Tanya's Tales

Fun with Scissors!

2010-08-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Jacq LOVES to use her scissors. Here is proof.

She got these great books made by Kumon. They are great for practicing cutting and pasting. A very easy, yet effective teaching tool.

Recipe: Caprese Pasta

2010-08-25T17:40:00.001-07:00

I love italian food. Pasta, basil, cheeses. What's not to love?! I made this over the weekend for a BBQ and it was very tasty!

What you need:
*Pasta, one package (fusilli, penne or rotini)
*Handful fresh basil, shredded
*12oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
*Tomatoes, seeded and cut into small chunks
*1/3 c olive oil
*1/4 c fresh lemon juice
*1 shallot, minced
*1 clove garlic, minced
*1/2 tsp lemon zest
*1/4 c balsamic vinegar
*Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool and stop them from cooking.

Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, shallot and garlic in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes and gently toss. Marinate at room temperature for about 15 mins.

Add the pasta and mozzarella to the tomato mixer and toss. Stir in the basil and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Yum! This recipe is from this months Food Network Magazine :)

Apple Sequence

2010-08-24T07:47:00.002-07:00

Here is a very easy activity to demonstrate an easy sequence pattern to your child.

First print out the apples from this page.

Cut out the apples and have your child arrange them biggest to smallest. Mix them up and now have them do it smallest to biggest. Jacq wanted to save her apples so we glued hers to a brown paper bag.

Fun with Throwies!

2010-08-23T20:21:00.003-07:00

Jacq got Marc an awesome book for Father's Day called, Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share. It is filled with great science projects, activities for outdoors, games and lots of other cool treats. Marc saw the 'throwies' in the book. Of course he had already seen the idea on one of the many nerd blogs he reads and had actually talked about making them with Jacq long before he got the book. The book just gave him the motivation to do it!

Here is what you need.
*CR2032 3V batteries
*5mm LED lights
*small, round magnets
*tape

Nerd in Training

Set out your supplies. Jacq separated the LED's by color. I'm sure this has nothing to do with out Montessori activities. :)

Now slide one leg of the LED onto each side of a battery. It should light up. If it does not flip the legs around.

Now use some tape to adhere the magnet to either side of the battery.

Now have some fun! Jacq loved throwing these all over the house to see what they would stick to.

This is the face of a kid that loves science!

Free Art Friday

2009-12-04T15:30:00.001-07:00

I love letting Jacq explore different mediums and just be creative. This time I brought out my pastels and she LOVED them. We used heavy art paper so the pastels would adhere better.

One set of pastels. Aren't they beautiful?

First she made a few sketches.

Then she used her fingers to explore what it would look like being smudged.

Then she used brushes to smudge.

Here is a rainbow that I drew and Jacq smudged and blended using her fingers and brushes.

This was a little messy but a lot of fun!

How to: Make your own gift bags

2009-11-29T11:00:00.001-07:00

Ok so you are not actually making the bag yourself. But you get the idea. We go to a lot of birthday parties. Gifts, gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbons, cards, they add up. Fortunately I have an awesome play group who does a money pool and we get the birthday child a group gift. This is really nice because not only does it soften the blow to each mom's bank account, we are able to get a decent amount together and get the bday child something really nice.
Another way I thought we could save money would be to decorate your own gift bags. In reality they aren't that pricey and really you aren't saving a lot of money but I really like to do this because it's cute and adds such a personal touch. Most stores sell plain gift bags in multiples of 3 for around $1. You can get creative. Use paint, stickers, scrapbook embellishments, ribbons and bows, glitter. The list could be endless. Here are a few that Jacq and I have made.

These were for Nana Judy, Nana Shari and Grandma Yvonne on Mother's Day.

Here is another one we did for a birthday party.

Grandparent's especially like this. Have fun with it!

To infinity and beyond!

2009-07-18T08:00:00.001-07:00

Once again I found this adorable craft at No time for flash cards.
Jacq loves all things spaceships and rockets. She was really excited to do this and loves to carry her rocket around the house yelling, "BLAST OFF!"

What you need:
Craft paper or cereal box
markers
few small pieces of foil
cottonballs
piece of construction paper
glue
scissors

I used a cut up cereal box and drew my rocket, cut it out and let Jacq draw on it.

While Jacq colored the rocket I cut out 3 small circles from the cereal box and covered them with foil. These are your windows.

Have your child glue the windows onto the rocket. Glue the rocket to the construction paper.

Add some glue to the bottle of your rocket and let your child stick the cotton balls on.

Tah dah!

Montessori Monday - Using tongs

2009-07-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

For this activity you will need:

2 shallow dishes
pair of tongs
small tray
wooden beads to half fill one dish

Put the dishes on the tray with the tongs on the right. Half fill the dish to the left with beads.

Use the tongs to transfer the beads from left to right until the left dish is empty.

Switch the dishes so the beads are back on the left and let your child try.

As your child's skill develops try using smaller tongs and eventually tweezers with smaller objects to transfer.

Once your child has mastered this activity you can switch it up by sorting blocks by color or shape.

Happy Montessori!

Unstructured Art

2009-07-06T21:52:00.006-07:00

Structured arts and crafts are always fun and cute but sometimes its nice to just give your mini Picasso some paper, paint and a brush and see what happens. Experiment with different 'brushes'. Use sponges, clothes, cotton balls, q-tips, etc. Let your child explore and see what happens when they mix colors. These painting also make perfect art for grandparent's refrigerators!

Teaching toy Tuesday

2009-07-05T09:46:00.008-07:00

My teaching toy of the week this week is Melissa and Doug Geometric Stacker.

This toy is great and has many different learning opportunities. It teaches colors, shapes, sorting, sequence and problem solving.
This is a great step up from the traditional rainbow stacker that many infants play with. I have read some reviews of complaints that the rings are the perfect size for children to get their fingers stuck in. Also read a few reviews were parents are concerned about their child falling down onto the pegs. If you are worried about any of those scenarios then simply supervise your child while playing with this toy and always do so in a seated position.

This toy is recommended for ages 2 and up. I bought it for Jacq right around her 2nd birthday and quickly found that she had zero interest in it. However, over the last several months she plays with it almost on a daily basis. She can now recognize her shapes and colors and I think she enjoys playing with it more now simply because she understands it better. She loves the challenge of the puzzle shapes. All in all a great toy and I give high recommendations.

Reach for the Sky!

2009-06-29T21:03:00.011-07:00

This has to be the most messy, goopy, and fun craft so far. So much thanks to Allie at No time for flash cards.
Her blog is by far my favorite arts and crafts blog. I love all her ideas and her son is the same age as Jacq so they are always age appropriate activities.

Shoot for the Moon

You will need:
1/2 cup of glue
1 1/2 cups shaving cream
craft paper ( I used a brown paper bag)
a marker
scissors

Start by drawing a moon (in any phase)

Mix your glue and shaving cream.

Let your child spread the mixture on the paper. Don't worry about them staying within the circle, you will cut it out when it dries. This was by far Jacq's favorite thing so far.

Here is the finished product. I love how it turned out! I put it on Jacq's ceiling in her room right above her bed.

Montessori Monday-Learning to transfer

2009-06-29T20:22:00.006-07:00

In honor of my favorite teaching style I have decided to start a weekly post to share some of our favorite Montessori activities. Each monday I will highlight a different activity, website, article, etc. Any and all things Montessori.

For those of you not familiar with Montessori, here is a little excerpt that I got from wikipedia.

The premises of a Montessori approach to teaching and learning include the following:

That children are capable of self-directed learning.

That it is critically important for the teacher to be an "observer" of the child instead of a lecturer. This observation of the child interacting with his or her environment is the basis for the continuing presentation of new material and avenues of learning.
Presentation of subsequent exercises for skill development and information accumulation are based on the teacher's observation that the child has mastered the current exercise(s).

That there are numerous "sensitive periods" of development (periods of a few weeks or even months), during which a child's mind is particularly open to learning specific skills or knowledge such as crawling, sitting, walking, talking, reading, counting, and various levels of social interaction. These skills are learned effortlessly and joyfully. Learning one of these skills outside of its corresponding sensitive period is certainly possible, but can be difficult and frustrating.

That children have an "absorbent mind" from birth to around age 6, possessing limitless motivation to achieve competence within their environment and to perfect skills and understandings. This phenomenon is characterized by the young child's capacity for repetition of activities within sensitive period categories, such as exhaustive babbling as language practice leading to language competence.

That children are masters of their school room environment, which has been specifically prepared for them to be academic, comfortable, and to encourage independence by giving them the tools and responsibility to manage its upkeep.

That children learn through discovery, so didactic materials with a control for error are used. Through the use of these materials, which are specific to Montessori schools (sets of letters, blocks and science experiments) children learn to correct their own mistakes instead of relying on a teacher to give them the correct answer.

That children most often learn alone during periods of intense concentration. During these self-chosen and spontaneous periods, the child is not to be interrupted by the teacher.

That the hand is intimately connected to the developing brain in children. Children must actually touch the shapes, letters, temperatures, etc. that they are learning about--not just watch a teacher or TV screen tell them about these discoveries.

Traditional Montessori classroom have 'open shelves.' This is where the child can find activities and learning tools. There are no lesson plans in Montessori, it is all child lead. There are 6 subjects or 'areas of the classroom' that children can learn from.

Practical Life
This area is designed to help students develop a care for themselves, the environment, and each other. In the Primary years (ages 3–6), children learn how to do things such as: pouring and scooping, using kitchen utensils, washing dishes, polishing objects, scrubbing tables, and cleaning-up. They also learn how to dress themselves, tie their shoes, wash their hands, and other self-care practices. They learn these practical skills through a wide variety of materials and activities.
Although caring for one-self and for one’s environment is an important part of Montessori Practical Life education in these years, it also presumes to prepare the child for more: The activities might build a child’s concentration as well as being designed, in many cases, to prepare the child for writing. For the first three years of life, children absorb a sense of order in their environment. They learn how to naturally act a certain way, by absorbing it. In these ages, 3–6, the children are learning how to both build their own order and to discover, understand, and refine the order they already know. The practical life area teaches language in many forms. Fine motor skills used in the pencil-grip help the child develop that particular grip, in order to later more easily use a pencil.
Strong concentration and attention to detail are typical traits of Montessori-schooled children. Practical life schooling in the elementary years and in the high school years involves many of the same skills, but also begins asserting a greater drive towards community-service-oriented activities.

Sensorial
All learning first comes through the senses. By isolating something that is being taught, the child can more easily focus on it. There are many different Montessori sensorial materials designed to help the child refine the tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory senses. For example, colors are taught with color tablets. The color tablets are all alike, except for one detail — the color in the middle. It helps avoid confusion for the child, and helps him and her focus specifically on: What is “blue”?
Exact phrasing of identifying terms is important, thus, an oval is not an “egg shape”, a sphere is not a “ball”. The Montessori method greatly emphasises using the correct terminology for naming what we see. This is readily apparent in the sensorial area, because, it regularly overlaps into the mathematics area.
The red rods used in the sensorial area schooling are a direct link to the segmented rods used in mathematics taught to one-through-ten year-olds. The pink tower has a connection to units and thousands that the child learns later, in the 3-6 curriculum. Even the trinomial cube will be used in the elementary years to figure out complex mathematical formulae.

Cultural
This includes studies of the world and other cultures. Montessori children achieve early understanding of the concepts of continent, country, and state, and the names of many countries of the world. Montessori method schooling implements include colored maps, to assist the children in remembering continents, countries, and states. More important, the goal is acquiring an understanding of the world’s other cultures and what they offer. When a student learns the map of Asia, pictures, stories, and facts about Asian countries, open many learning opportunities to the child, providing a real sense of the world, and how it is different — even in the same area.
For the elementary years, an in-depth cultural curriculum is implemented. Children begin learning the capital cities of the different states, and begin learning about governments. The Montessori teacher is present as a guide — to help draw-in different aspects for the child to explore and research — rather being the source of all the information. A focus on appreciating and enjoying other cultures is a core part of the cultural curriculum.
The child is free to direct his and her interest in geography, and to expand it via the many other opportunities for learning in different areas of the subject. For example, a boy might decide to study the history of his city, which might begin with early settlers. People might have settled the area because it was near a river. That information might lead the boy to widen his study to include the natural life surrounding the river, and how that might have helped the settlers. The growth rate of the area, in different times, might also be included and presented as a graph. In one cultural lesson, the child, therefore, might include mathematics, science, history, and geography in one study.

Science
The science curriculum takes advantage of the child’s natural questioning and draws a curriculum for the 3–6 age range. Early-childhood age children are very detail-oriented. They know what a bird is. At that age, they want to know the body parts of a bird. They want to know the life cycles of different animals. They begin to observe the parts of a plant, and ask: What are those long things coming out the middle of a flower?

Language
The language curriculum, especially in the early years, includes everything — from vocabulary development to writing to reading. Children learn basic letter-sounds through the use of sandpaper letters; the letters are cut from sandpaper and glued to a wooden board. The child’s tracing the letter implements tactile learning of how the letter feels. The children can also feel if a mistake was made, because of the different texture of the sandpaper from the wooden board. They begin constructing words with a moveable alphabet of wood or plastic letters, before they can actually read words.
Composition, grammar, story-writing, and reports are focused upon in the elementary years. Grammar is taught with hands-on materials. In a 6–9 age range classroom, the child learns about nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions, pronouns, and interjections. The children use grammar symbols for each part of speech. They place the symbols upon a particular part of speech in a sentence. They are:
Noun — large black triangle. A triangle is used because it represents a very sturdy object and something that is concrete.
Article — small, light blue triangle.
Adjective — medium-size, dark-blue triangle. The triangles are used with articles and adjectives because they are part of the noun family.
Verb — Red Circle. The red circle is used because it represents action.
Conjunction — pink line. A pink line represents a ribbon that ties the ideas together.
Preposition — green bridge. A green bridge is used because a preposition connects two nouns, bridging their relationship.
Adverb — smaller orange circle. Since the adverb is related to the verb, it also is a circle.
Interjection — a golden object, like an exclamation point or key hole.
In the 9–12 age range classroom, focus is also placed on learning gerunds, abstract nouns, and advanced grammar concepts. The materials are similar to the parts of speech symbols used in the 6–9 age range classroom, but there are additions to them.

Mathematics
Children go from a concrete understanding of mathematics to an abstract understanding of mathematics via mathematical concepts. For example, telling the difference between 1, 10, 100, and 1000, because they have felt it many times. Originally, they felt it in the pink tower, when they were three-year-olds, and, later, in the mathematics materials. The concepts of squares and cubes become concrete in their use of the Montessori Bead Cabinet.
As mentioned, the sensorial area leads very well in to the mathematics area. A girl who attended a 3–6 age range Montessori classroom, likely worked with the educational material named the trinomial cube. Having worked much with it for several years, when she was 3–6, then extensively in the 6–9 classroom, she might be ready to assume another, abstract phase of the trinomial cube. So, rather than working with it as a concrete sensorial material (matching colors, shapes), the girl might be intellectually ready to use it as an abstract material, from the mathematics area, for understanding that: (a+b+c)³ = a³+3a²b+3a²c+b³+3ab²+3b²c+c³+3ac²+3bc²+6abc Later, she then could solve the mathematical equation to learn the cube of a+b+c with different variables, an example of how sensorial area materials overlap into the mathematics area.

My daughter is only 2 (almost 3) so I will be highlighting the most basic Montessori activities. All these activities will be with household items or items that you can find inexpensively. Before we begin I would like share some basic Montessori rules.

-Most activities are done on a tray. This is to define the workspace for your child. Get a plain, simple tray so it is not distracting.

-When you present an activity to your child for the first time, sit down with them to the left of you, right of you if they are left-handed.

-Thoroughly demonstrate the activity to the child before they begin to do it.

We'll start with
Learning to transfer

What you'll need:
2 small bowls
teaspoon
small tray
rice to fill one bowl about half way

Set out the two bowls on the tray with the spoon on the right. Put the rice in the bowl on the left.

Pick up the spoon and begin to transfer the rice from the left bowl to the right bowl, until the bowl is empty.
Remember to always work from left to right as this helps prepare your child for reading.

Reverse the bowls so the bowl with the rice is back on the left. Now pass the tray to your child and let them try.

Remember to let your child do this activity freely. As tempting as it may be don't help them if they seem to struggle. If they get frustrated or upset, simply put the activity away and re-introduce it at a later time.

Homemade Bird Feeders

2009-04-05T10:54:00.006-07:00

Yesterday Jacq and I made these super easy bird feeders. I got the idea for this from my Cheerios Cookbook that I got for Christmas.

What you need:
Sugar ice cream cone
Peanut butter
Knife or spoon to spread the pb
Cheerios
Bird seed
Pipecleaner

Poke a small hole in the bottom of the sugar cone. Tie a knot at one end of your pipecleaner and thread it through the bottom of the ice cream cone with the cone upside down. Like this.

Now spread a layer of pb over the cone and add cheerios.

Now sprinkle on the birdseed. Jacq had fun doing this. We hung ours on our porch. But if you don't want birds on your porch then hang it in a tree!

Our finished product.

Picnic Perfect Sunday and Bug-o-Rama Party

2009-04-05T09:39:00.005-07:00

I am so far behind on my postings. I have oodles of pictures and activities we have done that I want to post. Ahh, I need about 8 more hours in my day!

A few Sundays ago Jacq and I had a wonderful picnic with my mom and step dad at desert breeze. We rode the train and Jacq and Papa Ronnie rode the carousal. Some pics of course!

Last Saturday was Frenchy and Judy's annual bug-o-rama party. Bugorama is a large VW show they hold every year. Frenchy and Judy have a party the day before the big show. As always it was a great turn out and Jacq had a blast! I have never seen her so wound up in my life. She was so excited because it was dark and she got to play outside.

Book Reviews

2009-03-18T14:41:00.010-07:00

As many of you know, I love to read. 2009 has been a slow year so far in the reading department as I have only read 4 books so far. And 1 of the 4 I had started at the end of 2008. I thought it would be a good idea to review the books I read as I finish them. This will also help me keep track of which books I have already read. If you are an avid reader like myself then I would highly recommend you check out shelfari.com. Its an amazing resource for people with addictions such as mine. The site allows to have a virtual bookshelf where you can add books you're read and books you want to read. As well as books you own, favorites and you can rate and write reviews for the book. Now whenever I hear of a good book, I log into my shelfari and add it to my 'to be read' list and I know I can refer back to it at any time. You can also join groups and have 'friends'. Much like on myspace. Only these people want book recommendations and reviews and nothing else!

As the year continues I will post each review individually as I finish the book. Seeing as I only have 4 under my belt for the year so far, I will do a brief review of each. I am not very good at actually describing what the book is about. More so what you will get is what I thought of the book.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This is a book I started in '08 and finished in January '09. It was slow to start and took my awhile to get into. I'm glad I stuck with it though because I absolutely loved it. It is set in England and has many wonderful stories woven throughout it. The author does an amazing job building the characters and her explanations of the scenery make you feel like you are right there. I would recommend this book highly.

4 out of 5 bookmarks!

Comeback a mother's and daughter's journey through hell and back by Claire and Mia Fontaine

This book was just ok to me. I was draw in right away but about halfway through I felt it started to drag. No doubt it's a great story and excellent example of how a mother's love never ceases no matter what your child does. I just thought some it was a little too much. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it.

3 out of 5 bookmarks!

Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman

I picked this book up at the used book sale I go to every year in Phoenix. It had the big, fat price tag of a buck so I threw it in my suitcase. I am so glad I did. It was excellent. If I would have read what it was about I might have not even considered it. Really not my typical kind of book. To me its a book about losing yourself and everything you love only to realize what a mistake it was. I highly recommend this book.

4 out 5 bookmarks!

The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman

After reading Here on Earth and loving it so much I quickly went to the library to see what else I could get by Alice Hoffman. I picked up a newer one. I was not disappointed. This book tells the story of 4 different woman and each one is connected even thought they never know it. I would highly recommend this book. Alice Hoffman is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

4 out of 5 bookmarks!

Right now I am about a 1/4 way into While I was gone by Sue Miller. So far, so good.

We went for a walk...

2009-03-14T13:42:00.004-07:00

.... and this is what I was able to capture.

Girls love dirt!

2009-03-14T12:55:00.005-07:00

What can I say? My little girl loves to get dirty. Of course this was right before we were going to leave so I had to give her a quick bath first. She didn't get too dirty but only because I stopped her before she could. Enjoy the pics!

Phoenix Children's Museum

2009-03-06T13:56:00.011-07:00

I got jealous of Marc and Jacq having all the fun without me on Fridays. So I took a Friday off. We went to the children's museum in Phoenix. It was awesome! It is by far my favorite place to take Jacq in all the valley. It's big, clean, age appropriate and very hands on. Marc was worried and he thought it was going to be boring and we would just have to suffer through the few hours there. But he even liked the place and had a good time. We were joined by my friend Jill, her hubby Jimmy and their two daughters, Ella and Ryen. I have a lot of pics and can't wait to go back to get more!

Dominick's Birthday Party

2009-03-01T15:13:00.004-07:00

Jacq and I were invited to a birthday party today. It was Dominick's 2nd birthday and it was a great party. His mom, Carina, is a real life super-woman. She has 4 kids. Her youngest being just over 3 weeks old. The woman looks amazing and pulled off quite the birthday party. Way to go Carina! My hero! Here are some pics from the party.

Random Picture Post!

2009-02-28T20:09:00.007-07:00

It seems like I haven't been taking many pictures lately, but believe me I have. I just haven't been posting them. I really want to do more family photo shoots especially since the weather is warming up. So if you want a free session, please let me know. Here are a few of my favorite pics from this week.

We have a big wood chest by our front window. Jacq loves to get on it and bark out the window or act like a lion and growl. Its awesome when people are walking by and my daughter is barking at them from the window. One good thing about it is that the lighting is great!

Today she was being just a little too quite in her room. I went in to check on her and found her among piles of books as she read. Just melted my heart and of course I ran for the camera.

I was trying out my new portable stand and some different materials as backdrops. Jacq wouldn't stay still so I got her Baby Abby doll. That helped keep her a little more stationary and provided for some cute photos.

Outdoor Fun

2009-02-24T19:31:00.006-07:00

The weather was beautiful today. I think it was in the 80's. I got off work early so when Jacq and I got home we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and get outside. She hasn't been feeling well so I didn't want to go for a walk or the to park. I decided to let her finger paint and she had a blast.

Jill- These pictures are for you!

Jacq broke out on this weird rash on her arms, and parts of her legs and face. You can see it in some of these pics. I gave her some benadryl and it cleared up but boy did it look ugly!

A Day with Dad

2009-02-14T18:00:00.008-07:00

So Marc has Fridays off. He has had Fridays off for about 4 weeks now. Every Friday him and Jacq have their very own daddy and me adventure. One week it was the zoo, the next week toy town. Every morning starts with breakfast at Five and Diner and then continues on from there. Yesterday they visited dad's work and then dad decided to get sweet and bake cupcakes! Him and Jacq went and bought their supplies and came home and spent the afternoon making valentine's day cupcakes for me and the grandparents. They are so cute! Here are the pics.

The Supplies!

The finished product!

It was so cool to come home from work and see that they had such a fun, productive day together. Thank you Marc and Jacq, I love my cupcakes!

Veggie Art

2009-02-08T13:50:00.006-07:00

Jacq thought this was silly and fun!

What you need:
Paper plate (for your paint)
Paint
Construction paper
Fruit & Veggies cut in half

You can use whatever foods you have. We used an apple, orange, cucumber and broccoli. Potatoes and fun too because you can cut shapes into them.

Use a plate to pour your paint onto.

Pretty basic instructions here. Use your food as your 'paintbrush'. Show your child how to do a sponge paint-like motion with the food so they are 'stamping' it and not painting. Jacq had fun doing this. And after we used the other halves of the fruit to make smoothes!

Watercolor Art

2009-02-08T13:36:00.010-07:00

I have been doing crafts and cooking a lot lately. I just haven't been blogging them. So I am taking advantage of this rainy Sunday and Jacq taking a nap, to get caught up.

I can't find the link to where I saw the idea for this. I'll look for it some more and try to post it later.

What you need:

Watercolor paper
Watercolors
Cups (for water)
Paintbrushes
Contact paper
Frame (optional)

With your contact paper cut out a letter (we used ''J" for Jacqueline) and adhere it to the paper. Make sure you press really hard to eliminate bleeding of the watercolors.

Next, let your child watercolor all over the paper. Set aside to let dry completely.

When it is done peel the contact paper from the paper. Now you have a beautiful piece of art! I went to Michael's and found a frame for $8. We put this up in the living room and Jacq shows it to everyone who comes over.

As you can see it did bleed a little under the contact paper but it still looks great.
Here is a portrait of the artist.

Recipe: Parmigiano-Reggiano Crusted Chicken

2009-02-08T13:11:00.009-07:00

This recipe is fantastic. I got it from Rachel Ray magazine. Whenever I make it I have to make a double batch because Marc always wants seconds.

What you need:
1/4 c flour
2 eggs
1 1/4 c grated parm-reggiano cheese
3 tbl olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to about 1/4 inch thick

Jacq always likes to help me cook dinner. There really wasn't much for her to do here since this dish is so easy. So I let her pour the dry ingredients onto plates for me while I pounded the chicken.

Pour your flour onto one plate and your cheese onto another.
*TIP: For easy clean up, use paper plates!

Get a medium skillet and add your evoo to the pan and turn to medium heat. Next crack your eggs into a bowl and lightly beat it. Make your assembly line. Flour first, then egg then the cheese.

Take each chicken breast and coat with egg then the flour. Then coat with the cheese. Give the cheese some firm presses so it sticks. Add to the skillet and cook each side until golden, about 7 mins per side.

Delish! Here is what it looked like right before I plated it.

Enjoy!

Make a: Robot Magnet

2009-01-31T15:57:00.008-07:00

This isn't a craft or project for the kiddos. It's something mom can make during naptime and the kiddos can enjoy when they wake up.

What you need:
Several pieces of foam. 2 or 3 different colors.
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaner
Embellishments (optional)
Magnet strips
Scissors
Glue

Cut out your robot body. I cut out one big square for the body, a smaller one for the head. 2 arms and 2 legs.

I used a pencil to wind some black pipe cleaner around. These will be antennae.

I glued on googly eyes, used some star embellishments that I had and 2 pieces of foam. One for the mouth and one on the body. I set it all aside to dry.

After it was dried, I put the magnetic strips on. I bought the self adhesive ones to make it easier on myself.

I love, love, love this idea! I saw it here.

Here is the finished product. It dried and I put it on the fridge. Jacq noticed it as soon as she woke up and has been playing with it all afternoon!

Bzzzz-y Bee!

2009-01-18T16:23:00.006-07:00

I'm back in the crafting spirit! I wasn't sure what theme I wanted to use for our craft yesterday. It's winter and I found a ton of cute snowflakes, snowmen, and cold weather crafts. But we live in Arizona and it was 77 degrees yesterday! So none for those seem fitting. I gave Jacq some options and she picked this adorable paper plate bee to make.

What you need:
Paper plate
Yellow paint
Black foam board (can also use black paper or paint)
Glue
Scissors
Wax paper
Googly eyes (optional)

Have your child paint the plate yellow. Set aside to dry.

I didn't get any pics while we were assembling our bee but here is Jacq with the finished product.

While the plate is drying, cut of the bees stripes using foam board. If you don't have foam you can use black paper or paint the stripes on.

When the plate is dry, glue your stripes on. Cut out a little triangle with the foam and glue it on as the tail. Glue on your eyes as well. If you don't have googly eyes, you can draw some on. Also, draw on a mouth. Allow all this to dry.

While the glue is drying, use the wax paper to cut out wings. Then apply them as well. Now, you're done!

This turned out so cute! I am going to add a cardboard strip to the inside of the plate. That way Jacq can slip her hand in there and flap the bee around to make it fly! The glue hadn't dried all the way on the wings yet, but you get the idea.

Just for fun

2009-01-18T16:09:00.004-07:00

I realized I haven't been posting any pictures of Jacq lately. I am using my flickr mainly for clients now so I am sure you all are going through Jacq withdrawal. Here are a few I took today.

And I'll throw one of Cooper in just for fun!

Display it!

2009-01-15T21:27:00.003-07:00

Children love to see their artwork displayed. It gives them a great sense of pride and accomplishment. I have seen several ways to display your kid's art. Once Jacq starts actually drawing pictures I plan to frame them every so often. In the meantime, I found this neat idea. The best part is you only need 3 supplies!

For this I used a wired ribbon, some thumb tacks and clothespins. Just cut the ribbon to whatever length you desire, tack it up on the wall and use clothespins to hang your child's art. I hung this over Jacq's bed and she loves to show people when they come over to our house.

Recipe: Chicken & Biscuits

2009-01-10T18:32:00.011-07:00

So here it is, Saturday night and I am blogging. Normal for a working mom of a 2 year old. What else do we have to do on Saturday nights? Only tonight my mom has Jacq for the entire night. But I have an hour to kill before Marc and I head out to dinner so why not share a recipe with you?

For this recipe you will need:
1 can (10oz) cream of chicken soup
3/4c sour cream, divided
2c cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
1 pkg frozen mixed veggies, thawed ( you can use canned)
1c shredded cheddar cheese
1c bisquick
3 tbsp milk

1. Heat your oven to 375 degrees. In an 8 inch baking dish mix soup, 1/2c sour cream, chicken, veggies and cheese.
I let Jacq help with dinner anyway she can. For this dish she sprinkled in the cheese and stirred all the ingredients together.

2. Place bisquick in a medium bowl. Add remaining 1/4c sour cream and milk. Stir until stiff dough forms.
*note: I found this only made enough for about 4 biscuits so I doubled the recipe for the dough and it was perfect.

3. Drop by heaping tablespoons into 6 mounds to form biscuits onto of your chicken mixture. Bake 35 mins or until biscuits are golden brown.

Here is the end result.

As a side dish this night we had a red potato and green been saute that was delicious! I don't have time to write out the whole recipe but you can find it right here.

I omitted the basil and used bacon instead. It's now a regular dish in our house.

Here is Jacq helping me wash the green beans.

Here is what the dish looked liked.

Ok, I'm off to dinner with my honey. Yeah for date nights! And yeah for Grandma's who babysit so mom and dad can have a date night!

Our day with Paxton

2008-12-30T18:56:00.012-07:00

We had such a fun day today. I was off and I watched my friend Amanda's son, Paxton. Him and Jacq are only 8 months apart so they make great playtime partners. They had so much fun together. I was really nervous about having 2 toddlers in my home, but it was a lot easier then I anticipated. We had a blast.

Organize it!

2008-12-27T22:09:00.009-07:00

So I have been off for 4 days and vowed to use that time to organize my house. My house is usually clean but cluttered. I have neat little piles of things everywhere! It was getting out of control. The toys, oh the toys! I thought I was prepared. Before Christmas I cleaned out Jacq's room and closet, got rid of a bunch of toys to make room for the new ones. I guess I didn't get rid of enough. After Christmas there were just piles of new things to put away. I also have quite the collection of magazines 'neatly' piled about. I'll save a whole magazine for just a few recipes that I saw inside.

Here is what my cook book/recipe cabinet looked like before...

Here is what it looks like now!

I went through all my magazines and tore out the recipes that I like. Then I got a binder and some dividers. I have 10 categories; chicken dinners, pork dinners, beef dinners, crock pot, sides, soups and starters, pastas, desserts, misc and 'this week'. 'This week' is in the very front and I put one week worth of recipes in it. Then I make my grocery list from that section and I know I everything I need for dinner all week. Here is what my binder looks like.

We have this really big shelf from Ikea in our living room. It's this one if anyone cares. The bottom two rows are dedicated to Jacq's toys, books, crayons, etc. I didn't take a before picture but wish I would have. You wouldn't recognize it. Here is the after.

I feel so much better. Tomorrow I am doing my bedroom closet. Yikes!

Made by Mommy

2008-12-14T20:17:00.008-07:00

Jacq and I haven't been very crafty lately. I did make this really cute Christmas garland on my own though. I saw something similar in The Land of Nod catalog. I looked at them and thought they were so cute. I also thought, 'hey! I can make that!' What do you all think? I think I am going to add a few more to it each year. Maybe someday it will wrap around my whole living room!
Here is a link to my inspiration. http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=9608&f=4819&pc=113

Noble Fir

2008-12-14T20:05:00.006-07:00

We got our first Christmas tree today! Yah! Last year we didn't get one because I was too worried that Jacq would pull it on top of her. The year before she was only 3 months old and we lived in a house with roommates. Jacq had a good time decorating it but I think Marc liked it even more. Of course, I have pictures!

Is it over yet?

2008-12-04T20:08:00.003-07:00

This has been such a long week. Not really much going on out of the norm. Working, cooking dinner. All the same. It is just one of those weeks that seems to drag. Oh well. Tomorrow is Friday and I am going Christmas shopping after work. I hope to get a majority of it done. I hate waiting until the last minute. Not much to write about. Jaqc and I went out and played a bit today. Here are the pics.

The Reject Christmas Card Photos

2008-12-01T22:02:00.005-07:00

So being the super mom that I am, I have yet to get our Christmas cards made. I was just going to order some from snapfish but then changed my mind and thought that making them myself might be fun. After playing around in photoshop for what seemed like hours, I decided against that! I took some pics the other day that I planned on using for the cards but now I think I am not doing cards at all. Maybe the regular paper cards. But I just don't have it in me to send out cards this year. So if you are a friend or family member and don't get a card from us, don't be offended. No one got cards this year! Sorry people. I would hate to deprive you of the beauty that is my child. So here are the pics that I was going to use.

Sneak Peek

2008-11-30T01:14:00.010-07:00

So today I went to my friend Jill's house and took pictures of her beautiful family! I was really excited to do this and had a lot of fun. It also showed me just how much I have to learn. Here are a few of my favorites.

I hope Jill likes them considering I am posting them for everyone to see!
I really want to improve my photography skills so if anyone is interested in letting me take pics of your kids or family, let me know. Right now I just want the practice so it's FREE!

I'm still stuffed

2008-11-28T09:06:00.007-07:00

Seriously. I ate so much yesterday I think I should be ok not to eat through the weekend. We went over to Marc's parents house. It was fun to have everyone around. Jacq was a little grumpy but she did start to walk! Just got up and took off across the living room and into the kitchen. Yeah. Here are some pics.

Frenchy carving the bird.

After turkey naptime.

Monochrome Monday!

2008-11-24T21:26:00.004-07:00

Mondays are pretty boring. Back to work, nothing good on prime time tv, and I have to go to bed early to get up on time tomorrow. Nothing really to post about so I thought I would post some pics. All these were taken tonight with my new bad ass lens that I bought myself. You can tell I am adjusting to the focus but this baby is awesome. Enjoy!

Back in action

2008-11-23T14:08:00.005-07:00

As I posted last week we haven't been doing much in the way of crafts lately. This is the first weekend without the cast so naturally it was time to dive back in. I found a few cute Thanksgiving crafts but really wanted to do something where Jacq could just have fun and the activity wasn't so structured. I also thought it would be nice to get her outside. The doctor told us no parks, slides, swings, etc for 3 weeks. She also still isn't walking. I figured some good old fashion finger painting fun was in order. So here ya go!

TIP: Reuse yogurt cups to hold your paints. Applesauce cups work well too!

As you can imagine it was straight to the bathtub after this. She had a blast and it was nice to spend some time outside. For those of you not in Arizona, yes it is late November and its still warm enough to sit outside half naked.

Alt-Sexy

2008-11-22T14:41:00.012-07:00

So we are all familiar with the usual rounds of hunks. Brad Pitt, Justin Timberlake, Matt Damon. Well what about all the other guys? There are plenty of hotties out there that don't land in People magazines "World's Most Beautiful People" or whatever it is. So here are a few of my favorite alternative hotties.

Sexy Nerds

Wether they are one in real life or just play one on tv, these nerds are hot!

Adam Brody

The lovable emo listening, comic book reading nerd better known as Seth Cohen on the OC.

Rivers Cuomo

The lead singer of Weezer, Cuomo graduated from Harvard University Phi Betta Kappa.

Zachary Levy

I'll admit that I don't watch Chuck. But every-time I see a picture of cutie Zachary I tell myself I am going to start.

Sexy Chefs

Tyler Florence

This food tv network star is hot in and out of the kitchen!

Rocco DiSpirito

This guy sometimes gets a bad rap and is labeled a jerk and playboy. Be that as it may it doesn't take away from the fact that he is a hottie.

Sexy Dads

My favorite category by far. There is something so incredibly intriguing about a family man.

Matt Pryor

Ok, ok. This guy is like consuming my life lately. He is the singer for several bands. The Get Up Kids, The New Amsterdams and the children's band The Terrible Twos. He is the father of 3. I would be more then happy to make it 4.

Gavin Rossdale

All I have to say is that Gwen Stefani is one lucky woman.

Justin Chambers

We all know Grey's Anatomy has one of the hottest casts on tv. In my opinion Justin is the reason for that. He has been married to his wife for 13 years and they have 5 kids!

So who did I miss? Who are your favorites?

The cast is off!

2008-11-19T21:18:00.007-07:00

So today we went to the orthopedic doctor. They took an xray and determined that Jacq's cast was ready to be cut off. Whooooot!
She started crying as soon as the saw turned on. It is loud and just scared her. She was fine by the time we walked out of the office. But I think that is thanks to the lollipop she got. She can't walk on it yet. The doc said it will be sore and achy for a few days. She is standing up but when she tries to take a step she whimpers and then gets down and crawls. Oh well, it will come. Here are a few pics from tonight.

The best part. Being able to take regular baths again!

The only bummer is still no swings, slides, parks, jumping, etc. for 3 weeks. Oh well, if thats what it takes to keep her out of another cast I'm all for it.

Keep your fingers crossed

2008-11-18T21:31:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow morning is our appointment with the orthopedic doctor. Hopefully the cast will be coming off tomorrow. If not, worse case scenario, it's on for one more week. Ugh, one more week of sponge bathing, no thanks.

Recipe: Orange-Balsamic Chicken Thighs

2008-11-18T18:13:00.008-07:00

I found this recipe in the latest issue of Rachael Ray magazine. I improvised a little. All in all it was really good. Tasted like something from a restaurant. At the request of Marc next time I will use breast instead of thighs. He informed me that he "is a breast man". Like I didn't already know that.

The recipe doesn't call for this but I marinated my chicken in...

- hoisin sauce
- rice vinigar
- soy sauce
- garlic powder
- dash of water

What you need
- 8 boneless/skinless chicken thighs cut into quarters
- 2 tbl evoo
- 1/4c balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 orange marmalade (I used apricot b/c I had it on hand)

1. Put evoo in pan and heat to med-high

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the skillet. Cook the chicken until crispy and brown about 8-10 mins. Transfer to a platter.

3. Whisk the balsamic vinegar and marmalade into the skillet, scrapping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Lower the heat and simmer for 1 minute until bubbly.

4. Return the chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce. I served this over brown rice and with a side of edamame.

Thanks Rachael Ray for this great recipe. You might have annoying phrases like "Yum-O" but you sure can cook!

Is that what Autumn is suppose to look like?

2008-11-18T18:01:00.005-07:00

My dad lives here in Arizona but is currently residing in Clifton Park, NY. We are oh so proud of him and his great new job as a mechanical engineer for General Electric. Only downfall is that they have a 4 month program and it's in NY. So we haven't seen him for 3 months! Good thing is that the time is almost up and he'll be home in time for Christmas. A few weeks ago he sent me these amazing pictures of the landscape there. I couldn't believe it. Being from California you have a little more of a change in seasons then we do here. But nothing like this. I've now put a trip to the east coast in autumn on my list of things to do before I die. Everyone should experience this beauty.

How cool is this? The restaurant from the movie Mystic Pizza!

We're so proud of you dad and can't wait to see you! Miss ya!

Where the heck have you been?!

2008-11-16T15:55:00.017-07:00

I know, I know. It's been awhile since my last post. Its just been one of those whirlwind months where I feel I have been so busy but when I think about what I've been doing my mind is blank. Well I guess the main thing I have been doing is taking care of a 2 year old with a broken leg. Yes, Jacq broke her little tibia. It was a tuesday evening just like any other. Jacq and dad were on the floor playing while I was getting dressed in my bedroom. Next thing I know I hear that scream that every mother knows means, "mom, I'm really hurt." She had jumped off Marc's back and just landed the wrong way. Our friend Tiffany was here too and her and Marc both said they heard her leg snap. Thank goodness I wasn't in the room when it happened. I would have FREAKED! So off to the ER we went. And after waiting only 4 short hours in the waiting room while my poor baby screamed in pain, we walked (well Jacq was carried) out with a casted leg and a prescription for baby pain meds. The 2 weeks that followed were hell. I thought someone was playing a trick on me. Where had my oh so sweet toddler gone? I felt like she was auditioning for the lead role in The Exorcist. Something that is slowing being taken over by the devil. The tantrums were unbelievable. She couldn't walk or crawl so she was very frustrated by that. Thats all better now and I don't think I will need to contact the local catholic church and search the aisles of costco for holy water anymore. We go to the orthopedics on Wednesday. They will take an x-ray and (fingers crossed) remove the cast. Here she is on the day after it happened. And one recently with the ever so fashionable hot pink couture fiber glass piece.

What else have I been up to? Reading. Lots of reading. In the last month I have read 4 books. Which might be like a weekends worth for some people, but feels like half a library to me. I love to read but working 5 days a week makes that very difficult. When I get off work and get home it's time to play with Jacq and Cooper (my dog), cook dinner, clean up dinner, get Jacq ready for bed and then atlas, read. So I get maybe an hour or two a night before I drift of into la la land and then wake up and do it all over again. Just like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Only I'm a lot cuter.

We did some really cute halloween crafts and I am so mad at myself for not posting them BEFORE halloween. But they were just too cute not to show so I am posting pics of them anyways. My sister Cassie and our friend Tiffany came over and we had a super craft weekend. That was before the broken leg. Since the wounded appendage we have done zero crafts. Most crafts involve paint or glue which in turn involve a bath immediately after. I don't want to get started on bathing a 2 year old with a fiberglass leg but lets just say its not fun. Anywho- here are a few of our crafting marvels. I got all the ideas here.

I wish I had some Thanksgiving crafts to post but until peg leg regains use of her stub, no crafts. So I haven't been blogging, I haven't been doing crafts, I haven't been taking nearly as many pictures as normal. What the hell is going on?! For one thing the snowbirds have returned. I know we have all heard of shopping season, flu season, hurricane season. One you may not have heard is cataract season. That special time of year when our senior citizens realize that everything they use to see in bright, vivid colors is now dull and grey. Like an emo kid's life. So they come to my work and we yank those cataracts right out for them. Then they can see those bingo cards and read their medicine tubes. No more accidently thinking that ben gay tube is your denture cream! Yeah! What all this means for me is that I am busy at work. In the summertime I can usually swing a day off here and there. Go home an hour or two early a few days a week. Not in the winter. Well I hope to get back into the swing of things. I think I'm off to a good start.

Edit: Apparently I had already posted those halloween crafts. Just goes to show you how my mind has been working, or not working, lately.

Halloween Craft Takeover

2008-10-26T09:47:00.005-07:00

We were busy little craft bees a few weekends ago. Ok, about a month ago. My sister Cassie and our good friend Tiffany came over and we got done to business. I wasn't able to take the step by step pics forl the crafts. Also, I am not posting instructions but the website where I found these and a ton of other great ideas is here.

Here are a Bat-O-Lanterns. You can learn how to make them here.

How cute are these little Pipe Cleaner Spiders?! And they are SO easy! Learn how to make them here.

We had a great time making these. I hope you all do too!

Our Trip To California

2008-10-11T21:20:00.007-07:00

Jacqueline and I took a week long trip to California. Marc couldn't take the time off so he stayed behind. We missed him and he missed us. One night before bed Jacq and I were reading Pat the Bunny. There is one page that talks about daddy's scratchy face. When we read this page at home she always goes up to Marc and feels his face. Well, when we read it this night and daddy wasn't around, she looked up at me with her bottom lip all pouty and said in a sad little voice, "Daddy, home?" It broke my heart! She missed him very much.
Even though we missed Marc we made the best of it and had a great time. We left on the evening of her birthday. Marc took the day off and we spent it all together. We started by taking her to Toy Town. She loves that place. Then we went out to breakfast and got some bagels. After that we headed over to Baskin Robbins and she enjoyed a scoop of ice cream. Lastly, we took her to see Wall E. It was the first time she had ever gone to the cinema. She did excellent and really enjoyed the movie. She was already into robots and after seeing that movie her interest has only grown. We went home and she took her nap. After that Marc took us to the airport. I thought I was so prepared. I had a whole carry on bag with new toys, books and activities. She lasted about 20 mins in her seat. After that she did not want to be buckled, or stay in her seat. So the plane ride was a little trying. But we survived. On the way home she slept the entire ride. I was very thankful for that.
We stayed the first 3 days with my best friend, her hubby and their adorable baby girl in San Jose. We took the kiddos to the aquarium in Monterey and to Denise the Menace park. Both places I use to go as a child! We were also able to visit my Uncle Keith and his wife, Tammy. It was so great to see them and for them to meet Jacqueline. Then we headed up north a little to my Aunt Jackie's. There Jacqueline got to meet not only her but my Uncle Herman, cousins Lizzy and Jacob and my Papa Don. We had a blast with them. We went to half moon bay and Jacq got to play on the beach for the first time ever.
Here are some pics from our trip.
Enjoy!

I have attempted to post this about 4 different times. Blogger is not uploading pics for some reason. So I used Flickr and that is why some of the pics are not cropped correctly.

Jacqueline's 2nd Birthday!

2008-10-11T21:13:00.002-07:00

So it's been a long while since I have posted. A lot has happened since my last post. Jacq and I went on a week long vacation, she took her very first plane ride and she turned 2! No big birthday party this year. Just family and few close friends for a bbq and cake and ice cream of course. We celebrated her bday at Grandma Judy's & Papa Frenchy's house. This seems to be the tradition.
Here are a few pictures from the party.

My camera battery died half way through the day so I don't have a lot to share. Luckily all the other relatives took plenty of them.

Toddler Activity: Sorting Objects

2008-10-05T20:33:00.004-07:00

This activity is inspired by the Montessori teaching method. Very easy and all the materials are things you can find around the house.

I gathered 6 sets of different objects. I use different things every time I do this activity.
This time I used
-Plastic Spiders
-Hair Barrettes
-Bow Tie Pasta
-Crayons
-Jingle Bells
-Alphabet Magnets
I used a muffin tin for the sorting. With your child watching, place one of each of the objects in each section of the muffin tin. Now let your little do the rest!

Gentle Jellyfish

2008-09-20T12:36:00.009-07:00

Jacqueline and I leave for our trip to california in 3 days! I am beyond excited. We are going to the San Jose area. My bff, her hubby and adorable baby girl live there. We will be staying with her for a few days and then traveling up north a little ways to stay with my Aunt Jackie and her family for a few more days. Jacqueline was named after Marc's grandmother Jacqueline and also my aunt Jackie. My Aunt Jackie and her family have yet to meet my Jacqueline so this trip is long overdue. My Papa Don, who is my only living grandparent also lives there and I am so excited to see him and have him meet Jacq.

We fly in on Tuesday, which is Jacq's 2nd bday! Wednesday Janna and I are taking our little princesses to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Growing up in Salinas just about every field trip I took as a child was to the aquarium. It's a very special place to me with lots of great memories. I am very happy to be able to share this with my daughter. My mom and step dad are also visiting California so the they will be joining us at the aquarium. Yeah!

So now to the craft....
In honor of our visit to the aquarium we made Jellyfish yesterday. They were very easy and Jacq loves playing with it.
I got this idea from the No Time For Flashcards blog.

What you need.

-Paper plate or coffee filters
-Markers
-Glue
-Glitter (optional)
-Wrapping paper (non seasonal looks best)

First let your child color on the coffee filter.

Fold your coffee filter in half. Here is what ours looked like after I added some glitter to it.

Now fold the wrapping paper like a fan and cut it in strips against your folds.

Now glue the 'tentacles' to the body and let dry. Here is our finished product.

My cute, I mean cool, brother

2008-09-20T12:32:00.005-07:00

Last weekend my little brother, Kyle was nice enough to show me some really cool spots in Phoenix to get some good urban photos. But it's not really fun taking a picture of just a bright, colorful wall. It's much more interesting when I throw his cute butt in front of it and make him play model for the day. Here are a few of the shots we got.

I learned a new trick

2008-09-14T09:12:00.008-07:00

So a few months back I bought myself a nifty SLR digital camera. It was a small fortune for anyone in my income bracket. I felt very guilty about my purchase for awhile. But I absolutely love taking pictures. I'm not that good at it yet and I have a lot to learn. I definitely don't get out to shoot as often as I would like. Mainly because it's so stinkin' hot here. It is finally cooling down (i don't think it reached 100 degrees yesterday) so I will be going out a lot more. Today for example I am going out with my good friend Tiffany and my oh so uber cool brother.
Yesterday I gave photoshop a try. I really wanted to try playing with some textures. I wasn't sure how it would turn out because I had never used photoshop before and I know there are so many different aspects to it. Being as smart as I am, I was able to get the basics down pretty fast. I should also credit my wonderful boyfriend Marc. He went to graphic design school and knows photoshop inside and out. So he was a big help. I was surprisingly happy with the results. I'll just keep at it and hope to continue to improve. Here is what I got so far.

Grandparent's Day Craft Project: Grandchild Garden

2008-09-07T17:16:00.014-07:00

Today is Grandparent's Day. Jacq is very lucky to have 3 grandmas and 3 grandpas. She loves them all very much and to show her love and appreciation we made these beautiful flower pots. There are a lot of steps but the end result is well worth it.

What you need:
Cupcake liners
Terra cotta plant pot
Popsicle sticks
Waterpaint
Glue
Glitter
Green paint
Green pipe cleaner
Scissors
Decorative rocks
Pictures of your little one

First, let your little one paint the cupcake liners. I used pastel colored liners and found it was easier to paint the insides because the outside is so coated in wax.

Set aside and let them dry. Next paint the popsicle sticks green.

Now add some glue to the cupcake liners. I did polka dots and squiggly lines. Set aside and let dry.

Let it all dry completely. Next use pipecleaner and wrap it around the popsicle sticks to look like leaves.

Now let your child fill the pot with rocks. You can really fill it with anything. The rocks did make it quite heavy. Next time I think I will use a styrofoam block and fill the rest in with rocks.

After the cupcake liners are dry, cut the pics of your child so they fit in the middle of the liners.

Glue the popsicle sticks to the liners. When they are dry 'plant' them in the pot. I trimmed the liners so they looked more like flowers. I also wrote 'Your love makes me grow everyday" on the pot. Here is the end result.

The grandparents loved it! Happy Grandparents Day to all the nana and papas!

Dancing with daddy

2008-09-07T00:21:00.005-07:00

My little one loves to get down with her bad self and shake her little booty. Sometimes she doesn't even need music. When the mood strikes her she just starts to boogie. Here is a perfect example. Last weekend in grandma and grandpa's kitchen. No music, but she did find a partner.

Testing Katie's Theory

2008-09-03T16:50:00.003-07:00

These are my brother's new super cute puppies. I already forgot their names. But I know they were kinda lame but he says he can't change them because the dogs are already use to them.

I hope this works. If it doesn't I am going to poison her dog with toad juice.

Foto Fun Weekend

2008-09-02T21:23:00.003-07:00

So this weekend I got to do something that I absolutely LOVED! I went out with my good friend Tiffany to take pictures. I recently got into photography but living in this god forsaken desert I really have not gone out and explored the town due to the fact that my camera and I would melt. I had SO much fun and learned a lot. The main thing I learned is that I still have SO much to learn. I was not impressed with what we found. The east valley really doesn't have much to offer. Next weekend I am kidnapping my uber hip little brother and making him show me all the 'cool' spots and also do a little modeling for me. I hear he's a cute kid.

Here is what I got.

I can't figure out how to get these the right size so most of them are cut off on the right. Sorry.

When good art projects go bad

2008-09-02T21:10:00.004-07:00

I wasn't feeling very crafty this weekend. I still wanted to do something constructive with Jacq so I thought sponge painting would be an easy, fun idea. Boy was I wrong. I'll let the pictures explain.

Here is my pallet. I took a big sponge and squirted a few colors on it. Then took a normal sponge so she could paint it and then dab it on the poster board. It started out well.

This is where it started to turn.

This was the point of no return.

She had a lot of fun though. It was straight to the bath after this activity. It's only tuesday and I already feel like it is thursday. By thursdays, I am DONE and can't wait for friday to be over. I don't know why I am so tired and have no energy. Don't worry, unfortunately I'm not pregnant. But it would make all the tiredness at least worth it. Oh well, maybe this time next year. Keep your fingers crossed!

ETA: Photobucket is REALLY pissing me off. I have re-uploaded and re-sized all these pics 3 freaking times and a few of them STILL aren't posting right! WTF?

Make Your Own Bathtub Fingerpaints

2008-08-27T09:47:00.004-07:00

I saw this recipe and thought, "huh, why not make one more thing for my kid to create a mess with?" The beauty of this one is that the main ingredient is soap! So really she is making a mess and cleaning it up all at the same time.

What you need:
-1 cup of handsoap for each color you want to make. Clear or white.
-Cornstarch
-Food coloring
- Container for each batch you make. I was puzzled as to what to use. After perusing the aisles at the dollar store, I settled on those squirt bottles you use for condiments. Red for catsup, yellow for mustard and a clear one. That way Jacq could squirt the liquid out and it was already in a storage container to use again.

First, get a bowl and add one cup of soap. One softsoap container equals one cup. Add one teaspoon of cornstarch.

Add a few drops of food color. I added 4 drops per batch.

Mix it all up. I had to work it pretty well to get all the clumps out of the cornstarch.

Then I used a funnel and poured them into the condiment containers. Red in red, yellow in yellow and I did blue in the clear container.

Jacq had a blast with these in the tub. She used some foam brushes and her fingers. There was no staining on the tub or on skin!

Just make sure to give your tub a good rinse after you get your little one out. There was quite a bit of soap reside and could cause your little one to slip the next time they get in the tub.

Ongoing Project: Contact Art

2008-08-25T19:57:00.004-07:00

This is a great project for busy toddlers. Very easy and little mess involved.

What you need:
-Contact Paper
-Scissors
-Scrap paper, tissue paper, stickers, pom poms, etc
I cut out some pictures from magazines, used some goggly eyes and pieces of yarn.
-Masking tape

First cut up tissue paper, wrapping paper, magazines, construction paper, use whatever you have in your craft supplies. I used an empty wipe box to put them in.

Next, find a low, blank spot of a wall. Cut a piece of contact paper (any size you want), tape it to the wall with the sticky side facing out.

Let your little one explore the fun of 'sticky' and adhesive surfaces. Jacq stuck the papers and other objects all over the place.

She didn't try to peel anything off except for the pom poms. So I don't think I'll use those next time.

Here is what it looked like when she was done. I am actually going to leave this up for a few days and keep the box on the floor so she can add to her masterpiece when she feels like it. When it is done I will add another piece of contact paper over it so I can save it.

Craft Time: Grandma's Goldfish Pond

2008-08-24T20:05:00.003-07:00

Today my mom and my step dad came over. My mom use to work with little ones so she had this great craft idea. Jacqueline had a blast and got to spend some quality time with her grandparent's.

What you'll need:
-paper plate
-blue paint
-paintbrush
-aquarium rocks
-glue
-goldfish (i used the colored ones)

First, paint your paper plate blue to act as water.

Next cover the bottom 1/4 or so of the plate with glue.

Start adding the rocks. I added a few round glass stone thingys that I had.

Then put a few drops of glue around the rest of the plate and let your little one stick the goldfish on.

The finished product.

It took a few hours to dry completely. My mom recommended that we punch a hole on the top and use some string to hang it from the ceiling. Thanks mom, we had a great time today!

The Terrible Two's: the video diary

2008-08-21T19:50:00.004-07:00

Jacq had a great time at The Terrible Two's show last night. Here are some videos that prove it. For more on the show, and some pictures, see post below.

Reason #3,798 why my kid rocks!

2008-08-21T19:11:00.003-07:00

Last night I took Jacq to her first show. The band is called The Terrible Twos. The singer for the band is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. Jacq had a great time. She danced the entire show. Here are some pics.

I had so much fun. I really admire the singer, Matt Pryor. I have been listening to his music for over 10 years. It was really special for me to be able to share this with Jacq and for her to respond so well to it. It is defiantly something we will do again.

Can I Please Have Some More?

2008-08-17T07:48:00.001-07:00

Can I Please Have Some More?
Originally uploaded by savestheday5580

I really like this picture. She wanted more chocolate ice cream and thought pouting would get her some. It didn't but she did get to go in the pool so she forgot she even wanted ice cream.

Ladybug, ladybug fly away home

2008-08-17T07:09:00.002-07:00

I found this great craft idea here.

You need:
Red Paint
Paper Plate
Black Construction paper (which I didn't have so I painted white paper black)
Paint Brush
Scissors
Glue
Black pipe cleaner

First let your child paint the back of the paper plate red.

Next cut out the pieces of the body with black construction paper. You'll need a head, some dots and a line that will separate the body.

Then you set all aside and let it dry completely.

Next glue all your paper pieces to the plate. I let Jacq help me with this and she went a little crazy with the glue stick.

Poke 2 little holes for the pipe cleaner and make some antennae. I added googly eyes for fun but it still looks cute even without them.
Here is the final result!

Carwash

2008-08-17T07:06:00.002-07:00

Jacq hasn't been feeling well this weekend so she hasn't got out much. Last night she got a sudden burst of energy. Marc was going to wash his car so we decided to let her help. She had a great time helping dad.

Happy Birthday Baby Nina!

2008-08-14T22:03:00.004-07:00

My friend Adriana had a beautiful baby girl on tuesday. She was kind enough to let me take pictures of her baby at the hospital. She was only hours old. Here are a few of my favs.

They're Creepy and They're Crawly

2008-08-14T15:42:00.004-07:00

If you know me then you know my three biggest fears. Clowns, spiders and water bridges. On tuesday night I was faced with one. I went to let Cooper out to go to the bathroom before I went to bed. When I opened the sliding glass door the disgusting creature in the picture below came running in my house only centimeters from my hand! I instinctively screamed and ran. I was hysterical. I grabbed a chair, scooted it next to a counter in case the spider came after me, and hopped up on it. Marc was in the room and thought there was someone in the backyard or something. When I finally caught my breath enough to let him know it was a spider, he rolled his eyes. At this point I was actually crying. The spider made its way in but thankfully did not go behind the nearby bookshelf or up the way. He was low and in plain view. Instead of killing it instantly like he should have, Marc grabbed the camera. After getting some snapshots, he grabbed the broom and killed it. It was still twitching and I was still crying. So he got a magazine and smashed it and then stomped on it with his foot. Ok. That works for me. Then we flushed him down the toilet. I will not be using that bathroom for awhile.

Here is the creature. As you can see he was about the width of the baseboard. Please excuse the dirty baseboard as we are re-doing that room.

My happy ending.

Later that night, after my heart slowed down and the tears stopped, Marc asked if I would have been more afraid if it were a clown that came through the door. I said only if it was a clown with a knife. Some spiders can be deadly. I suppose if all clowns were like pennywise then I would have said clowns.

Bargain of the Week

2008-08-12T08:32:00.002-07:00

This week the bargain of the week goes to Grandma Judy! We went over to her house for a bbq on sunday and there was a surprise waiting for Jacq. She found this great Little Tykes kitchen at a yard sale for only $15! It looks brand new and had all the accessories. Jacq loves it and I know she will get a lot of use out of it. Thank you Grandma Judy!

Jacq's wardrobe by Gymboree courtesy of Aunt Janna.

New Hair

2008-08-10T21:10:00.003-07:00

I finally found a hair stylist that I like! When I lived in San Diego I fell in love with my hair stylist Joanna. I lived in her salon. When I moved here I was really worried that I would never find anyone that I liked as much as Joanna. Well I was right, until now. Here it is 2.5 years and 5 hair girls later and I finally found the one! Her name is Ashley.
My hair had grown pretty long, just past my shoulders, so I decided to go short again. I really like it. Of course it looked best on friday right after it was done. Never can quite get it the way they do.

Bust a Move

2008-08-10T12:09:00.006-07:00

One of my favorite things to do with Jacq is crank up the radio and dance our butts off. Which is exactly what we did before bed last night to burn off any remaining energy she may of had. I have to admit that she has some pretty sweet moves. I'm sure she gets it from me. I mean, I can do a killer Roger Rabbit. And don't even get me started on my running man. So as you can see by the videos Jacq has a great dance future ahead of her.

I should add that she also has great style in
A. Clothes - She put those bright yellow shorts on backwards and inside out all by herself. She said it was the next big thing.
B. Music - From Ray j to Garth Brooks. The girl has eclectic taste in music.

Caterpillar Craft Time

2008-08-09T18:46:00.003-07:00

I found this really cute craft on this blog. It's such a great blog with so many great ideas for little ones.

I didn't take as many pics I would have liked. I learned just how difficult craft time with a toddler can be. Especially when there are scissors and markers involved.

Here is how we started. A large piece of posterboard that she colored on.

In the meantime, I cut out circles for the different segments of the caterpillars body. I used a sippy cup as my pattern.

This is where I stopped taking pics. I had a circle for each letter of her name. Spelt it out and glued them on. Then I used a bigger circle for the head. Used pipe cleaner to make some cute antennae and added some goggly eyes.

Jacq thought it was really cute but kept trying to tear the eyes off. We hung it up in her room!

Ahh Saturday

2008-08-09T12:40:00.003-07:00

By far my favorite day of the week. I can stay up late the night before, not have to worry about being tired at work all the next day. Most importantly I can spend the whole day with Jacq. This morning we did some painting. Here's how it went....

It started out well. I knew the paintbrushes wouldn't last long.

The artist at work.

I used recycled plastic applesauce and fruit cup containers to hold the paint. I also use these as little bowls to serve Jacq food in.

She was having so much fun Dad wanted to join in.

This is where it started to get messy.

This is when I knew she would need a bath.

The first stage of clean up.

After the hose down she went straight into the bath. We had to do this early in the morning before it got too hot outside. I have another project in mind for this afternoon and I'll post it when we are done.

Recipe of the week

2008-08-09T12:03:00.006-07:00

I am going to have a featured recipe each week. Usually this would be accompanied with pictures. However, I made this meal on tuesday and at that time had not yet thought to do a weekly recipe. So, no pics this week.

Most recipes will be easy to prepare. I love to cook but after working all day sometimes I would rather just boil up a box of mac & cheese. My ol' stand by. The recipes I feature will be easy and with normal ingredients that you are likely to already have on hand.
However, sometimes I like to put a little more thought and time into my meals. So there will be the occasional 'special' dish. There will also be featured crock pot recipes. I love to cook in my crock pot. Especially when it's so hot out like right now here in AZ.

CREAMY SHRIMP LINGUINE!

I found this recipe here.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces uncooked linguine

half a chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced * I used 6 cloves

a few shakes of dried oregano

3 tbs butter

3/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup shredded swiss cheese *I used asiago

3/4 cup shredded parm cheese

1 lb small cooked shrimp, peeled, deveined

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook linguine according to directions on package.

2. In a saucepan, saute the onion, garlic and oregano in butter until onion is crisp-tender.

3. Gradually add the cream and cheeses. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

4. Add the shrimp, heat through.

5. Drain linguine and top with shrimp mixture.

This recipes was so easy, had few ingredients and TONS of flavor. It also reheated nicely the next day. I brought it work and one of my co-workers asked me if it was from The Olive Garden!

Tallarini Night

2008-08-03T12:32:00.002-07:00

Last night my whole family got together for dinner. We had tallarini. I'm not even sure if that is a real word or somehow the Zachary family made up there very own italian meal. My grandfather use to make it and now my dad is carrying on the tradition. We all got together to celebrate my dad's new job. I am so proud of him. He is now a field engineer for general electric. The only downside is that he has to go to New York for 4 months. It was nice to have everyone together. When I say everyone I mean, me, Jacq, Marc, Dad, Yvonne, Mom, Ronnie, Cassie and Kyle. Lets not forget Sophia and Layla, the dogs. Here are a few pics from the night.

Uncle Kyle and Jacqueline.

One of my favorite pics from the night.

She had her first taste of Ginger Ale and LOVED it!

Attach of Grandma Shari

Blog world, here I come!

2008-08-02T12:22:00.002-07:00

So I have decided to finally take the plunge into the world of Blogging. Why not? It just gives me one more excuse to be on my computer and not clean the bathroom. I am guessing I won't get many visitors and those I do get will be family & friends.

I have a daughter, Jacqueline, who is almost 2. She is my world and one true love. You will see a lot of her here. I will try to include some non-jacqueline material as I actually do have a little bit of a life of my own. I hope you all enjoy this and come to visit often.