me just how ingenious this is. Of course it's color! Does knowing which color it is make the finger paint any squishier in her fingers? Does it make the markers any more fun to play with or the crayons any less vibrant? If there were no names for colors, would we know their distinctions any less? It is color; it doesn't have to be anything else.

So no, my daughter can't count to ten because my daughter is limitless.

28 June 2011

She Remembers

This revelation hit me less like a ton of bricks and more like a stream that changed into a rushing flood: Heidi remembers.

The other day, Heidi pointed to a picture of a girl on a bike (in a pamphlet) and said "Look! It's Anne!" ("Anne," as I shall call her, is a little girl who lives diagonally across from us and is close to Heidi's age.) I said, "Yeah, that does look like her!" but in my head my thoughts were churning. I have been noticing gradual evidence of Heidi's working brain for some time now, of course, but for some reason after this moment I really began to realize what this means.

"So what?" you say? I'll tell you what.
Photobucket
Up until now, the mistakes I have made as a mother could be shrugged off with the thought that she probably won't remember them. I still recall my earliest memories of toddling into my parents' bedroom to get into bed with them and some time later, asking my mother where Daddy went. They divorced when I was two. She is now two and a half; what will she remember?


Will she remember the last time I was angry when I yelled at her because she wasn't asleep yet? (Silly when you read it.)

Will she remember how I get annoyed with her sometimes because she "takes too long" when we're walking into the house? (Why am I in such a hurry?)

Will she remember the last time I chose to finish what I was doing instead of picking her up when she really wanted me to? (Why is everything else so important?)

It scares me to think that she might remember the negative things in our life over the positive ones, but this fear has also inspired me to make each positive moment we have more over the top. For a long time now, I've made it a point to make each of my children laugh every day, but now I make sure that I give them many moments of pure, individual attention. I also actively work to make sure that there are more positive moments than negative ones over the course of the day. If we have a period of disconnect, I try to follow it up with an equally long time of happiness, giggling and playfulness.

Photobucket
Is that going to be enough to combat the negativity that has already appeared so many times in her short life? Something tells me it is, but only if I actively work to make it so. This is a challenge for me, but only because I am so afraid of the negative moments and the negative impact they could have sometimes, I'm afraid to do anything at all.

What do you do to balance negative and positive moments in parenting?

25 June 2011

The Gratitude Post

I am on a quest to be thankful until I absolutely exude gratitude. Join me in sharing just five things you are thankful for this week. Thank you for helping me bring back genuine gratitude. 

This week I am grateful for:

  • The Farmers Market! The one closest to me finally opened and I got so many great things the other day.

  • The Daily Word. I love reading the day's message to Heidi and Piper and they usually enjoy it so much they ask me to read it again. And again.

  • My Monthly Meal Plan. Even though I haven't been following it to a T this pas week, it is so nice to have a piece of paper on my fridge that tells me what to cook, or at least gives me an idea of what I could cook. 

  • Artichokes. Really. I love them so much and I am so happy that right now they are readily available for me to consume. 

  • The complex we live in. We get to use the pool free of charge and there is a small, fenced-in playground just a few steps from our townhouse that I take Heidi and Piper to frequently. It's really wonderful to have these amenities so close to us.




23 June 2011

My Mindfulness Challenge

Welcome to the First Mindful Mama Carnival
This post was written for inclusion in the Mindful Mama Blog Carnival hosted by Zoie at TouchstoneZ. Participants are writing posts about what mindful practices mean to them, how they parent mindfully, obstacles to mindful practice and experiences along the way. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.
***

For a long time, I have considered myself to be a mindful person or at the very least, significantly more mindful than the general population. Even so, I feel as though I've been less mindful about my mindfulness in recent years and I intend to change that.

The wonderful and amazing Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama has been working through a mindful mothering challenge for a while now and I think it is fantastic. However, I have not felt called to participate in this challenge (originally set forth by another blogger) even though I feel I should. Instead, it recently occurred to me to create my own challenge based on what I feel is most important for me to be mindful of (such as not ending a sentence with a preposition...).Thus, I have created the following list of challenges that I will work on over the coming weeks and post my progress as I feel able to. 

Challenge #1 - Gratitutde. I have already started working on this, but I plan to dive further into it until I literally live and exude thankfulness.

Challenge #2 - Words. I am someone who is already very careful about what she says, but I still have a long way to go to become someone who always speaks with love and respect towards everyone, including myself.

Challenge #3 - Eating. I've always been pretty good about this, but marriage has created some bad habits for me and I intend to change them.

Challenge #4 - Change. I love change, I embrace it and I welcome it. However, part of the art of mindfulness is changing ever so tiny things in our lives to keep our brains working and force us to live in the present moment by paying attention.

Challenge #5 - Prayer/Meditation - I have always believed in prayer and meditation, yet have never made it a regular practice. I think it's time I start a ritual of meditating daily.

Challenge #6 - Letting Go. Otherwise known as being mindful of my thoughts, I, um... will be more mindful of my thoughts.

Challenge #7 - Focus. Am I focusing on the right thing? Am I focusing at all? This challenge is designed to force me to live and focus on every moment.

Some of these challenges already seem incredibly daunting to me and I admit I am afraid of them. Nevertheless, I am always working to be the best me I can be and taking on challenges I am personally afraid of will set a positive example for my children and likely make me into a better mother for them. Here I go.

***

Mindful Mama Blog CarnivalVisit TouchstoneZ to find out how you can participate in the next Mindful Mama Blog Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

20 June 2011

Snacks I Give My Kids

If you have taken a look at the things I always keep on hand, you might notice that I do not have many (or any) "snacky" foods on it. This is simply because I don't buy them. That is not to say that I never eat them, (if Steve buys some of these types of things, I might be tempted) but I would rather spend my money on better quality products. So, what do my children eat between meals? Here's a slightly comprehensive list.

Fruit: Before I offer them anything else, I will offer them a piece of fruit. In the morning, they will generally share a banana prior to their more formal breakfast and may have another one or two throughout the day. This explains why we tend to go through many, many pounds of bananas every week (Some day I'll tally an actual poundage number). After bananas, I'll usually go to an apple, but they really haven't met any fruit they don't like. I've been keeping oranges and prunes on hand recently as well as watermelon since it's the season.

Coco pops: No, I don't mean the crappy chocolate cereal that I got when I googled this, I'm talking about a multigrain puffed "cake."  These snacks are in the same family as rice cakes, in that they are crunchy and can be held with your hands, but they have just a few more ingredients. And I do mean "just a few" because they contain: wheat, rice, corn and sea salt. The end. I have found these wonderful things at Wegmans and Whole Foods, both of which are now offering a "whole wheat" option in addition to the regular one. Each "pop" has a whopping 16 calories so I like to let them have as many as they want when they're looking for something to crunch on. One of their favorite ways to eat these things is with hummus. Lots and lots of hummus.

Seaweed: It wasn't until recently that I discovered how much Heidi and Piper like seaweed. I've tried it and find it tastes too much like sushi without being sushi for me to fully enjoy it. But for them, a whole package is just not enough. They literally stuff these sheets into their mouths while simultaneously asking for more. They're worth a try, if you can find them, and they are also one of the more healthier snack options out there.

Homemade muffins: I try to make muffins on a fairly frequent basis because it breaks up the general breakfast routine and provides a whole grain fruit source for H & P. No matter what kind of muffin I make, I usually shred at least one apple into the batter for some extra goodness. Though we might eat a bunch for breakfast, I find that throughout the day the muffins disappear and are usually on their minds as soon as they awake from a nap. We typically go through a dozen muffins in just over a day.

Real food: When my creativity is running low, I often reach for the obvious - real food. One of my easiest go-to snacks is to boil a bunch of frozen peas and throw them at them. (Not literally, of course, although the other day they found flinging raw peas to be jolly good fun.) I love that they will still eat plain peas like candy. I will also give them plain green beans (from frozen) or sometimes vegetable pasta. These 'snacks' often turn into lunch, which is fine by me, but if I can't give them fruit or if they've had a sufficient amount for the day, I turn to vegetables.
Dark chocolate

Chocolate: What? Well, the reason this is on the list, at the bottom, is that on very, very rare occasions, I do give them small pieces of chocolate for fun. There is a method to this madness, however. There are certain chocolates that I consider to be good and there are others that I consider to be crap. Thus, I want Heidi and Piper to develop a discerning tongue for those chocolates that are good over the ones that are bad. I hope it works.

Cheese: I hate cheese in most forms, but both H & P enjoy it. Even though it is gosh darn expensive to buy organic string cheese, I get it for them every so often because it's a quick, easy way to give them extra protein and calcium. Plus, I can cut them up and throw them in their omelets if I don't have any other cheese on hand.

There are, at times, many other things I give them, depending on where we are and what we're doing. If we're out at the store and they need something to eat, I usually buy a few bagels and a tub of hummus to dip them in. At other times, (if we're with my mother) they might have some crackers or some sort of energy-type bar, but that does not happen very often at all.

What sort of snacks do you give to your children?

19 June 2011

Father's Day Gifts

I have completed another of Mama's Felt Cafe's fabulous crafty creations! When I saw her Father's Day felt frame tutorial, I knew I had to make it. However, I like to keep things uniform among all gift recipients, so I also knew I would have to make several frames: one for each Grampa in addition to one for Daddy. So this is exactly what I did!


I made three of these frames and sent one to each of H & P's three Grandfathers. To the best of my knowledge, they were all quite happy with this gift. 
And of course I made only one of these. I was literally finishing it as Steve came walking down the stairs this morning. After Heidi gave it to him, I took it back and did some more trimming of the picture and the inside of the frame so that it looked a bit better. 

These frames were not difficult to make at all and I definitely foresee myself making more of them in the future. In particular, I already told my mother that I'd get her next year (as well as the other Grandmas) since this tutorial came up after Mother's Day. I'm so excited about all of it, I might make them right now! Try it out; you just might love it :)

18 June 2011

The Gratitude Post - 6/18/11

I am on a quest to be thankful until I absolutely exude gratitude. Join me in sharing just five things you are thankful for this week. Thank you for helping me bring back genuine gratitude.

This week I am grateful for:

  • My children. Just their existence is enough.

  • The abundance in my life and all over the world.

  • Both cars that I drive and their consistency in getting myself and my family safely to and from our destinations.

  • The comfort of our bed with all four of us in it. 

  • My mother.

This evening my fortune cookie read this: Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. 

How fitting.

14 June 2011

I Need to Stop Whining

In the not too distant past, I read an article discussing the ever so pleasing act of whining among children. It stated (in so many words) that if your children start whining, you need to stop whining. After all, they had to learn it from somewhere and it is most likely that they learned it from you. Now, I like to look in the metaphorical mirror as much as the next guy, but I never thought I would be doing it because of whining. Much to my dismay, Heidi has started whining so I am now faced with the challenge of seeking out my own whining and stopping it.

At first, I had no idea where it was coming from. But then one day, I noticed. Here's what I do:
"Heiiidiiiiiii....pleeease don't do that!" [insert whiny voice here]

Yikes! Do I really whine when I tell her not to do something? Am I whining right now? No, absolutely not because I fully intend to change this bad pattern of behavior. How am I going to do this? Let me be the first to tell you - I don't know.

As with most other things, I have found that acknowledging and recognizing where the problem is to be an excellent help. I can now consciously alter the tone of my voice when I am kindly asking Heidi not to do something and actually make it more of a "command" than a whine. Or at least a "normal" voice.

This is harder than I thought it would be.

I NEVER considered myself to be a whiner (except when I was purposely exaggerating) and yet I notice this tone of voice a lot as I'm speaking throughout the day. How did this happen and what does it mean? I need some time to explore this further, but I have a few thoughts to share right now.

Perhaps I lack self-confidence. If I was confident about what I was saying, I would say it with conviction.

Perhaps I don't really feel like an authority figure so what I say is never definite enough. I think there is a part of me that fears becoming "the disciplinarian" and not being liked as much because of it. But I don't want to go down that road.

Could it also be that I am intentionally being 'wishy-washy' so that I don't have to live with the consequences of what I say and instead place the responsibility on my child for the decision she makes?

Is this affecting how my children view me as a parent?

As I said, I'm not really sure about this, but I will be thinking on it for as long as it takes now. I know I need to start being mindful of this and that is what I'm going to do. I hope I will have a positive update for you in the future.

13 June 2011

The Sweater Purse

Please forgive me, but I have forgotten where I first found this idea. I thought it was so awesome and couldn't wait to try it out with all the old sweaters I had waiting to be given away. I'm really into re-purposing items I already have (if I can) and this is one of the most perfect ways I have come across.

Two sweaters to become purses!
I give you: The Sweater Purse.

First, cut the sweater at the armpits all the way across so you end up with a nice square like this:


Since the bottom of the sweater is already "pretty" in one way or another, 
turn it inside out and sew up the side you cut.

Then, return to the top part of your sweater and cut some strips. Make one cut as close to the neckline as possible and another cut as close to the start of the arm as possible. These will be come the straps.



You want these to be wide so that they are easier to sew and turn inside out. 


Once you have your strips, make sure the "wrong" side is facing out and begin sewing them together lengthwise, to form a long tube.

Yes, I took this picture on my stove.

Once you sew up the long sides, turn them inside out so you will have two lovely straps that look like this.




Then, you'll need to attach them to the body of the purse. I did not do any measuring or anything, just eyeballed where I wanted to put them. As long as they are in line with one another, it's OK, right?





Obviously, you want to attach them to the open end of the purse :). They will serve a much better purpose there. But once you do that...




Voila!!

There are infinite possibilities with this idea, as I'm sure you can imagine. Try it out! It makes a great gift!

11 June 2011

The Gratitude Post

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart


I've come to a point in my life where being thankful is not simply a habit, it is a need. It is because of this demand, I have decided to hold myself accountable to being grateful via a weekly, public post detailing what I was thinking about that week. I hope that this will help me become more thankful in my daily activities and I hope to inspire others to feel the same. If you would like to join me, think of a mere five things for the week (or more!), write them up, post them and add to the link-up below. Thank you for helping me bring back genuine gratitude.

 
This week I am thankful for:

  • The health of my children and their amazing immune systems always at work.

  • All of the men and women who work to bring natural gas and electric into my townhouse so that I might have central air conditioning and the means to feed my family.

  • Steve's job and his willingness to go to work every day to support our family.

  • My garden, because though it may be small and confined to containers, it has still brought me food. 

  • Every ounce of food I have eaten. I know countless man hours, labor and dedication went into its production and the process of bringing it into my home.



04 June 2011

Review and Giveaway: Mama's Felt Cafe {6.26; US/Canada} CLOSED

This Giveaway is now closed.  Please stay tuned for the announcement of our winner.  Thank you all for entering!
This is a joint giveaway cross-posted on Let's Take the Metro and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked “Win it!” for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.
PhotobucketI was so excited when I was given the opportunity to review a product from Mama's Felt Cafe. I came across her blog during the Carnival of Natural Parenting and was hooked instantly. Seeing her ideas was like an 'Ah-ha' moment, and I realized I could take responsibility for the toys my children play with by making them myself. Of course since I do not have infinite time on my hands, getting a few felt originals to start my collection was like a dream come true.

Brittany, owner of Mama's Felt Cafe, sent me a "Support Local Growers" basket for my daughters to man-handle. The package contained: two carrots, two attached cherries, an eggplant, two pea pods (one that jingles and one that does not), a potato, a watermelon slice and of course the basket that says "Support Local Growers." As I took out each piece and inspected it, I noticed how fine the stitching is and how every little detail of the real food is present in the replica. For instance, the potato actually has tiny "eyes" all over both sides and the watermelon rind is two-toned and striped to mimic the real fruit.

Photobucket
Digging in to the basket.
I am someone who sews, though admittedly not that well, but I can tell that the quality of Brittany's work is very high. One of the first things my almost 2 1/2 year old tried to do was pull off the "seeds" on the watermelon. She was completely unsuccessful and I think she will continue to be. As far as everything else is concerned, both my daughter's love to jingle the musical pea pod, carry different pieces around all the time, and even use the carrots as "phones." This set is so versatile because every piece can be used in an infinite number of scenarios, and even the basket itself has tremendous possibilities. It is sure to inspire the cook or vegetable eater in every child.

I would certainly recommend this package to anyone who wants good quality, soft, yet durable play food for his or her children. You can feel confident that if your children want to chew on their felt food, they will not be swallowing a boatload of chemicals, nor will you need to be concerned if your child wants to take these huggable pieces to bed with them. You can definitely put this basket on your child's next wish list.

Interested in making some fruit for yourself? Mama's Felt Cafe has put together a watermelon tutorial specifically for this giveaway! Visit Natural Parents Network this Monday, June 6 for her tutorial.
Photo Credits: Author

BUY IT!

You can purchase a 'Support Local Growers' basket for $30 at Mama's Felt Cafe on Etsy. You will have the option to choose which fruits or vegetables you'd like in your basket - how cool is that?!

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Mama's Felt Cafe on Etsy, enter in the comments below! Contest is open to US and Canada.

MAIN ENTRY: Visit Mama's Felt Cafe on Etsy and tell us what your favorite product is in her shop.

Leave a valid email address in your comments (the line where it says “email address”) so we can contact you if you win. Email addresses are not made publicly visible.

BONUS ENTRIES, to increase your chance of winning (leave a separate comment for each so we can count them all):
  • Heart Mama's Felt Cafe on Etsy and leave your Etsy user name in the comment.
  • Tell us who you would give felt food to.
  • Subscribe to Let's Take the Metro in a reader or by email.
  • Subscribe to Natural Parents Network in a reader or by email.
  • Follow Mama's Felt Cafe publicly through Google Friend Connect or subscribe to the Mama's Felt Cafe RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
  • Follow Let's Take the Metro publicly through Google Friend Connect.
  • Follow @MamasFeltCafe on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
  • Follow @NatParNet on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
  • Follow Let's Take the Metro on Networked Blogs.
  • Like Natural Parents Network on Facebook.
  • Like Let's Take the Metro on Facebook.
  • Like Mama's Felt Cafe on Facebook.
  • Leave a relevant comment on a non-giveaway article at Natural Parents Network and tell us which post (comment on separate posts for up to 3 entries total).
  • Leave a relevant comment on a non-review article at Let's Take the Metro and tell us which post (comment on separate posts for up to 3 entries total).
  • Leave a relevant comment on a non-review article at Mama's Felt Cafe and tell us which post (comment on separate posts for up to 3 entries total).
  • Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can use the tweet button at the top of the post or tweet this text: #Win a gift certificate to @MamasFeltCafe! http://bit.ly/jmLPN9 @NatParNet #giveaway {6.26 Can/US}
  • Post this giveaway on your Facebook page or wall and leave the link (1 entry). You can use this status update: Win a $25 gift certificate to @Mama's Felt Cafe from @Natural Parents Network. Contest ends June 26 and is open to US/CANADA.
    Be sure to attach the contest URL to your update! (This is not part of the status text!)
    http://naturalparentsnetwork.com/review-mamas-felt-cafe/
  • Enter another of the giveaways on Natural Parents Network.
  • Put the Natural Parents Network badge on your website or add http://NaturalParentsNetwork.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code for the badge is on the front page of NaturalParentsNetwork.com. Leave your site URL in the comment.
RULES:
  • Contest open to United States and Canadian mailing addresses only.
  • Leave each entry as a separate comment so we can count them all.
  • For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, just let us know in your comment.
  • For tasks that garner you multiple entries, you can copy and paste the comment with a #1, #2, etc.
  • You don’t have to do any of the bonus entries, but you do have to complete the first mandatory one.
  • We will pick the winner through Random.org after the contest closes and send an email notification. Leave a valid email address as you comment so we can contact you if you win. If we can’t reach a winner or don’t hear back within a couple days, we’ll draw a new name.
  • Any questions, email: ShannonR {at} NaturalParentsNetwork.com

Contest closes June 26 at 11:59 p.m. PST

Disclosure: Mama's Felt Cafe sent our reviewer
a free Support Local Growers set for review.
We try to seek out only products we think you would find
relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent.
If we don’t like a product, we won’t be recommending it to you.
See our full disclosure policy here.

Our reviewer, Amanda, mothers two beautifully intelligent girls who are fifteen months apart and never cease to keep life interesting. She loves to garden, cook, sew and research everything green. Since the birth of her first daughter, she has been systematically growing greener and has no plans to stop any time soon. She writes about as many different things as she can think of at Let’s Take the Metro.

03 June 2011

100th Post

On the beach in New Haven, CT
This is my 100th post!

I was inspired by my Versatile Blogger Award to write a bit more about myself (if you'd like to know) for this momentous post. So here are a few other random facts about me.

- Currently, my favorite word is 'Ahem.' I have also been known to use "Bam!" quite frequently and no, I didn't steal it from Emeril; He took it from me.

My college graduation.


- I have a Bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Writing ( I still regret not double-majoring in Psych and English) and a Master of Arts degree in Community Psychology with a concentration in Program Development. I have not done anything with it because I chose to spend time with my child(ren) instead of pursuing a full-time job.

- There are a lot of things I don't like: cheese (except on pizza, chicken parm, macaroni and cheese and sometimes mozzarella sticks - basically I only like mozzarella cheese and only if it's melted :) ), zucchini (except zucchini bread), any other squash thing (except pumpkin pie), eggplant (except I recently forced myself to like eggplant parm), lima beans, avocado, chick peas, cottage cheese, plantains, coconut (but I am using coconut oil!), rye, pumpernickel...this makes it difficult for me to be a full vegetarian :)

- Contrary to my own palate, I strive to give my children the foods I don't like because I do not want them to have the same pickiness that I do. I'm pretty passionate about it.

- I love Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Like mad. If they were people, I'd marry them. Well, one or the other, whichever became a person first.

At the Holocaust Memorial in Boston.
- I'm obsessed with the Holocaust. In recent years, I've been better about letting all the feelings I have had for it go, but I still want to visit a concentration camp before I die (or two or three). I literally feel pulled to go to one.

- I have been to Canada, Australia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Haiti, St. Martin, and St. Thomas (the last four on a cruise). I have longed to go on a cruise ever since because I think it was the most amazing thing ever (even though I was terribly sea sick the first day) and I can't wait to go on another one.

- I've been to Disney World three times (never Disney Land) and I am so antsy to take Heidi and Piper, but I refuse to take them before they're old enough to remember.

- I love rain. I mean, I really, really love it. When it rains, I feel like I've been energized and I often get the inspiration or bursts of energy I need to do things I've been putting off. When I was younger, and even now, I used to imagine the rain as being cleansing to my body as I stood out in it, as if the Earth herself was rejuvenating me. It's for this reason, and this reason only, that I always thought about moving to Washington. Now I know a bunch of people in that direction so if I had the opportunity, I might take it. Ahem.

- I started school in one school district, moved to a different one, and finally ended in the same district I started in. Totally unplanned.

Steve took this picture.
- I love ghosts, ghost stories, hauntings, and anything else related to haunted ghostly places. I've been to Gettysburg and loved it. I would absolutely visit every single supposedly haunted place on the planet if I could. LOVE IT.

- I love books like I love breathing. If I could, I would probably read for most of the day every day. Some of my favorite books are Wicked, The Tao of Pooh, Man's Search for Meaning, Night and The Stranger. There are a lot of others though.

Well, I think that's enough for now, wouldn't you say so? Maybe I'll magically become more exciting in the coming months and have some new facts for you. Ahem.

Guest Post at Becoming Crunchy

Today I have a guest post over at Becoming Crunchy. I wrote this specifically for her (not that I don't do that for other guest posts, but this one is very different) so if you're in the mood for a chuckle, feel free to check it out. I hope you find yourself in an area where you can laugh out loud or pee your pants in comfort.

02 June 2011

Monthly Meal Plan

Inspired by Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama, I decided to take the plunge and make a meal plan for the entire month of June (with the exception of weekends because they're always weird). Thanks to this handy list, I can look at a week ahead of time and know what I need to shop for based on what I've already decided we're having. Yeah, well, we'll see how well this works out...

June 1: Oven fried cod, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli
June 2: Pasta and bean salad (I made that up.)
June 3: Chicken Pot Pie
June 4: Wings (I know this because we'll have company.)
June 6: Spanish Beef and Rice, salad
June 7: Koushari
June 8: Curry with rice (in some form)
June 9: Fish, baked potatoes, vegetable (Hey, it makes sense.)
June 10: Pasta, salad, garlic bread
June 13: Homemade veggie burgers (never made them before), homemade french fries, kale chips, salad
June 14: Stir fry over noodles
June 15: Spanish rice, Homemade tortillas, "Mexican" black bean mixture
June 16: Shrimp scampi
June 17: Hot dogs, Sauerkraut, Mashed Potatoes, Salad
June 20: Rotisserie Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Green Beans (On Monday's Whole Foods has a fantastic a.k.a. antibiotic/hormone free chicken for $7!)
June 21: Roasted Veggies, which may include potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onions, brussel sprouts, asparagus
June 22: Bean sautee over rice
June 23: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, salad
June 24: Salmon, Barley Pilaf, Artichokes?
June 27: Pasta, salad
June 28: Steak, asparagus, homemade french fries
June 29: Oven rice and lentil pilaf, salad
June 30: Curry over rice (in another form.)

Of course this is subject to change, but it is a nice thought to think I won't have to think about dinner for a while, yes?