Mini's Selfie

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It looks like Mini got my phone and took some selfies. 

Reminds me of what Baby Bear did a few years ago in this post.  

I thought that Baby Bear looked liked like Mr. BBH, but Mini is his carbon copy.  

What do you think?

Sister Love

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I just have to share the love between Baby Bear and Mini.  

It warms my heart when Baby Bear pays attention to her little sister and the kisses are very rare.

Mini loves it when her sister interacts with her.  You can see the loving smile and eyes after.

Fun in the Snow

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These photos were taken before we had a snowstorm and the snow was beautifully soft and powdery. 

Mrs. BBH, Baby Bear and I put our snow suits on to play outside.  Baby Bear calls it a snow snoot. 

We made some snow angels.  

We tried to dig a cave, but the snow was really soft and fluffy. 

We don't have a sled, so we used an old laundry basket

Mediterranean Feta & Salmon Stuffed Peppers

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A friend in college made something similar to this for me.  It had dried cherries and tofu.  I wanted to make this with Salmon and it was delicious! 

Ingredients

6 Red Peppers

5 oz Canned Salmon

Couscous

1/2 Cup Raisins

1/2 Tbl Consomme Soup Powder

1 Cup Feta Cheese

2 chopped Green Onions

Handful chopped Parsley

Cut the peppers tops off and save any of the pepper.  Chop then in cubes and save them for the filling.  Bake the peppers at 350 for 10 mins with 1/3 cup water and cover the pan with foil.  {I like to use a glass dish to cook the peppers.}  Leave the peppers in the oven while it is off after cooking.  

Prepare the Couscous per directions.  I prefer to use boiling water and poor it onto the bowl of couscous.  Add in 1 Tbl of consomme with the water.   

 Let the water sit until the couscous absorbs the water.

Fluff the couscous with a fork and a few drops of olive oil. 

Mix all of the ingredients that go into the couscous except the feta.  Add 2 Tbl Water and 1/2 Tbl consomme powder.

Mix in the couscous and add the feta last. Toss the mixture lightly with the feta.

Scoop the couscous filling into the soften peppers.

Bake at 350 until the topping starts to brown.  

Keeping the Kids Busy while Cooking Dinner

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Mini wants to be held by me all the time if I am with her. I love it and hate it at the same time.  It is really hard to get things done, so when I have to cook dinner, I need to keep her busy in a place that she can see me. 

I showed Mini where the pots where and gave her some fun things to bang on them with.  The things that I chose where all things that would make different sounds, but also not metal since she would bang on the metal pots. 

I gave her different colors and textures.

 I don't believe in child proofing my cabinets (I do not keep any chemicals that the children can reach) since I feel that they need to learn where they are allowed to touch and where they are not allowed to touch. She now knows where the pots are if she every wants to play with them again. 

A sneak peek with things I have been working on

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It all started with this horse that I made for a friend.  I didn't even know that I could make a stuffed animal!

I made my own pattern by looking at the shape of a horse that I saw on pinterest. 

Then I wanted to make one for a friend that requested a sea turtle.  

And a bear for another

And a really special niece of mine got a taggy zebra!

What animal should I make next? 

Salt Dough Clay Hack~Cleanest way to make it

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I obviously love to craft and DIY but when it comes to messing up my kitchen to do a craft, I am not so into it.  I wanted to make salt dough and came up with idea after backing some bread in my bread machine.  The shape that the bread cooks in is always so easy to clean and with the lid closed, flour does not get everywhere. 

Why not have the machine mix the dough?!!  

Salt Dough Recipe

{basically 2 parts flour for one part salt+water}

1/2 cup of salt

1/2 cup of water

1 cup of flour

Bake 250 for 2-3 hours on parchment paper 

I dumped all my ingredients into the bread machine and pushed the 'dough' button. 

To be honest, it makes a better consistency then I would make if I stirred it! Perfect to use as is, or add some food coloring to it.  

These pans are the best and they wipe clean with a spray of water.  The hardest part is cooking the dough.  I wanted to have the dough for Mini to play with and I was not intending to cook it since it is a safe non-toxic dough to play with.  The salty taste was also a deterrent to put it in her mouth again.  

Baby Bear's Family Portrait

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Baby Bear drew a cute family portrait.  She even put my eyes as green and everyone else having brown.  

The smallest is Mini,then Baby Bear, then Mom, then Dad as the largest.  She even drew our dog on the side of the page.

Simple Drawing Skill for Preschool Age Kids-The Ruler

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Both of my kids have crazy good small motor control.  I taught Baby Bear how to use a ruler to make straight lines.  I thought that the ruler would be something different that would challenge her to be creative in new ways.  

Baby Bear also liked the word ruler since it was the same as the word that can be used for other things.  We talked about how it can be used to tell how tall something is or how far apart things are.  

When starting to use the ruler, always model the technique that you want to show the child.  Then you can hold their hands to do it one time and see if they understand the movements needed for the instrument. I also had to help and hold the ruler for her so it would stay in one place. 

The simple challenge of using the ruler to just make lines was so interesting to her.  She liked how all of the colors could be used to make long lines.  She didn't want me to show her how to make shapes with the rules by changing the placement.  

Next time we will work on creating designs and shapes with our straight line!