Another year...

Another year has passed even quicker than before and we're celebrating another glorious year of our big girl's life.  They just keep getting better as our love grows deeper than we could have ever imagined.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

I have been inspired by my fellow bloggers to do a little interview on her birthday as well as randomly throughout the year.  It will be neat to see how her answers change.

What is your favorite food?
Cheerios and "Ach-O-mok" (oatmeal)

What is your favorite book?
Builder Bears
Do you mean Bernstein Bears?
yes


What do you like to do outside?
plant tomatoes


What do you like to do inside?
play with toys and with my sister...and take stuff from my sister 


What is your favorite toy?
princesses


What is your favorite color?
purple and pink


Where do you like to eat out?
Chick Fil A and Burger Fries


What is your favorite drink?
Agua con gas and apple juice


What is your favorite dessert?
cake


What do you want to be when you grow up?
a princess, no, I'll be a mommy


What time do you go to bed?
six o'clock


What time do you wake up?
six o'clock


Where do you like to go in the car?
the grocery store because they give me stickers and balloons...
I like stickers, presents and balloons -- presents from Santa and the reindeer

A new favorite

I am a huge fan of children's books that teach a life-lesson, moral or any other hard-to-teach value/manner.  My mother used to read me this German book:

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It is from 1845, yes, that's right....1845!  

It is full of little tales about the consequences of bad behavior, habits and manners.  The lessons can seem a bit harsh but it was a great teaching tool and kept me out of trouble!

Some of the illustrations are quite brutal.  I especially remember this one:

It is the tale about the kid who sucked his thumb and then had it cut off because he wouldn't quit the bad habit.  I was a thumb-sucker and this little tale scared me!

As my girl gets a little older, I expect more of her.  We have found a new book that we are both excited to read each night that goes over manners and being polite. 

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Unlike the harsh German book from my youth, it teaches polite manners in a sweet and pleasant way.

It goes over everything from greetings, table manners, manners at school, with friends, etc.  The illustrations are darling like all the wonderful books by John Bemelmans.   It is a fabulous teaching tool and my daughter seems excited to learn more each night.  I have even found her practicing some of her newly acquired manners in public. {happy, happy, happy}

Warm and Cozy: Baked Apples

I love apples.  They are definitely my favorite fruit.  I especially like the tart taste of a Granny Smith and other baking apples.  I found an easy recipe for baked apples and thought I'd give them a try for a healthy desert.

I modified the recipe a bit based on what we had in our pantry.  This was also a great simple recipe to do with children.

We used:
Granny Smith apples
lemon
raisins
granola
brown sugar
Smart Balance butter spread (I used this in place of butter)

We melted the butter and added it to the raisins, granola and brown sugar in a bowl.

We then cut the tops off the apples and cut the core out.  We then squeezed the juice of one lemon and rubbed on the tops of all the cut apples (this prevents browning).

Next, we placed the apples in a muffin tin and filled them with the granola mixture.

Once they were all filled to the brim with the granola mixture, we placed them in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until they were soft and brown.

While waiting, my kids licked the bowl clean.

When the apples were done, we let them cool in the muffin tins for about 10 minutes before serving.

My kids ate them like they were candy.

I am happy to find a new healthy desert alternative!

Baking notes:  Next time I would probably add a bit of cinnamon and cloves to the mixture.  I think cinnamon goes so well with apples and would improve the taste.

Eat Cake

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I just love the old British war campaign, "Keep Calm and Carry On."  

Many folks have updated this saying in different ways like this shop.

We have celebrated 3 birthdays in our family in the past 2 weeks and we still have one more to go next week.  January is a busy month around here.  Planning and preparing for birthday celebrations is wonderful fun but sometimes I need to rely on the saying above when things begin spinning.

As you can see, I am abiding by my new mantra for the month.

There is always next month to work on the waistline.

Sweet wishes...

I am constantly criticized for using the word "sweet" too much.  In light of that...

Have a super sweet NEW YEAR!

Monthly Organization: Project "Gift Bag Storage"

After all the merry Christmas gifts are open, there seems to be a plethora of gift bags and boxes left to store/recycle (I save mine to use next year).  Often times I just stash these under the bed or in the seasonal storage boxes in the attic.  

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This year as part of my continuing efforts to stay organized I tried to come up with a better system of storing gift bags of any kind.

I have a lot of closet hanging space but not a lot of stacking or floor space in my closets.  I needed a place to store gift bags with easy access for year-round gifts.  

I ended up taking high-quality metal coat hangars (they take up less space than the plastic ones) and hung my gift bags by their handles on them.  

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I have 3 different hangars with different gift bag themes:

1. birthday

2. baby

3. holiday

This seems to take up much less space than the under the bed option or a storage box.  They are also super easy to get to and see just what I have.

How do you store your gift bags and wrapping materials?

This year you...Part 2

This year you;
-seemed to enjoy ripping the paper off of gifts.

-listened when we said not to take ornaments off the tree.

-didn't think much of Santa which was a stark difference from last year when you sat in his lap very happily.  You preferred to watch him from afar rather than sit on his lap.

-enjoyed listening to your sister and Momma sing Christmas songs in the car.

-were happy to wear hats to keep your head warm.

-loved anything your sister had.

-enjoyed eating at breakfast with Santa but preferred stand and walk around the rest of the time (which bothered your sister who took it all very seriously this year).

-were overjoyed to see Christmas lights outside at night.  We often heard you yelling "liiiiiights" at the top of your lungs in the car at dark.

-began saying "ho, ho, ho" whenever we mentioned Santa.

-wanted nothing to do with sitting still or being quiet in church on Christmas Eve.