Spring Cleaning: The Pantry

When we moved to our new home, we were so anxious to just be in that I left a lot of the organizing tasks on the back burner. I don't even want to think about what my basement looks like...
Anyway, Spring is coming and I thought I'd start my organizing off with FINALLY bringing some order to our kitchen pantry. 
Here's the before:

It's hard to tell, but the shelves are fairly deep and it was in total chaos.
(I realize as I post this picture that I am broadcasting to the world our eating habits, *gulp*)
 I have been putting off clearing out this pantry because it makes me tired to look at it, but I finally got up the courage and found a really cute little helper.

Here we are.

Ready to clean?

After clearing off the shelves (she cleared anything she could reach)
I put her to work dusting the floor and shelves.

All done!

I threw away an unbelievable amount and then put the majority of it back in bins.  It is far easier to see what is in there now and not have things get lost in the back.  I still need to figure out a good can storing solution.

Well, it's not as cute as the pantries of Pinterest. Oh well, I just don't see myself painting, stenciling or wall papering it. I'm also not planning on investing in cute canisters. That said, it works for us and now I know what's in there. Success!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in:

Wordless Wednesday: My Black Days

"Then come my black days. Mad. And loud. I howl. I growl at every cloud."

Dr. Seuss







 This post is participating in: Wordless Wednesday

Experimenting with Brooches

 I've had a couple of cross-stitch pieces sitting around that I haven't been able to decide what to do with.  I first thought that I could applique them to something, but my second thought was that I'd love to be able to use them for more than one piece.  I want to be able to move them around as an accessory. So, I decided to experiment and create a couple of brooches.

Cross-Stitch Brooches

 Materials:

Cross-Stitch Sample

Craft Spray Adhesive (or adhesive of choice)

Felt

Bar Pins

Scissors

 Glue bar pin to the back of cross stitch piece

Cut slit in felt for bar pin. Glue felt to back of cross-stitch

 

 Trim excess cross-stitch material

  Model it on your cute vintage cardigan

 Two brooches, ready to accessorize.

Jellybean actually giggled when she saw these and then tried to figure out how to pin both of them on.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in:
 

Asparagus is not "yucky"

I was in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago and I over heard a conversation between a mother and her (maybe) 5 year old son.  They were standing next to a large display of asparagus in the middle of the produce section.  Here's what I heard:

Boy: Mom, what's that?
Mom: It's Asparagus.
Boy: Can we get some?
Mom: No, Asparagus is yucky.

This small interchange really stuck in my craw.  It took all my will power to keep myself from rushing the asparagus stand and saying very loudly, "Asparagus?!  I love asparagus! And what a good price for this time of year! I can't wait to get this home!"  Unfortunately, though I do like asparagus, it just wasn't on my list that day.

I've been thinking a lot about why this bothered me so much. It occurred to me that it irritates me because I have such a hard time getting my kids to eat their vegetables. If my child asked if we could purchase something green from the produce section (even brussel sprouts, "yuck". tee hee) I'd be all for it.  If I didn't know how to prepare it, I'd go straight home and find a recipe online for it.  I'd do this because I am invested in my child exploring new tastes and experiences with food and not limiting his palette based on my own preferences.  He's already limited enough by my cooking skills;  I certainly shouldn't be denying him a healthy option or even turning him against it by calling it "yucky."

I'm no expert, but this line of thought got me thinking about ways I've discovered to get my kids to eat foods they claim to dislike on first sight. Aside from bribing, here are some tricks that have worked in this house.

Carrots give you super powers:

I just finished a great article entitled, "Raising Boys: A dad's parenting advice for moms." In the article, the author discusses the affinity that little boys have with superheros. He states, "Boys, even at a young age, realize the importance of super powers."  I've discovered this first hand with my oldest.  He is in a very serious Spiderman stage and is very interested in superheros.  One evening, during dinner, he decided that he was not going to eat his carrots, claiming, "I don't like them."  I leaned over and said, "Do you want to know a secret? Carrots give you super powers. They'll help you see in the dark."  Well, that did the trick, I've never seen him eat anything as fast as he downed those carrots.

There's a party in my tummy:
Occasionally,  we'll have a meal where the kids will eat almost everything and then not touch one or two items.  This is when an enthusiastic rendition of the Yo Gabba Gabba favorite comes in. "There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy."  In the song, the character Brobee neglects to eat the carrots and green beans on his plate. He discovers that the veggies are heart-broken that they haven't been invited to the party in his tummy.  This reasoning scores big with the toddler set. 

Don't underestimate the power of a favorite cartoon character:
I have tried and failed to get my kids to eat scrambled eggs several times over the years.  They wouldn't even touch them.  Enter one of their favorite characters: Caillou.  After watching a single episode, Buddy was begging me to make scrambled eggs.  In the show, Caillou gets to visit a farm and finds out where eggs come from.  Then he brings home some "chicken fresh eggs" and his mother scrambles them for him.   Well, I made the eggs and both Jellybean and Buddy gobbled them down.  Amazing.  Why can't I have that kind of influence all of the time? 

Choosing and Naming:
Unlike the "yucky asparagus parent," I've had pretty good success getting my kids to eat foods that they have had the opportunity to choose for themselves.  I got a great idea from a post on Make and Takes a while ago.  They purchased the book Eating the Alphabet and then made a goal to purchase some of the fruits and vegetables in the book to try.  I tried this experiment with kumquats.  It was fun letting them pick something new to try. Though, I will say that neither myself or my children were all that impressed by the taste of kumquat.  Still, it was a new experience and a fun one as well.

Allowing your child to re-name a food will make them more likely to eat it.  I'm sure you've heard the idea of calling broccoli "little trees." From the time we introduced milk to Buddy, we had to call it "moo-juice."  He was a fan of juice and not milk.  Funny how changing the name made all of the difference. Last night we ate "alien pasta." (pasta shells in white cheddar sauce with peas and tuna). It's weird how fast that pasta disappeared once I stated that it was from outerspace.

Asking the Opposite:
Are my toddlers the only kids out there that enjoy doing the exact opposite of what I tell them to do? When I get fed up, I will sometimes say, "Fine, I don't want you to eat your broccoli. You'd better not eat it."  This comment will be met with a giggle and then at least one bite of the offending vegetable. That sure showed me. 

Fine, I guess I'll eat it:
In our house, Buddy and Jellybean are extremely possessive about their food, even if they claim to dislike it.  If I take away the offending plate and throw it away? No problem.  If I *gasp* threaten to eat their food myself?  Major problem.  For some reason the statement, "fine, if you're not going to eat it, then I will," is intolerable. How dare I eat their food? This will usually cause them to eat at least some of their food just to prevent me from eating it.

Nothing is foolproof and obviously I'm blessed with kids that are "pretty good" eaters.  That said, any strategy I've employed has met with failure at least at some point.  What strategies have you come up with for getting your kids to eat their veggies and other healthy foods?? 

Just for your viewing pleasure:  8 Super Health Benefits of Asparagus

Knife Skills: 8 Things I wish I'd known years ago.

For my birthday last year, D got me a gift certificate to Sur La Table. It's really an amazing, gourmet level kitchen store and they also teach cooking and technique classes.  I decided to use my certificate towards a class. They had a ton of options, but the one that stood out to me was Essential Knife Skills.  I mean, I could have gone with the Ultimate Bacon Menu option, but I thought learning how to actually use my knives would be more useful in the long run (and possibly healthier).

I really enjoy cooking, but have no delusions about my knife wielding abilities.  This class went from the very basics to some fun advanced techniques to wow our friends with. We learned everything from how to prepare our working space and picking a proper knife to how to hold our knives and basic knife maintenance.  I picked up some really valuable tips in the class that I thought I'd share. Many of these were major "Ah, ha" moments for me and some (read: all) were things I think I really should have known a long while ago.

By the way, just on an aside: Don't you find it annoying when people take a class geared for those of us with little to no experience and then act like they know as much or more than the instructor? Yeah, I'm speaking directly to you middle-aged-man-with-an-entire-set-of-Shun-knives-that-you-actually-purchased-in-Japan. It is apparent to me that you only took the class to boost your ego and annoy others. 

Anyway...

8 things I learned in my knife skills class that I wish I'd known years ago:

 1. Use the right knife for the job:

Growing up, I only ever remember my mother using one (seriously one) knife for just about everything. (We did have some steak knives as well, but I only remember using those when cutting cardboard for school projects. My memory may be a tad selective on this point.) From an online search, the closest description of my mother's knife is a 9" Kitchen Utility Slicer.  I have a hard time wrapping my mind around using one crappy knife for everything. That knife would be virtually worthless in my current kitchen.  So, I wasn't totally surprised by the fact that there is type of knife specifically designed for every job in the kitchen. I have my chef's knife, my santuko knife, my paring knife and an assortment of utility blades, but that has never stopped me from using my smallest utility blade for chopping up an apple or from using my chef's knife to supreme and orange (actually just learned how to do that, I'm awesome).
Apparently, a knife is already a pretty dangerous weapon and using the wrong knife makes it more dangerous...who knew?

This brings me to my second point:

2. Use a SHARP knife:
A dull knife is way more dangerous than a sharp knife.  I'm sure this is common knowledge for most people, yet, I had never sharpened my knives. The old knife from my childhood was so dull and battered that I have no doubt we were seriously taking our digits for granted by using it for almost every job that required a knife. It is amazing what a really sharp knife can do for your general emotional state in the kitchen. Gone are the days of hacking through your food and mangling every tomato you ever set a blade to. By the way, fewer tears when slicing an onion with a sharp blade. (oh and also a cold onion. Just put it in fridge 30 mins before you slice it. That's just a tiny, but useful tip for you.)

3. Sharpen your knives once every year:  
To keep your knives in tip-top condition and in the safest condition possible, take them to be sharpened once a year. There are people that do this and it is surprisingly affordable.

4. Honing:
During the year, make sure you hone your knives EVERY time you use them.  I had absolutely no clue what the difference between sharpening and honing was.  As it turns out, sharpening shaves the blade and honing realigns the blade.  Because I didn't want to ruin my blades by using a honing steel improperly, I picked up this nifty little sharpener/honer.
It isn't a true sharpener, though it will shave burrs off of your blade if you have dropped it, or after a large amount of chopping.  I run my knives through it once I'm done using them and before I put them back in their block. 


5. Get yourself a bench scraper:

You know when you have just finished dicing an onion and you need to scrape it off of your board into the pan?  I always just used my knife to do this.  Essentially, if I had known how to sharpen or hone, this would have totally messed up my beautiful work.  Do NOT use the blade of your knife as a scraping tool.  Use this bench scraper instead. I already had one of these bench scrapers in my drawer. Of course, I only used it to scrape dough off of my board when I was baking bread.  Turns out that it is a wonderful tool for transferring food from your board to a pan or bowl.  If you must use your knife, use the back of it and not the blade. 

6. Keep a damp rag next to your workspace:
Speaking of blade maintenance, it is a good idea to keep your knife clean.  If you place a damp rag next to your cutting board while you are working, you will be able to clean your blade immediately and not have to jackhammer minced garlic off of it later (which is good exercise and all...) Also, it is great to have a damp cloth handy to wipe down your board quickly between ingredients. 

7. How to hold a knife:
This is one thing that I really didn't have a clue about.  You are actually supposed to pinch the heel of the blade (right in front of the bolster) with you thumb and pointer and then wrap the rest of your fingers around the handle.  This technique has revolutionized my chopping, slicing and dicing.  It gives you a lot more control. It is awkward at first if you are used to a different grip, but I highly recommend it.

8. Keep your work space clear:
You will make your life and chopping easier if you allow yourself the entirety of the cutting board.  I am guilty of leaving scraps, ingredients I've just chopped, additional knives and all kinds of odds and ends on the cutting board until I'm mincing in a very tiny patch of board amongst all of that riff-raff.  I have made my life a lot easier now that I make a conscious effort to clear the board before I begin working.

I learned so much in the class. I'd share more, but I don't want to be accused of ripping off the class just for this post.  I would definitely recommend finding a knife skills class in your area.  Knowing the essentials has really changed my food prep and made me more confident in the kitchen.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in:
Thrifty Thursday
Seven Thirty Three
House of Hepworths
Friday Flair @ WhipperBerry

Wordless Wednesday: Sunday Valentines

For the last day in February: My little ones being silly after church in their valentines best. They refuse to pose for me and have decided that regular smiles were so two weeks ago...

 

 Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in Wordless Wednesday!  Join in the fun!

5 Minute Craft: Peek-a-boo Puppet

My daughter is obsessed with baby dolls.  She is so obsessed with receiving baby dolls as gifts, that she thinks that every present she receives (or anyone else for that matter) is going to contain a doll. Life can be disappointing sometimes. Especially when a prettily wrapped present does not contain a baby.

This is why I thought she'd get a kick out of this 5 minute craft that I whipped together during nap time.  What I put together was really intended to be a prototype, but it turned out cute enough, that I decided to just take pictures of it.

Peek-a-boo Puppet:

 paper

pen

clothespins

glue

markers

scissors

First, I sketched out a little present and a baby doll.  Behold my amazing drawing skills...

Next I cut them out and glued them to the clothespin:

 Easy Peasy!

When Jellybean got up from her nap and saw the little wrapped box she whispered, "Baby." When she saw that there was, in fact, a baby doll inside, she smiled and exclaimed, "My Turn!"

Success!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Ridiculously Easy: Apple and Yogurt Salad

 

This is a quick, easy, fresh and tasty side dish that you can add to almost any meal. Perhaps this is even too simplistic to blog about, but it is one of my favorite salads (and apparently a favorite with my nieces and nephews as well) so I decided that I'd get it out there.

What you'll need:
Yogurt (I prefer raspberry and pre-mixed works a little better as well)
Cool Whip
Apples

 Method:
1. Cut up a few apples (or more. Fuji apples are my preferred apple for this)
2. Pour a carton (or two) of yogurt over apples
3. Add Cool Whip to taste.
4. Mix well.

Like I said, pretty easy.  You could just mix up the yogurt and Cool Whip and use it as a fruit dip, but I prefer it this way for maximum yogurt covered apple goodness.  Yum.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Teaching the ABCs: A Resource Guide

If you give a Lego box to one little boy, he'll most likely build something: a tower, a car, or even a spaceship. If you give a Lego box to my little boy, this is what he'll build:

At 16 months of age, my son became enamored of the alphabet and more specifically the letter "O". By 18 months my son could identify all of the letters (upper and lowercase) and by 20 months he could tell you their sounds as well.  Now at 3 1/2 years old he is actually reading. I have become "one of those moms," smugly showing off my son's talents at every opportunity.
Reading "A Fly Went By" from A Happy Song on Vimeo.

My purpose in this post really isn't to brag (well mostly).  Over the last 2 years, friends, family and even strangers (who I have shown off to), have asked us how we taught him to read.  I'll be honest, I don't feel like we did very much in the way of actual teaching.  Buddy is VERY interested in letters.  We did however provide encouragement and many tools to facilitate his learning.

I've taken some time and compiled a good resource list for parents who are interested in encouraging their child to read. These are many of the tools that we use daily.

Books, Flash Cards & Puzzles:

Books:
Never underestimate the value of having lots of books around. I know that most parents have heard it a thousand times, but I'll state it again.  I believe it is imperative for a child to be read to, to have books around and accessible, and also for them to see their parents reading.  We make it a habit to visit the library every couple of weeks. I am an avid reader and often have books on hold there to be picked up.  We also enjoy taking trips to the bookstore.  A trip to the bookstore has proved to be a good reward for potty training success and also a great place to purchase gifts for birthdays.
The first Alphabet book I ever purchased Buddy was Charley Harper's ABCs.  He loved the illustrations and it was the jumping off point for his love affair with letters.  I have been a collector of children's picture books for years and now his letter obsession has become mine.  We are slowly amassing an impressive alphabet book collection. Z Goes Home and Alphabet City are good examples of books that use the alphabet in new and unique ways. What I haven't purchased myself, we borrow from the library. I've listed all of our favorites in AHappySong.com's store.

Flash Cards:
My favorite two sets of flash cards are Eric Carle's Animal Flash Cards and My Favorite Things Flash Cards. I love that these two sets are larger and chunkier than the standard card set.  They have beautiful illustrations and they are easier to clean-up after play. Another set that we've enjoyed is Scholastic's Hand's On Learning Touch and Feel Cards.



Puzzles:
Buddy loves alphabet puzzles.  I make it a habit to check out consignment sales to see if they have any puzzles. I'm especially happy if I can find a large floor puzzle.  Floor puzzles have a bigger impact and are easier for toddlers to put together (and for me). One of our favorites is the My First ABC Floor Puzzle. Buddy and Jellybean both love the Melissa and Doug alphabet puzzles (peg puzzle pictured right) and Buddy also likes I Spy A is for Jigsaw .


E-Reader:
I purchased a V-Tech VReader for Buddy two Christmases ago.  These are great gadgets that allow children to read on their own without the need for parental help.  I love that the stories are interactive and that the words are highlighted as the story is read. My son enjoys the games that come with each cartridge and there is a ton of content that can be downloaded from the V-Tech website. 
  
You can find more recommendations on our AHappySong.com's Store Site.

Websites:
Starfall.com
Starfall.com is a free educational resource that teaches the alphabet through interactive games and stories.  It has learning tools appropriate for toddler age children and up.  My children have spent hours on their main ABC interactive game which is now available as an app.  We've also enjoyed their free alphabet printouts and short video clips that teach reading concepts.  If you find that you are really enjoying it, they have even more content available to parents and to educators at more.starfall.com for a minimal membership fee.  Last year we got our money's worth so we renewed our membership this year.

Bembo's Zoo 

Bembo's Zoo is another great interactive alphabet site.  It is very well done and the flash animation is stunning. 

PBSKids.org

Every parent should be a regular on the PBS Kids website.  That's where we go to find great games and video clips from all of my kids' favorite PBS shows. PBS Kids also has video player app available.   

Sesame Street.org

 Create a My Street account and save your favorite video clips from Sesame Street.  My kids love the songs and interactive games that are available on SesameStreet.org. 

Preschool Pioneer
Preschool Pioneer is an online library of early reading resources made available through the Utah Educational Network. I imagine that there are similar websites available in every state.  We've found great printouts, games and stories here.  

Funschool

Funschool.com is similar to Preschool Pioneer, but more game driven. Many of the games are holiday themed and can be great supplements to holiday activities. Buddy absolutely loves Haunted Alphabet search and find game.  It combines his love of letters with his love of all things spooky.

You Tube

 Yes, even YouTube can be a great resource for teaching the alphabet.  I've posted here our ABC Favorites video list.  A word of caution on this: You Tube is not a site you can allow your child to play on freely like the sites listed above.  It requires parental supervision.  There are a ton of videos that are not child safe and are too easily accessible for a computer savvy child.  I've even run across videos that appear to be children's videos and then turn into something entirely different.  I've discovered the only way to make it safe for my child is to make sure that I'm always in the room when he is watching and to create appropriate playlists with strict instructions that he isn't to click away from the approved list. 

Apps:
We have found a great number of apps for our Iphone, Ipad and Android that are worth mentioning. This is a list of our VERY favorites. Those that are not free, are well worth the money. Some have lite versions that you should definitely download and try out.

 
Our Favorite Apps:

Pi'ikea Street Interactive Alphabet

Dr. Seuss's ABC Interactive Book

Curious Puppy ABC Train Song

Magnetic Alphabet

Alphabet Tracing

Duck Duck Moose's Fish School

Baby Flash Cards Lite

Paul McDougall ABC Storybook

Starfall ABCs

Baby Pad ABC Lite

iTouchiLearn Words

My First Puzzles: The Alphabet 

Television Shows:

I know that a lot of parents believe that it is best to forgo television.  I believe that, while there is wisdom in limiting television (or screen time) in the home,  there are some pretty valuable shows out there that have enriched my son's learning experience.  He has been able to understand and learn concepts through a television program that I had difficulty teaching him myself.  Television, of course, should never be used as a substitute for teaching your child yourself or as a babysitter (though I am guilty of using it for the latter more than I'd like to admit).  


Here is a short list of the shows that we've found valuable in teaching early reading concepts:
Super Why (Buddy LOVES Alpha Pig), Word World, Word Girl, Leap Frog's Amazing Alphabet Park, Sesame Street and The Electric Company. I was amazed when my son understood the concept of "sh" as well as silent "e" after listening to two different songs on The Electric Company.  Most of these television programs are available on Netflix or at PBSkids.org. 

Other Activity Ideas:

Songs:
Singing is natural way to teach your child about words.  My son loves to sing and to be sung to. One of Buddy's first (and current) favorite songs is the ABC song.  We have found several different versions of it to different tunes.  He loves to pick which version we'll sing.  It's also fun to use alternate words to well known songs.  Buddy was very enthusiastic about having the ABCs on the bus when we sing, "The Wheels on the Bus" (i.e. The Bs on the bus go buh, buh, buh).  He was also surprised to hear that there were ABCs on "Old McDonald's Farm" (...and on that farm he had an "A" E I E I O...).
Word Play:
We like to play word games at our home as well. Sometimes we'll take turns making long lists of words that begin with the same letter.  I always try to be a little outrageous with the words I choose. This builds his vocabulary and makes him giggle. (i.e. K- Kangaroo, "Kapow", Kung-fu, Kite, Kick, Kamikaze, etc.) When learning sight words in the Summertime, I would use sidewalk chalk and write out simple commands like "Run", "Spin", "Jump" and then have him do whatever I wrote down.
Nature: 
Once Buddy began understanding and recognizing the shapes of the letters, I was stunned when he began seeing those shapes, in the environment around us, when we took walks around the neighborhood.  One stick looks like a "Y", that crack in the sidewalk looks like an "R".  This has become a fun game for us on walks. My kids love searching for letter shapes in the everyday objects around us.
Alphabet Art: 
We love having alphabet art hung up in our children's rooms.  My favorite prints have been found through Etsy and through Studio6. Go online and find something to your child's taste. 


I hope that this resource guide will prove valuable in encouraging your child in a love of letters and of reading. If you have additional resources to add (websites, apps, books, activities, etc) Please leave them in the comment section.

As always, Have a Happy Day!

~MJ 

This post is participating in:
Wow Us Wednesday-Savvy Southern Style 
Mingle With Us- Happy-Go-Lucky

I selected this post to be featured on Top Mommy Blogs. Please visit the site and vote for my blog!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Together

 

Buddy and Jellybean spending some quality time together.  She loves doing everything he does. 

For more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

 

Valentine's Shirt Project

Yes, this V-day craft is about a week late, but in my defense, I had it completed on the day.

This is a project that has been going around. I found it in Family Fun Magazine and decided to expound on the theme.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I found some $2 shirts on my thrift shopping adventure. I used one of those shirts to create this masterpiece.

Materials:
t-shirt
craft paper
paper doilies
fabric paint
paint brush
glue stick
cookie cutters

First, I took a sheet of craft paper and put it on the inside of the shirt (I didn't want paint going through to the other side.

Then I took my doilies and place them where I thought they looked nice. I put a small streak of glue-stick glue on each doily to keep it in place.

After I had painted through each doily and peeled them up, I thought to myself, "It needs more..." This is never a good thought.

I found a few heart shaped cookie cutters and went crazy!

Read the instructions on the fabric paint and make sure you give it enough time to dry.

Jellybean loves her shirt and while she refuses to let me take normally posed pictures of her, she was still pleased to show it off.

I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of the shirt this spring. I'm thinking this project would work really great with round doilies as well.

Try it out and have a Happy Day!

~MJ

I'm linking up with: