Sunday Citar: Don't ever forget.

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" ~Howard Ikemoto

I hope that I can raise my daughters to realize that creativity is of the utmost importance to a happy, carefree, fulfilling life. I hope that, through their exposure to photography, paints, crafts, music, writing, playing in the dirt, drawing with chalk on the driveway... that they continue on to create, to think, to expand their minds and hearts to the possibilities of the world.

Go see Tabitha for more Sunday Citar.

Going Green: Quick Tip #2

Get yourself a smart power strip. Easy, and for around $30, you can reduce idle current in your home. You can save energy and money because the smart strip monitors power consumption and can sense the difference between when computers and other devices are on or off. Upon figuring this out, it shuts off the power, eliminating the idle current drawn from them. Get one to use with your entertainment system and one where your computer and peripherals are- you will make your money back within a few months once you reduce the phantom power suck.

If you are wondering, the whole vinyl shower curtain extermination has worked out perfectly. I had to cut and hem the cotton shower curtain we bought as it was pooling at the bottom of our shower and not drying well. But since it is the proper length, it has worked out marvelously.

Whats on the Menu?

Monday: Wow, I already cannot even remember what we had... must have been great!
Tuesday: Chicken Caesar wraps (cook additional chicken to make Wednesday prep easier.)
Wednesday: Chicken sausage and rice soup
Thursday: Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup (I like when my bloggy friends post their menus online so I can steal their ideas!)
Friday: Dill Flounder, Quinoa and garbanzo bean salad, kids veggie choice
Weekend: Lots of leftovers

Mommy and Me Monday: On the Runway

I could not resist joining Mommy and Me Monday this week with this fun picture:

I had a few hours alone with Acadia and Annika this weekend so we decided to have a tea party. And, of course, before we have a tea party, I have to go to the 'salon' and have my makeup, hair, jewelry and wardrobe styled by Miss Annika herself.

As you can see, her style is pretty limited. She put us both in black dresses with fun knee socks and cute headbands.

She then screeched, "We HAVE to take a picture to show Daddy how pretty we look"... and so we did. And we had fun posing for the camera all the while.

Kids Say the Darndest Things: and then I laugh.

Myself to Acadia, who had been pretending her pencil was a baby: "Sweetie, is your "baby" joining us for dinner?"

(At this point, please insert a look on 2-year-old's face akin to a preteen-ish grimace which says, "What the hell are you talking about?")

2-year-old: "Mommy, she's a pencil. She doesn't really eat."

Happy Lovers Day

The man is tall, mad, mean, and good-lookin'
And he's got me his eye
When he looks at me, I go weak at the knees
He's got me going like no other guy

Cause he's my big, bad, handsome man
He's got me in the palm of his hand
He's the Devil Divine, I'm so glad that he's mine
Cause he's my big, bad, handsome man

Oh, the music he plays, the way he moves me and sways
Rocks me to the core
When he sings in my ear, he makes me shiver and leer
Leaves me wanting more and more

Cause he's my big, bad, handsome man
He's got me in the palm of his hand
He's the Devil Divine, I'm so glad that he's mine
'Cause he's my big, bad, handsome man

With his rugged good looks yeah he’s got me hooked
Got me where he wants me to be
With his arms so wide, he pulls me in by his side
He’s the kind of guy that does it for me


Cause he’s my big bad handsome man yeah
He’s got me in the palm of his hand
He’s the devil divine, I’m so glad that he’s mine
Cause he’s my big bad handsome man

My big bad handsome man, yea
He’s got me in the palm of his hand
He’s the devil divine, I’m so glad that he’s mine
Cause he’s my big bad
I’m so glad that he’s my handsome man

Positive Thoughts Printables

We have been struggling in this house recently with some negative attitudes from a certain 10 year old girl. I am trying my very hardest, but can not seem to combat it... and I totally blame my mother who repeatedly wished upon me, "I hope you have a daughter just like you someday!" And clearly, some larger power was listening to her invocations.

One thought I have is to put as much positive images in front of her as possible. I have printed a few visual aids for her to keep in her sight. Who knows what effect it will have, but it least it calms me.

I put this one on the front door and asked her to take one a day in her pocket and pull it out when she needs a little reinforcement. Kind Over Matter is a great site "dedicated to kind acts, inspirational stories, art & projects. In essence, Feel Good Nouns."

This is a sweet printable from 31 Experiment:

This one from I Love It All is great in my decor.

Gypsy Girls Guide offers some great 'Exploring Truths' cards. An easy way to keep the mood positive is to ask some of these questions... great for long road trips or around the dinner table. Fresh Picked Whimsy offers these great cards that I can sneak in her lunch, coat pocket, snack bag....
Make It Perfect has a ton of excellent Subway art with great messages to print and scatter around my house.
Also from Kind Over Matter, these printable affirmation cards would be a great way to start the day if I stick one to the bathroom mirror before everyone wakes...

Wish me luck, as it seems I may have a long 15 years ahead of me with these moody young ladies if I can not find a solution!

...and then I snapped: Going Places

I can not tell you enough how much I love this little girl. She is so fun to take out on adventures. Just the perfect age where she loves to be outside... loves to wander around... loves the cold... the rain... loves to look for animal tracks... for animals... She is just so much fun. So sweet. So inquisitive. Just look at that smile.

I can not think of anything that brightens my day like going places with this little lady.


Here's my list:
Follow
Covet
Hands
Fancy
10 minutes away
11pm

Today

Everyday

Resemble

Childhood memory

Clock

Closed

Smile

Back

natural
Saturday
multi-coloured
home
shadow
foot
round
path
full
the end
lines
Stretch
Through
Bottom
Different
Far Away
Green
Mug
At Night
Liquid
Out of Reach
Sometimes
Going places
Button
Delicious
Looking back at me
soft
three
numbers
small

Meal Plan Week #2

So... are you wondering how our first week of whole food eating went??? Well, all in all, it went very well. All the quinoa recipes went over great. The quinoa spice cake turned out to be a great treat, although I did add a cream cheese frosting to yum it up a bit (don't worry, it was organic sugar and butter!). The bourbon salmon was a hit with all 5 people... that does not happen often. This weeks menu will contain lots of soup, as I had a soup swap on Saturday and I received 4 different yummy soups for our family to try! The spicy chicken soup I made came out great... if you like spicy. It would have been a great Super Bowl soup.

Here goes:
Monday: Corn Chowder or Black Bean Soup
Tuesday: Stuffed Mushrooms, veggies and Greek yogurt dip, rosemary bread with olive oil dip
Wednesday: Minestrone or Chicken Tortilla Soup
Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie
Friday: Leftovers, Whole wheat pita and hummus

Treats this week are fresh fruit smoothies with flax seed meal, almond milk and a bit of honey and I also might try this quinoa pudding.


*Let's all just pretend that we did not go to a party on Super Bowl Sunday and ruin all of our healthy eating with nachos, chili, pastries, one of the most decadent desserts Ms. Paula Dean has ever created, chips, dips, etc... etc... etc...

A little something to tickle your eardrums... and he's not too bad on the eyes, either.

Love, love, love him:

Going Green: Quick Tip

Did you know that a vinyl shower curtain liner releases over 100 toxic chemicals? Yeah, me neither. You'd think someone as interested in removing toxins from my family's lives and keeping my children healthy would have noticed that distinctive smell and thought, "Hmmm..." But it has never really occurred to me until I started shopping for a new curtain.

And now, we will be going liner free. It seems as though you can get a 100% cotton shower curtain and your bathroom will stay dry. It will also stay mold and mildew free, unlike the vinyl counterpart. You do need to make sure there is proper air circulation in your bathroom to dry the curtain, but you will eliminate the toxins and the waste that comes every couple of months when you throw that liner in the landfill. I like this one from Vermont Country Store since it is made locally.

Yet another very simple step in going green.

Tutorial For a Unique, Repurposed Photo Display

The issue: 2 huge, empty spaces on my living room wall on either side of my television. (It is half filled in this photo with my Christmas card display which, obviously, is not typically there.)
My solution: 2 old shutters, some button magnets and some superglue. I simply superglued the magnets randomly across the top and bottom and top portion of each shutter. And then hung them on each side of the television with a couple stars and frames I snatched from Goodwill. Add some photos with your remaining magnets... (I know, I could have at least filled the frames with my gorgeous family before I showed this to you!)


You could also cover the shutters with a coat of magnetic paint instead of superglueing magnets, but I liked the shabby chic look of my shutters without any new paint.


And I love how it turned out.