Like mother, like daughters

(click image to enlarge - credits here)

This is one thing I'm glad I passed down to my girls. :) If you haven't noticed in the first photo, Abigail has adopted little binoculars as her "camwah".

The beautiful culinary lunch box experience - Research & Development phase

I admit that I am a fanatic about everything I do. I want Amanda to have a filling, nutritious, and aesthetically pleasing lunch. So naturally, I've been scouring the 'net with a vengeance, looking for some ideas. Since you may be interested in creating good lunches for yourself or your young ones, I thought I'd share some of the links!

::Websites::
Sneak in Some Veggies at the Parents Magazine website

10 Creative Ideas for Packed Lunches at iVillage Parenting

From the Kraft Foods website (just wade through the plugs for their brand): MVP Lunches, Budget Lunches, Lunchbox Ideas

Nutritious Lunch Ideas, brought to you by Laptop Lunches. Amanda will be using this bento box system along with a thermos for hot foods, so I'll fill you in about the box as soon as she starts school.

Family Fun Magazine's A+ Lunches and Snacks

About.com's Everyday Menus: Packable Lunch

Food Network's Easy, Kid-Approved Lunch Recipes

::Books/miscellany::
The cool My Lunch Box: 50 Recipes for Kids to Take to School! by Hilary Karmilowicz

Lunch Boxes and Snacks: Over 120 healthy recipes from delicious sandwiches and salads to hot soups and sweet treats by Annabel Karmel

The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine


As evidenced by the title of this post, there will be an R&D phase, followed by an Implementation phase, and concluded with the Analysis phase. I will start sharing photos and successes/mishaps in the Implementation phase. (This whole experience is more intriguing with fancy titles, no?)

Back from vacation

We had fun. The weather was wonderful. Tax-free shopping was glorious. Food was so good that I overate myself into a gluttonous stupor one afternoon. But oh, what a way to go down! :) I'll be pouring over two 8 gigs memory cards' worth of photos this week - I am eager to share my photos of early morning low tide on the beach with you.

Now that most of the laundry is done and our lives are unpacked and unleashed back into the daily grind, my next quest is to compile some great recipes and ideas for my Amanda's lunch box before she heads off to school.

One thing I had Amanda try was this insalata caprese (stacked style), since I have a wealth of basil and tomatoes in my garden:



I love it. But Amanda? Not so much. Though she loved the tomato-basil-olive oil-salt-pepper taste combo, she didn't care for the fresh mozzarella.

If you have some tried and true recipes or lunchbox ideas, will you share them with me? I want her to really love her lunches.

***

And happy birthday to two very special people in my life: my childhood friend Julianne, who is again celebrating her 21st birthday (ahem), and my beloved nephew Elias, who just blew out two candles.

The big three-five and other happy times

What a lovely birthday I had! Ron came home from a weeklong business trip just in time to be with us three ladies on my day. I tell you, I don't function at full power without my dear husband around, and neither do the girls. The girls and I made these itty bitty cupcakes that turned out perfectly imperfect... too much batter in the wee cups, and most of them spilled over. But no matter, because the lavender colored frosting we made to top them matched the lavender plant that a sweet friend of mine surprised me with. All morning, my siblings and Mom called to wish me a happy birthday, and a few dear friends that I don't have frequent contact with e-mailed me out of the blue. And, my sister-in-law sent a wonderful card with new photos of my beloved nephew.

T H A N K Y O U ! Each of you that took the time, you really filled me up.



See the pretty lavender? I'm smitten. And I *heart* the new and improved blue walls - but note to self: Self, please don't embark on big projects when your husband is out of town. You and your kids suffer because of them.

Recently, Amanda borrowed this library book about Helen Keller:


She deemed it one of the "best books of the world" and read it at least five times over. I jumped on her enthusiasm and borrowed another book about Helen Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan:


It took us a month to get through, as we read only at bedtime each night. This book really cemented in both our minds the incredible resolve that Helen and Annie showed to overcome whatever obstacles that each dealt with. It gave us the opportunity to talk about how we want to proceed with our own lives. Amanda is busy spelling everything out using the ASL alphabet after reading the books. And she really enjoyed The Miracle Worker, Disney's remake of the story. It makes a big difference when learning can be tackled in multiple ways - through reading, doing, and watching.

Do you have any recommendations on which inspiring biography to tackle next?

And other happiness inducers: Our chrysalises have all revealed their breathtaking butterflies - we are proud of our five painted lady butterfly visitors. {The metamorphosis was amazing to behold}

Bwahaha!

My Abigail is almost 2-1/2 years old, yet she has no interest in saying goodbye to her diapers. I've decided not to sweat it too much - but boy do those diapers get more "fragant" by the day. She's okay with peeing in the toilet, but she likes to hide and do numero dos in the diaper. Total TMI, I know.

I wanted to share this video I found at the Yahoo! Korea Children's site on the subject - silly Koreans! (I can say this, because I happen to be a silly Korean myself)

야후 ! 꾸러기 동요
	꾸꾸야야의 응가 송 혼자서 응가, 응가해요 응가해요하나 둘 셋 끙끙끙 하나 둘 셋 으쌰..

Click on the button to begin the video - it's in Korean, but you'll get the theme right away. It's too funny! Someday my Abby will be completely toilet learned, right? Please tell me it will be so. Otherwise I should look into buying stock in Depends adult "undergarments".

My friend Denise says this is disturbing. :D

What we've been up to

Some of you may visit my blog because of my digital and hybrid scrapbooking activities, and you're wondering where they've gone lately. I've put them aside for a while to focus on being with my little ones. One of them will be scooting off to second grade in a few weeks, and we're in a busy frenzy making some final summer memories together before ushering in the new school year.

Amanda was a Cloverbud this year in a local 4-H chapter. No, she didn't do any projects that involved livestock or farming, but she did get to enter her needlepoint projects and a cooking project.




I've been to the fair for several years, but until you have a child personally involved, it doesn't really come alive! The entire event was extremely impressive. Some of the greatest talents exhibited the fruits of their labor. One of our favorite exhibits was the rabbits! Look how absolutely adorable this one is:


Whenever I think of the fair, I think of extreme heat. This fair was no different with 100 degree temperatures the whole week. Amanda ran through the sprinklers courtesy of the local fire department:


I heard from a friend of mine that it was so hot that some of the rabbits died during the fair exhibition. Apparently, their owners didn't do enough to keep them cool. How sad.

We've been enjoying our vegetable garden's bounty, taking our snow peas, green beans, and zucchini and making drool-inducing stir fries with them. While we were harvesting our veggies the other day, a little friend dropped by:


The girls got tired of working, so they tumbled into a tickle fest in the grass. Of course the crazy photog mom grabbed the camera.


And thanks to friends who've shared their overflow, we have canned our own apricot jam for the first time ever (which was surprisingly easy), as well as make fresh cherry cobbler.




All in all, wonderful days spent well. I hope I can get back to some of the deferred hobbies soon, but most times, I really don't miss them so much. I guess it's because my favorite hobby I continue to nurture through my photography business.
Take a peek at my Photo Artistry blog if you get a chance:

Meet my nephew

Remember this little one? I want to share some photos of him - click on the photo below to view them on my Photo Artistry blog:



Since those photos were taken, his father (my brother, aka my BOTHER) tells me he's become a hulking lad with quite the good-sized noggin. Meh, don't worry. You grew into your gargantuan head eventually, right Bother?