Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!  Are you and your kiddos doing anything to celebrate today?

My gang picked up litter from two local wetland areas that we adopted through the local DNR office and we’re headed to a nearby town for treats all around to reward ourselves.  🙂

Also on the agenda… planting some cool season veggies outside and making some of these: (Thanks for the idea, Erica!)  A similar craft is here and uses string ironed in so you can hang it.  Here’s a billion more related crafts if you’re up to it!

More Health Benefits Found for Breastfeeding (For Mom!)

We all know the health benefit of breastfeeding for babies by now and it’s pretty well known that it also lowers the chances of breast cancer for mom.  A new study of nearly 140,000 women found more health benefits for moms who breastfeed, though.

 

   Women who have breast-fed, it says, are at lower risk than mothers who have not for developing high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease decades later, when they are in menopause.  The benefits increase with duration of past breast-feeding, the study found.

Women who had breast-fed for more than a year in their lifetimes were almost 10 percent less likely than those who had never breast-fed to have had a heart attack or a stroke in their postmenopausal years. They were also less likely to have diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

The study found that there were health benefits for women who breastfed for as little as a month.

Women who reported more than a year of breast-feeding were:

• 20 percent less likely to have diabetes,
  
• 12 percent less likely to have hypertension,
  
• 19 percent less likely to have high cholesterol and
  
• 9 percent less likely to have had a heart attack or a stroke

by the time they entered the study. 

Experts are still weighing in about what causes the differences.  Whatever the reason, it’s good to know.

Next time someone gives you grief for "still" nursing your little one you can say you’re improving your health.  Or a steely glare works too.  Whichever you like!  😉 

 

Good Grief, More Play Dough!

Okay, after this I promise to stop sharing playdough recipes for a while!  🙂  I just had to make a note to try these recipes and I thought I might as well do it here in case anybody else liked the sounds of them too……..

Oatmeal Play Dough

2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups powdered milk
2/3 cups honey
Optional -Rice Krispes, Coconut Sprinkles, chocolate chips, Red Hots, etc.

Mix ingredients until combined.
Wash hands.
Lay down wax paper.
Store in air-tight container.

Cloud Play Dough

1 cup water,
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil,
6 cup flour

Add a few drops of food coloring to water.
Combine water, oil and flour in a large bowl. Knead well.
Add more water if necessary in small amounts until the dough is soft and stretchy.
Cloud playdough should be used on a washable surface as it is very greasy.

Coffee Playdough

4 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 1/2 c warm water

Dissolve the coffee in the warm water.
In another bowl, mix the flour and the salt.
Make a well and add 1 cup of the coffee water into it.
Mix with a fork or with your hands until smoother.
Add more coffee water as needed: dough should be smooth not sticky or crumbling.
Store in air tight container.

When you’re done making figures, bake in oven for 1 hour at 300 degrees or until hard.
A coat or 2 of shellac keeps it well preserved for longer lasting gifts.

(Source)

Kool-Aid Playdough (and blow darts!)

Yesterday, Jack and I stopped by the local grocery store and they had a sale on kool-aid.  I don’t make kool-aid to drink but I buy it on sale for craft recipes.  🙂  We picked out a handful of good colors and then he chose one (Electric Blue!)  to make Kool-Aid Playdough with.

Here’s the recipe:

   Kool-Aid Playdough

Ingredients:

    * 1 c flour
    * 1/2 c salt
    * 3 T cooking oil
    * 1 pkg unsweetened, powdered drink mix like kool-aid
    * 1 c boiling water

   1. Mix together flour, salt, oil, and Kool-aid.
   2. Add the cup of boiling water. Mix well and allow to cool slightly.
   3. Knead the mixture until it forms a soft dough.  It feels especially wonderful while still warm!
   4. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

(Note: this is non-toxic but won’t taste very good!)

I tried to make up my weekly menu while Jack played with the dough, but he wanted me to join in so I did.  It really is so soft and warm and wonderful to handle!  It smells really nice too, but not overpowering.

I cut some straws into short shapes to use as candles or other building bits, and then I discovered that if I poked holes with them repeatedly I got bits of playdough stuck in the straws.  A quick blow to dislodge some playdough led to the discovery of playdough blow darts, I’m afraid!
 

Victoria came home a little while later and found us gleefully shooting playdough at each other across the table.  😉  She had to join in!  I must say it was completely unfair, two against one!  I had playdough in my hair and tiny bits of it on the floor, and some apparently even went down my shirt.  Boy did that result in giggles. 
 

     

Lucky for them, my kitchen is perpetually messy and I figured a little playdough wouldn’t hurt anything.   See, it’s good to be messy!  That’s it —  I do it intentionally in order to be a good mother.  😉

If you haven’t made Kool-Aid Playdough before, I highly recommend it.  Blow darts are optional (but okay, pretty darn fun).
 

10 Ways to Make Today Magical (Garden Style)

I’m still garden obsessed with the arrival of spring so I swiped this list of ways to make the day magical from newsletter #37 from back in 2002.  I suddenly feel very old.  😉

10 Ways to Make Today Magical, Garden Style…..

1.  Have the kids usepermanent paint or markers to write plant names on rocks, popsicle sticks or strips of recycled materials to use as plant markers.  For added fun, have them make up a few silly ones that say things like "Albert the bug," "popsicle stick," "Jo was here," "Smile!" etc.

2.  Encourage the kids to have plant swaps with their friends.  Help them carefully dig up a plant from somewhere in your yard or house and swap it from one from theirs.  Even weeds can be sentimental to little ones.  Give it a place of honor in its new home.

3.  Pick some leaves or flower petals and press them between two sheets of clear contact paper.  Cut out, punch a hole, and hang as a sun catcher.

4.  Make flower petal soups, mud pies, grass sundaes and other culinary backyard treats.  Save old spice containers to fill with dirt for seasoning.

5.  Next time you have some rain, take the kids and splash and dance in the puddles.

6.  Do flower magic.  When you have flower arrangements that have died, let the kids take them outside and toss the petals into the air.  They can make wishes or say prayers as they let the wind carry the petals away.  This is especially fun on windy days.

7.  Go on a hike to find interesting shapes and textures of plants and then stamp them onto paper with some paint.  Halved mushrooms, leaves, grass that’s gone to seed, dandelion heads and lots more make fun designs.

8.  Teach your kids how to whistle with a blade of grass.  Have a whole orchestra!

9.  Pay 1 cent each for dandelions and 5 cents for a root.  I always thought I dreamed this idea up but I’ve since found a lot of moms are onto this trick!  Afterwards, weave them into flower garlands and turn each other yellow.

10. Have a picnic supper outside on the lawn.

 

Have a magical week!

Make a Bracelet from a Toothbrush!

   Here’s a fun way to recycle with the kids.  Let them turn their old toothbrushes into bracelets!  Kaboose has all the instructions, plus lots more Earth Day crafts.

One of Those Days (in the good way)

Today was one of those days that just about makes up for 3 months of children squabbling, dreary weather, colds, flus and piled up laundry.  😉 

We started the day with a gymnastics party in a nearby city with lots of neat families and then talked some friends into picking up drive-thru and meeting us at a nearby park for a picnic and some playing.

The weather was perfect and nearly 80 degrees, which is a big deal for spring in Minnesota!  The kids ended up playing, climbing, hiking and wading in a creek trying to catch tiny fish that nibbled on their toes. 

I got to chat with one of those friends who ought to be high calorie, she’s so fantastic to be around.  My little guy got to run and explore, the bigger kids got to spend time with kids they adore and the scenery was divine.  I missed warm weather so much!  I think the miserable cold is designed to make us realllllllllly appreciate when the good stuff comes back.  😉

We are spending the night at Grandma & Grandpa’s to take part in some more fun stuff tomorrow in town.  Tonight, Grandma & the kids & I went walking to the school playground to play.  It took 45 minutes to walk half a mile (toddler speed) but it was so nice. 

At the playground, some little girls came by with their dogs on leashes and one of them invited Victoria to play a game of Horse at the basketball hoop.  Victoria said the girl was very sweet and kept telling her "good shot" and "nice try."  Best of all, she happily told me "I didn’t even know I was good at basketball!".  She won!

This was the sort of day I try to hang on to for later.  I’ll shove all those boring and annoying ones aside in my memory bank and maybe when I look back in my old age I’ll think it was all this good.  😉

Do try to get out with your kids if your weather cooperates!  Call up the most fun person you know and make her/him come play.  I highly recommend it!

Happy weekend all!

A Smile to Start Your Day

Have you seen the video of 47 year-old Susan Boyle trying out for "Britain’s Got Talent" yet?  Oh my goodness, what a sweet lady and what a fantastic surprise.  Ms. Boyle says she’s never been married and never been kissed, and here she is going for her dream in front of thousands oflaughing naysayers (including Simon Cowel!).  Victoria and I could not stop smiling when she started to sing.  It’s never too late to go for your dreams! 

Quick and Easy No-Sew Fairies!

I’m in love with these darling little fairies that Half Pint Pixie made up for her little girl to celebrate the start of spring!

 

Hop on over to this page for all the instructions.  I’m sure you could use old fashioned clothespins for the bodies if you didn’t have the little blank dolls, too.

Aren’t they darling?  🙂

Be sure to check out the rest of her blog as well.  She’s an Irish, vegan, AP mama who seems delightful!
 

More Seed Fun!

Hello magical you!  I thought you might like some more seed ideas.  This site has lots of fun ones.  Some are pretty conventional (like the bean and the wet paper towel in the bag) but some were new to me.  I like the milk carton with the window and the bird seed sponge especially. 

Here’s a list of edible flowers, along with lots of safety information.  We love nasturtiums here but the flowers are peppery and best suited for things like salads.  We have roses for sweeter recipes but I didn’t realize how many other flowers were edible.  This year I’d like to start a few new plants with edible flowers for recipes like this one….

WILDFLOWER POUND CAKE

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1-tsp. vanilla or lemon extract
5 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup assorted washed edible flower petals, small pieces

Cream the butter. Sift flour and add gradually to butter. Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon
colored, add sugar gradually. Combine mixtures. Beat egg whites until stiff and add to mixture. Sift baking powder over mixture, beat thoroughly. Fold in fresh flower pieces. Turn into a buttered deep cake pan and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees F.

One of these years I’m really going to do a sunflower house or bean teepee, but I’m not sure this will be the summer I get to it either.  I am just hoping to get lots of veggies in and give the kids each a flower garden of their own, which they always love. 

What are your garden plans this year?