Homemade Cereal Re-Runs

October 4th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (Comments Off on Homemade Cereal Re-Runs)

Homeschooling comes with plenty of challenges, but it’s also got a handful of perks.

One of my favorite perks? We quite often get to enjoy leisurely mornings at home – by design, really.  I’m a morning person, but that doesn’t mean I’m uber-excited to run out the door first thing in the morning on any given day of the week.

More accurately, I’m not uber-excited to get kids out the door first thing.  I’ll happily head out in the wee morning hours in my running sneaks, but a) I’ve only got to get myself ready and b) I don’t need to be reminded to brush my hair before I leave and c) I don’t have say CAN YOU PLEASE GET YOUR SHOES ON ALREADY three times before I finally do it.  Read more...

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I See Blue Circles

September 28th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (2 Comments)

My kids love frozen blueberries.

Frozen Blueberries

Both of them. Even the little one.

They snack on them straight from the freezer and then force me to look at their blue stained lips for about three hours until the color wears off, or until I can’t take it anymore and pin them to the ground for a spit bath with my saliva wetted thumb.

I haven’t bought frozen blueberries for a few months now because of the overabundance of summer fruit we were getting from the CSA share. They asked me to buy frozen blueberries, but I just couldn’t bring myself to buy FROZEN fruit with three pounds of fresh peaches in the fridge.  Read more...

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How to Make a Rockin’ Birthday Breakfast

September 15th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Party Time - (7 Comments)

September 15, 2011 started out a lot like September 15, 2006.

Everyone asleep.  Everyone but me.

Waking up Zak and telling him it was time to go.

Getting dressed and moving around with hushed voices, get ready to leave the house in the wee hours of the morning.

The cat meowing and meowing and meowing as I tried to make my way to the door.

Except this year it was 5:55 AM, not 1:45 AM.  And this year we weren’t headed to the hospital, I was headed to the grocery store.  (The cat was still meowing and meowing and meowing though.)  Read more...

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Homeschool Lessons for All

September 13th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (1 Comments)

Now that Maxine can ride her bike, Homeschool Phys Ed class is officially in session.

Riding Buds The Claw Over My Shoulder Ready to Ride

Is this really Phys Ed? Or is this just a morning run in disguise?

Whatever you want to call it, a bunch of lessons were learned on our group outing this morning – lessons for both young and old.

A Lesson for Mom

When Maxine says “Whoa, whoa, whoa!!”, that means she’s about to come to a sudden and complete stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

This lead to the discovery that I run too closely behind Maxine.  Read more...

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The Easiest Way to Teach Your Kid to Ride a Bike

September 12th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (8 Comments)

Last summer I wrote about Ava learning to ride a bike with the “balance bike” approach.  I’m here now to sing the praises of this method once again.  It’s worked just as well for Thing 2 – but this time two years sooner!

The balance bike approach is exactly that; no training wheels.  It’s about learning to balance first, pedaling comes later.  A “real” balance bike has no pedals – but we just used a regular, very small bike for Ava.  You don’t need a special bike, what matters is that they can easily catch themselves when they lose their balance.  Ava was 6 when she learned, so her legs were long enough that the pedals didn’t get in her way while she was learning to balance.  Read more...

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Cookies, Finally

September 11th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Party Time - (4 Comments)

A week or two ago, the PR folks at Newman’s Own Organic asked me if we’d be interested in trying out the newest additions to their Family Recipe Cookie line.

Newman's Own Organic New Ginger Snap and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

And given I’m not the kind of girl who typically says “no” to cookies made with organic ingredients and real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup – not to mention cookies from a company who’s products I’ll happily toss into the shopping cart anyway – it was easy to say,

Why sure! Of course we’d love to try your latest cookies!  Read more...

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A Backyard Picnic

August 28th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (6 Comments)

On the weekends, I’m apt to be a bit less motivated to cook and a bit more motivated to goof around.

Everybody's Favorites

Instead of attempting to go out to eat and playing the Kids in a Restaurant game (wheeeeee!) – sometimes it’s a lot easier (and arguably more enjoyable) to hit up the grocery store and let everyone pick out a bunch of their favorite foods.

Vegetables optional. Manners too.

Weekend Dinner Time Play

So this weekend we did exactly that.  We loaded our grocery loot into a basket and hauled it to the backyard.  An impromptu picnic was in order as we watched dad finish up some yard work for our meal time entertainment.  Read more...

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Lunch Time Law

August 24th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (2 Comments)

An amusement park excursion was on the docket for today. And like most day trips, a packed lunch was the first order of business on the agenda.

It is at this juncture that I would like to present our midday meal + snacks for inspection:

Lunch Time Evidence

Exhibit A: Carrot sticks

Exhibit B: Homegrown grape tomatoes and green pepper slices

Exhibit C: Standard kid packed-lunch fare = two sunbutter and jelly sandwiches on Ezekiel bread, cut into quarters

Exhibit D: Bare bean butt hummus (2 cans, 22 minutes! I’m improving!)  Read more...

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More Melon Madness

August 18th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (8 Comments)

Peas. Coffee. Popsicles. Pajamas. What the heck time is it anyway?

Peas Coffee Pajamas

Why it’s time for breakfast, of course.

What? You don’t eat peas and watermelon for breakfast? Well then you haven’t lived!

Actually, it’s time to tell you that this popsicle mold has paid for itself.

Popsicle Molds Pay for Themselves

This is especially true because our neighbor gave it to us and I didn’t pay a dime for it.

And this is especially good because the handles break off pretty easily.

Thaw Slightly Before Twisting

And if I’d have paid for it, that would be especially annoying.  Read more...

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Yes Mom

August 7th, 2011 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (2 Comments)

Ava and Zak have been off on a Daddy/Daughter Adventure this weekend, giving me and the little one an opportunity for a Mom and Max Staycation of our own.

Together Maxine and I made a plan to do all the fun things she likes to do. How often do you have to say “no” to your kids and their stream of demands from that well that never seems to run dry?  It was nice to be able to say “yes” a bit more than usual for a couple days here.  Read more...

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