Have you ever wondered how to get your kids to eat healthy? Here is the quick tip of the day: If you want them to eat healthy, you have to eat healthy.
I was at one time a raw foodist and I still have a few favorite recipes that I like to whip up now and again. These are definitely not your traditional fare. But my kids want to eat whatever I am eating. They don't care that no other kid on the block is eating raw tabouli salad for lunch. What they care about is that mommy is eating raw tabouli salad - and they want it.
There are some things that they might try and decide they don't want. But usually if they see me eating it on a regular basis, they try it again because, gosh darn it.... they want what I have!
Sure my kids like to eat chicken nuggets and french fries. But when they beg for fruit, eat green salads, raw nuts and whole wheat pasta on a regular basis, do you think I worry about the occasional junk food? Nope.
That is the unfortunate truth of it...if you want your kids to eat healthy, then it starts with you.
And since I mentioned it, here is the recipe for raw tabouli that I make...yummy and chock full of nutrition.
In a food processor chop several green onions, about 1/2 bunch of parsley, and 1/2 bunch of cilantro. Mix in a handful of chopped raw almonds and 1 large chopped tomato. Mash a ripe avocado with the juice of 1/2 small lemon, a drizzle of EVOO, and a little honey. (optional) Stir the avocado dressing into the salad and chow down!
Tuesday, January 29
Friday, January 25
The Next Survivor Series
I don't know when I am going to be back at home and on a regular posting schedule again, but hang in there, I will be back! Until then, this came my way via email and I thought it was too good not to pass on! Women, get ready to sign your husbands up for this next Survivor....
THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES - Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.
Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.
There is no fast food.
Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.
Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.
Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.
He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care. He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.
Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times. The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.
The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.
During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.
They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.
A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.
The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice. If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!
THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES - Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.
Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.
There is no fast food.
Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.
Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.
Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.
He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care. He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.
Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times. The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.
The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.
During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.
They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.
A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.
The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice. If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!
Thursday, January 10
New Year, New Format
A big apology to my 1 or 2 readers out there besides my mom. We have had a major interruption this week in my ability to blog. First I have been having computer problems and was concerned about having a virus. I wanted to download the AVG free virus protection program, but on dial up, it was a very lengthy process. (about 4 1/2 hours) To make matters worse, I kept getting disconnected and having to restart the download.
Then, after finally getting the virus protection up and running, we had an unforeseen major change of venue. We packed up our kids and drove 27 hours to Phoenix. Hubby is going to be working down here for a while. With all of this going on, I have not had the opportunity to do my regular blogging.
Meanwhile, I have been thinking about changing the format. My original concept was for a book that would categorize activities for moms. I am going to start doing posts following this format. Each post will be under one of the activity labels - indoor time, outdoor time, arts, crafts, music, and story time. Then you can pick and choose your own activities by looking under the labels on the blog page. The good news is that I am back on high speed internet now that I am in Phoenix, so I should be able to get the site completely updated while I am here.
Thanks for your patience and next week will resume regular postings.
Now for wading through all this, you get rewarded with this touching little tidbit to remind us that children may say the darndest things, but sometimes they also say the most profound things. Click on the Sky Angel Cowboy link and listen to the audio message.
Then, after finally getting the virus protection up and running, we had an unforeseen major change of venue. We packed up our kids and drove 27 hours to Phoenix. Hubby is going to be working down here for a while. With all of this going on, I have not had the opportunity to do my regular blogging.
Meanwhile, I have been thinking about changing the format. My original concept was for a book that would categorize activities for moms. I am going to start doing posts following this format. Each post will be under one of the activity labels - indoor time, outdoor time, arts, crafts, music, and story time. Then you can pick and choose your own activities by looking under the labels on the blog page. The good news is that I am back on high speed internet now that I am in Phoenix, so I should be able to get the site completely updated while I am here.
Thanks for your patience and next week will resume regular postings.
Now for wading through all this, you get rewarded with this touching little tidbit to remind us that children may say the darndest things, but sometimes they also say the most profound things. Click on the Sky Angel Cowboy link and listen to the audio message.
Sunday, January 6
P, P, What Begins With P
You know how Sesame Street has a letter of the day each show? Well, we are going to have a letter of the day today - P. You could really have fun with it and feed your kids meals that are "p" foods... pancakes, pork chops, peas, potatoes, popsicles, pickles, pizza, etc.
Craft Time: Break out old circulars or magazines that you can cut up. Make a collage on construction paper of things that begin with the letter P. If your kids are young, do the cutting for them, but then let them glue the pictures onto the paper.
Outdoor Time: Play Pretend. Let your kids decide who they will be and what adventure they will go on. Get into the game with them and ask them questions to prompt their imagination further. Ex: Okay, we are Dora and Diego and we are going to the mountain. How are we getting there? Are we walking, hopping, taking a scooter?
Music Time: Teach your kids the song Puff the Magic Dragon. You can get all the lyrics and music here.
Story Time: Look through your collection of books for "P" stories - either the title or the main character. Harold and the Purple Crayon would work for example with the purple crayon being prominant throughout the book. :)
Art Time: Pink and purple art time. Give your kids a sheet of art paper and all the different shades of pink and purple crayons. See what creative designs they can make with just those colors.
Indoor Time: Puzzle time. Bring out your puzzles and spend some time putting them together with your kids.
Craft Time: Break out old circulars or magazines that you can cut up. Make a collage on construction paper of things that begin with the letter P. If your kids are young, do the cutting for them, but then let them glue the pictures onto the paper.
Outdoor Time: Play Pretend. Let your kids decide who they will be and what adventure they will go on. Get into the game with them and ask them questions to prompt their imagination further. Ex: Okay, we are Dora and Diego and we are going to the mountain. How are we getting there? Are we walking, hopping, taking a scooter?
Music Time: Teach your kids the song Puff the Magic Dragon. You can get all the lyrics and music here.
Story Time: Look through your collection of books for "P" stories - either the title or the main character. Harold and the Purple Crayon would work for example with the purple crayon being prominant throughout the book. :)
Art Time: Pink and purple art time. Give your kids a sheet of art paper and all the different shades of pink and purple crayons. See what creative designs they can make with just those colors.
Indoor Time: Puzzle time. Bring out your puzzles and spend some time putting them together with your kids.
Wednesday, January 2
Ship Shape Shenanigans
Craft Time: Get out construction paper and glue. Cut out a bunch of circles, squares, and triangles from different colored paper. Then let your kids glue the shapes onto a sheet of construction paper. They can either do a collage or use the shapes to create pictures, like a tangram.
Indoor Time: Have a shape scavenger hunt. Make a list of the items your kids have to find. The items should be based on shapes such as 4 squares, 2 rectangles, 1 triangle, 3 circles. Give your kids a bag or basket to collect their items. If your kids are older, you might want to increase the difficulty of the scavenger hunt by tagging colors and shapes together - ex: red square, blue circle, etc. Work with your kids to see the shapes in their every day environment.
Music Time: Sing the song If You're Happy and You Know It with your kids. Find the music and lyrics here. Have fun with this one by making up your own actions to perform. Let your kids come up with ideas too - they can be quite fun!
Art Time: Sponge painting. Cut shapes out of sponges - circles, squares, triangles. You can use old ones or buy new ones at the dollar store. Wet the shapes but wring out the excess water. Dip the sponge in paint or use a brush to apply the paint. Press the sponge onto canvas or paper.
Outdoor Time: Play I Spy. If you don't know how this game works, one person says "I spy with my little eye something that is...." then you give a description of the object that you have chosen. (ex: green, tall, round) Then the other person looks around and tries guessing what the object is that you have described. For this game, stick to shapes. Pick out objects that specifically can be described as a shape - round, square, rectangle, etc.
Story Time: Find books that teach shapes. If you don't have any specifically on shapes, use any books with good pictures. Then have your kids find the shapes in the pictures.
Indoor Time: Have a shape scavenger hunt. Make a list of the items your kids have to find. The items should be based on shapes such as 4 squares, 2 rectangles, 1 triangle, 3 circles. Give your kids a bag or basket to collect their items. If your kids are older, you might want to increase the difficulty of the scavenger hunt by tagging colors and shapes together - ex: red square, blue circle, etc. Work with your kids to see the shapes in their every day environment.
Music Time: Sing the song If You're Happy and You Know It with your kids. Find the music and lyrics here. Have fun with this one by making up your own actions to perform. Let your kids come up with ideas too - they can be quite fun!
Art Time: Sponge painting. Cut shapes out of sponges - circles, squares, triangles. You can use old ones or buy new ones at the dollar store. Wet the shapes but wring out the excess water. Dip the sponge in paint or use a brush to apply the paint. Press the sponge onto canvas or paper.
Outdoor Time: Play I Spy. If you don't know how this game works, one person says "I spy with my little eye something that is...." then you give a description of the object that you have chosen. (ex: green, tall, round) Then the other person looks around and tries guessing what the object is that you have described. For this game, stick to shapes. Pick out objects that specifically can be described as a shape - round, square, rectangle, etc.
Story Time: Find books that teach shapes. If you don't have any specifically on shapes, use any books with good pictures. Then have your kids find the shapes in the pictures.
Tuesday, January 1
Busy Bodies
Craft Time: For your craft time make paper dolls. You can either design them yourself, or get some help online. (paper doll link) Keep it simple for the younger ones - maybe make a simple bear.
Indoor Time: Play Simon Says. Keep the actions more simple for the indoors. Do things that will help with them learning to identify arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.
Outdoor Time: Here is an easy one...play hide and go seek.
Art Time: Using playdough, have your kids shape little people. Make all the body parts - feet, legs, body, arms, head - then assemble them.
Story Time: Find a book that teaches about the parts of the body. (arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.) This will tie in nicely with your music time today.
Music Time: Do the Hokey Pokey with your kids today. Need the Lyrics? Don't be afraid to add your own twist to the song and dance like "You put your teddy bear in, you put your teddy bear out..."
Indoor Time: Play Simon Says. Keep the actions more simple for the indoors. Do things that will help with them learning to identify arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.
Outdoor Time: Here is an easy one...play hide and go seek.
Art Time: Using playdough, have your kids shape little people. Make all the body parts - feet, legs, body, arms, head - then assemble them.
Story Time: Find a book that teaches about the parts of the body. (arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.) This will tie in nicely with your music time today.
Music Time: Do the Hokey Pokey with your kids today. Need the Lyrics? Don't be afraid to add your own twist to the song and dance like "You put your teddy bear in, you put your teddy bear out..."
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