A Wee Bit o' Glod

Adelaide spends one morning a week before school in the school office while I am in a meeting. We bring paper and markers and whatever other supplies she needs to entertain herself. This morning she had a half container left over from her hot bar breakfast last Friday, which she had plans to make into a "leprechaun trap." Not really sure where the idea came from, but when I emerged from the 45 minute meeting it was fully formed and executed. It includes "gold" temptations as bait, a lovely bit of decoration on the inside to tempt a leprechaun who might not be into cash but can't resist a good bit of interior decorating, and a verbal lure in the form of a rule to be broken ("do not take this glod.")Chances are good there will be some foul play in the living room tonight.

A Seed Takes Root

This afternoon I was laying out some supplies to do my usual cooking and prep for the week, when Adelaide came in the kitchen. She surveyed the veggies and items I had set out, and then asked if she could make herself a plate with some of the things she wanted. I got her a plate and a knife to chop, and she got really into bustling around the kitchen, pulling out more things from the frig and jars in the cupboards, and arranging a little feast for herself on her plate. She had already decided on twice-baked potatoes for her main course, but as we worked more and more items were added and arranged.She had fun setting the table and pouring drinks, and then we sat down to our feast.
I was excited and proud that she was taking her inspiration from the healthy foods around her, and she was proud to have had such a key role in the meal she was about to eat.
She made all kinds of interesting combinations of her raw materials, and at one point she closed her eyes and said "I'm in heaven." (Yes, some of this flair was for my benefit, but we both truly enjoyed the meal.)
She made it almost all the way through her big buffet before being full, and helped clear the table and put the leftovers away. What a great sous-chef!
Tonight was a nice reminder to me to persist in helping my kid enjoy food in a healthy way and to make room for her in my sometimes busy and rushed kitchen. We both benefit if I do.

Spring Cleaning

Creative Roomba cleaning.

AMA Conspiracy?

My train of thought this morning led me to my friends who have been pregnant at age 35 and after, and how they were stuck with the label "advanced maternal age." Is it just a co-incidence that the acronym for this is the same as "Against Medical Advice?"

A Little Nutty

I am not a fan of school birthdays. There, I said it. I know, I know, big grumpy health nut anti-cupcake scrooge, I admit it it, but come on, there are 23 kids and about 36 weeks of school, so you do the math. My kid included, because of course trying to buck the system and go for a different (non-sugar-loaded) style birthday is not worth the pain and suffering it would cause on all interested parties. So, we deal with the fall-out here, the post-sugar after school exhaustion, and the negotiating over the various high-fructose corn syrup, chock full o' chemical goodness items that get sent home.

Today's goodie bag was particularly interesting, given that the birthday child has a peanut allergy. This is increasingly common at school and in general not a big deal, especially given that there hasn't been a ban on peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, the bags are just kept in the hall and there is a peanut-free zone in the lunchroom. But it has made all of the families need to edit their snack contributions and birthday treats to ensure that there are no peanuts. I have seen several families turned away with 2 dozen cupcakes because they aren't safe. (I'd have been thrilled, but they inevitably return with a new set of cupcakes, so it doesn't diminish the sugar load). So, today's goodie bag included 5 or 6 fairly sizeable treats, the relative merits of which were discussed during our drive home. Adelaide was debating which item was the biggest, and which would last longest. She finally settled on a bag of plain m&m's. This started me thinking, and I asked to see the bag after she poured them in a dish.In case you didn't see the fine print:

The "aha" moment

Adelaide has been reading for a while now, but I think she has not yet had that break-through moment where she feels like she's a reader. That is, I don't think she felt like a reader until today, when we stopped at the library for some new books. She read the title of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and got excited to check it out. She started reading it to me on our way out of the library, read it all the way home, read it sitting in the driveway,


walking up the stairs, and until I told her we had to take a break for dinner. She finished it after dinner, and was very excited to check out the rest of the stack of books we got. It made for a very fun afternoon.

Round Two, How it all adds up.

This afternoon there were two of us with two legs who were having fun, and one of us with four legs who was having significantly less.

One is slightly more into this game than the other

On a side note, naming these photos I labeled them "Miss P hat," which had the serendipitous result of running together as MissPhat.

Playmobil Olympics 2010

Lovely Layers

Dinner consisted of a combination of leftovers and some fresh additions. I've been into cooking a bunch of basic building blocks and assembling them in different combinations for quick lunches and dinners.

Greens (dinosaur kale, saute-steamed briefly in olive oil):Oranges (Yams and Sweet potatoes, roasted with salt):Beans (Pintos, cooked with cumin, red pepper, oregano and jalepeno):Proteins (Veggie dog, toasted):More Greens (avocado and pickled jalepenos):Very satisfying.