As kids grow up, we as parents want them to find their identity, learn discipline, and gain life skills that will aid in their upbringing to help them succeed later in life.  So, what do we do? We sign them up for extracurricular activities!  My mom tried it with me when I was young. 

I was involved in everything from soccer, to hula dancing lessons, to baton twirling lessons where our final recital performance included rainbow leg warmers, pony-tails on the side of our heads, and innocently high-stepping to a cassette tape recording of Olivia Newton-John’s “Let’s Get Physical”.  Of all the various instruments I learned, athletics I tried out, and other attempts to add some culture to my life, the only one that really “stuck” was the 88-keyed ebony and ivory keyboard, the “piano”.   This instrument had defined me as a person, became my identity as my only “talent”, and really came in handy for some last-minute fill-ins for accompaniments.  It also served as the main point of multiple “most embarrassing” moments throughout my life as 29 loose-leaf music pages slid off the piano during a performance and onto the floor, or the time I forgot to play the final verse of a hymn on the organ and left 200+ people staring at me in an awkward silence.  However, this talent has also served as my release, a stress-reliever, a mode of expressing my emotions non-verbally, and a security. 

So, in order for my girls to gain similar experiences, and find a passion which drives them, we’ve been involved in many recreational activities around here. 

C8 started 3-year-old soccer, and although the season started off with vigor and excitement for her pink shin guards, it ended in lack of interest and a lot of standing around on the soccer field.

Ad selected T-ball as her sport of choice this year.  The season started off the same as C8’s soccer: vigor and excitement for her pink mitt.  However, once she learned the proper direction to run the bases, Ad has shown more and more interest in the sport and has improved.

C8 was offered an opportunity to try gymnastics with two cousins.  Having the three of them together added excitement to the sport, as well as the pink tights!  Of all the extracurricular activities experienced, I think C8 has found her niche with gymnastics – one that she loves so much, it shows in her dedication.  What do you think?

I wonder what they’ll pick up next…  maybe DIVING…

What activities are YOUR kids involved in?

Spring is in the air!!   Well, the calendar shows it is, but the weather lately has NOT!  With the recent snowstorms, and frigid temperatures, it feels like the season has been postponed.  However, it doesn’t seem to have affected Thanksgiving Point’s tulips!  The girls and I paid a visit just the other day and those flowers are standing so proud and full of color! 

If you haven’t been to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, or even experienced their tulip festival, you still have a chance!  They’ve extended it for another week!!  With over 55 acres of blossoms, manicured lawns, and man-made imitations of landmarks (including my favorite, the “secret garden”), it’s the perfect place to spend the day with your family, friends, or special loved one!

Thanksgiving Point is extending Utah’s only annual Tulip Festival through Saturday, May 7, adding an extra week for visitors to enjoy the 250,000-plus tulips sprawled across its 55-acre gardens. 
An added celebratory closing event will be held Saturday, May 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a Tulip Princess Tea Party hosted by the winners of the April 15 Tulip Princess Pageant. The Tea Party will serve lemonade and cookies to visitors and is included with the gardens entry admission. The event will also feature a mini-fashion show with tulip-inspired outfits and kids games. RSVPs are appreciated at publicevents2@thanksgivingpoint.org or (801) 766-5018.
 
In addition to the colorful blooms, Thanksgiving Point’s Tulip Festival will include music from local bands, bagpipers and string quartets, craft vendors and food every Friday and Saturday including the extended weekend of May 6-7. Other family-fun activities will take place throughout the festival:
 
*Old Dutch Store’s Dutch Day will be held on Saturday, April 23, with Idlewild and the Accords performing authentic Dutch tunes and celebrating the Holland experience.
*Guest photo contest will be judged by Thanksgiving Point Facebook fans. The winning photo will be published in the Thanksgiving Point Gazette and the winner will receive an annual membership to Thanksgiving Point.
An exhibit featuring photo contest entries and winners from 2010 will be on display throughout the festival.
*Daily garden tours and demonstrations are included with admission.
 
Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival is included with regular Gardens admission. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday, through May 7. Entrance is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $6 for children aged 3-12 and free for Thanksgiving Point members and children under 2 years. Tickets can be purchased at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, over the phone at (801) 768-4900, or online at thanksgivingpoint.org.

The generous folks at Thanksgiving Point are GIVING AWAY a:

Family 4-pack of passes

for you to enjoy them for yourselves!!

To enter, leave a comment here and earn extra entries for tweeting, facebooking, or blogging about the giveaway.

Winner will be selected Sunday, May 1st (so you will have time to enjoy the last week of the festival)

This giveaway is now closed. Random.org chose # 18 as the winner.

Disclaimer: Thanksgiving Point also offered my family and I a 4-pack pass to gain the personal experience, so I could share my own opinions on this review.

I live for the weekends! Not only because of the break we get from the weekly routine of work, daycare, and school, but for Saturday morning breakfasts!  With more time to spend in the kitchen, the girls and I hold nothing back when it comes to our options: waffles, pancakes, eggs and bacon, etc.  In fact, I tend to get excited at bedtime on Friday night, anticipating waking up the next morning!  Is that weird?…

It’s quite the production.  Ad takes on the job of setting the table, which always includes a themed table decorating, complete with marked place settings!

As of late, the breakfast of choice has been what the girls excitedly refer to as “Bubbly Pancakes” (aka German Pancakes).  A cross between a souflee and an omelette, the Bubbly Pancakes are  light and fluffy in texture, and very fun to watch while baking! 

Bubbly Pancakes

6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter

Cut the entire stick of butter into 8 Tbsp pats and lay in bottom of 9×13 pan. Place in oven that is preheatng to 450 degrees. While waiting for the butter to melt (and bubble), prepare the rest of the ingredients into a blender. Blend eggs, milk, flour, and salt together in blender until creamy. Once butter is bubbling, pull pan from oven, pour mixture from blender into pan, then place back in the oven for 15-18 minutes (or golden brown).  Pancake will have “grown” about 4-5 inches and may fall slightly once removed from the oven.

Serve with powdered sugar, fruit, preserves, or your favorite syrup.  Then spend the rest of the day enjoying your weekend!

It seems to be a constant struggle at our house: healthy eating!  I take full responsibility for my girls’ pickiness since it’s a learned behavior.  And because my girls see their mother more often with a cupcake in her hand, rather than a stick of asparagus, it’s not a surprise to me.  However, I decided it’s time to nip it in the bud!

First of all, we talked about our strong, healthy bodies, and all the amazing things we can do with them!  Then, of course, there were demonstrations:

Then the discussion: strong bodies need healthy food…what foods are considered healthy?  My girls are visual learners, and hands-on activities work best, so instead of me spouting off the nutritional benefits of green beans versus a green jelly bean (what are my credentials anyway?), I decided to have them create two posters – one of “good” foods, and the other with “NOT-so-good-for-you” foods.

I pulled out the grocery store mailers, food magazines, and catalogs, and gave instructions for them to start cutting out the different pictures of food, based on our two categories.

They went to town on those magazines!

C8 soon found other uses for the scissors…

But we eventually finished with an end product of which they were very proud! 

And now, with each of them posted in the kitchen, and Ad’s newfound perspective of good/bad foods, I’ve been put in my place multiple times.  Someone’s got to keep me in line!

How do YOU recognize/teach nutrition in your home?

Some of my favorite memories growing up involved freshly poured cement.  Weird?  Possibly, but the best part was that moment just before the mixture was completely set, just ripe for the hand prints or footprints and to scratch our name in with a nail.  Every home I remember my family owning had the markings of the children who lived there, including their current home with prints of their grandchildren.

In thinking how I could “personalize” our yard (without breaking out the current patio and pouring a new one), I realized that the easiest way would be to “decorate” our existing pavers.

With a variety of acrylic paints on hand, some paint brushes, and a little creativity, I put the girls to work on a paver stone for each one.

Thanks to their previous art classes, they experimented with color mixing and created additional bright colors (and some grays/browns after mixing ALL colors) for their canvas.

Then they didn’t want to just stop at the one.  So, we continued to paint until all the pavers were decorated and the paint emptied onto the plates.  And then at that point, there was nothing left to paint… except our fingernails.

See?  Creativity at it’s finest.

From the archives.  (Although we purchased additional bulbs this year with the intent to plant, we didn’t get them in the ground before the rain/snow storms hit this weekend).  Keeping with this week’s ideas for ushering in springtime, I’ve re-posted one from last year.

The change in the season tempts us to get outside and inhale the fresh air, stretch our cabin-fevered muscles, and soak in a little Vitamin D which has deprived our bodies the past few months of hibernation. With all the signs of new growth and springtime here, we decided we’d take advantage of some time and enhance our dirty areas with some color.

Off to Costco we drove and picked out a large bag of gladiola bulbs! Casas and Jester Gold. Don’t those colors sounds lovely? My parents have gladiolas bloom every summer and the colors are so vibrant and brilliant, it makes you stop dead in your tracks to take in such natural beauty. Well, we’re doing the same around here, folks! Right outside our kitchen window as a matter of fact.

As soon as we got home, Ad took off her school clothes and donned her newly dubbed “digging pants” and “dirty boots”, and she was ready to get started. Digging tools in hand, we overturned the dirt, dug burrows, and nestled our bulbs for a warm nap.

Of course, while playing in preparing the dirt, we had to explore the wonders that lie beneath our feet,

pluck it from its natural habitat,

and place it in a location more convenient for examining.

“I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine.”

At least Iwon’t have to worry about my girls ever being too prissy.

AND I’ll have a yard full of colorful blooms come summertime!

A “win-win” day.

Side note: If you noticed a commonality in the pictures between yesterday’s and today’s posts, you win a prize!!  (I’ll give you a hint, we obviously visit Costco more often than I realized)

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been a fan of birds.   I blame my early exposure to the Alfred Hitchcock thriller “The Birds“.

However, my girls are fascinated with the violent creatures.  If one lands on the ground in front of them, they walk towards it, despite my desperate pleas for them to resist (knowing full well the malicious intent of the feathered foes).  The girls watch out our second level windows, which puts them eye level with the trees, for the comings and goings of different birds that perch there (before flying off in search of human beings to attack).

I decided it’s time for me to put my fears behind me, and encourage the interests of Ad and C8.  So we put up the white flag, and made our trees “feather friendly” by providing a comfortable place for them to stay. 

Bird Houses:

The girls had decorated these in their art classes earlier in the year, when learning about “tint” and “shade” colors.  They can be found in craft stores, ready to paint.  We decided now is a good time to pull them out and fill with bird seed.

A sweet “tweet”:

pine cones
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
bird seed
corn meal
dried fruit

Melt peanut butter and shortening together slowly over the stove. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool a minute. Add enough bird seed, corn meal, and/or dried fruit to make a “dough”.

Using your hands, “pat” the mixture onto the pine cones and let harden.  Once dried, hang with ribbon or twine onto tree branches.

Cheerios on a stick:

This one was the funnest (and cleanest) for the girls to make:

Tie a knot at the end of the pipe cleaner and start slipping on the Cheerios.  Make sure to leave enough of the pipe cleaner on the top to twist around the tree branch.

Then when it’s completed, stand back and watch as the birds swarm in, partake of your gracious offering, then proceed to plot against all of humanity.

Recently, I attended a local event put on by “Fabulous Living” where we learned to … well… live fabulously.  Included in the agenda was a presentation by a couple who touched on relationships and helped us learn more about our love language and exactly how we share and feel love.  In order to help us in our discovery, we were handed a variety of magazines and asked to pull out pictures that reminded us of love.  After a few minutes of page flipping and ripping, we reconvened to share our findings.  Some discovered their love is expressed through improving others with positive reinforcement.  Others realized they feel love through religious experiences.  

Mine?  Food.  All the pictures I pulled out had one thing in common: food.  Whether it was a family gathering together over a delectable meal with a lovely tablescape, an outdoor bar-b-que enjoyed with fun and frivolity, or just a simple picture of Oreos and milk, for some reason I was compelled to pull out those pages!

I guess it would make sense. The childhood memories that stand out are the ones baking with my mom, or getting donuts early in the morning after piano lessons.  When family visits Disneyland, instead of asking for T-shirts as a souvenir, I request churros.  And, have you noticed how many of my posts are food related??  To show someone I really care, I deliver treats or a meal. Spending quality time with someone is usually spent in the kitchen, creating or eating.  And, if I really love someone, I’ll prepare a full-on meal, complete with tablescape and napkins!  That, my friends, is love! 

Then I got to thinking how my girls express their love language… 

Ad’s style is more subliminal.  Her feelings are expressed through words and pictures. I love the random cards designed and signed by her, a dry-erase message on my bathroom mirror in the morning, or a likeness of me holding the hand of a shorter stick figure that looks very similar to Ad.  And in return, she loves receiving surprise notes from me (although, my artistic ability doesn’t even compare to hers!) 

C8 doesn’t beat around the bush and says it like it is, “I love you!”  With her, it’s through touch and words. I’m never surprised at the moments she grabs my face with her little, chubby hands, or puts her arms around my neck and makes “squeezing” noises, then won’t let go.  She’s the queen of butterfly kisses, kisses on the cheek, and hugging any part of my body those little arms can wrap around. 

Obviously, once we understand how others recognize love, we are able to express it in a way they can understand. 

What is YOUR love language?

This morning, Ad had a donut reading program, which required them to be at school 30 minutes earlier, but offered an opportunity for the kids to rack up some reading minutes with donuts as an incentive.  She was so excited for it and talked up the donuts all morning long, that after C8 and I dropped her off, we decided that Ad couldn’t be the only one with all the fun!  I looked at C8 and said, “do you want a donut?”  That familiar grin spread over her face (and let’s be honest, mine too) and we headed west to the Lehi Bakery.

I purchased more donuts to take into work, not expecting to eat as many as I did. (8 hrs is a long time to spend in the same room with a box of donuts!) 

And just like that, my training has officially started.  For the Tour de Donut, that is!

No other event combines two of my greatest loves like the Tour de Donut!  Spending time on my bike, breathing the fresh air of the morning, feeling the wind in my hair, and scarfing down donuts every 7 miles!  Now that’s the perfect recipe for a bike race!

Last year, I participated in the Tour de Donut for the first time.  I’ll admit, when I showed up in my gym shorts with my Trek strapped onto my trunk, and watched everyone else (spandex-clad in matching team jerseys and bib shorts) conditioning their Cannondalesand Bianchis, I felt a little intimidated.  OK – a LOT!  This was my very first biking competition ever!

However, contrary to my own perception, and despite the fact that there were nearly 600 participants, there was quite a camaraderie felt among the entire group.  Sure, there were those folding, smashing and watering down fist-fulls of donuts like mad, with an attempt to dethrone the reigning donut king/queen.  But it was all in fun, and ultimately, everyone understood their participation was benefiting local groups.

Here’s my dad cruising over the finish line.

If you’ve even considered a biking event, this is the BEST one - for all levels!  There will even be youth categories, bikes with trailers, tandem cyclists, and team categories.

My brother-in-law, pulling my baby niece, totally cheating by eating his donut leisurely!

REGISTER NOW! 

Especially to take advantage of the early bird special ($40 instead of $50 for individual rider).   And be sure to list that you heard about it from Make It Work Mom!

You can then “like” the Facebook page for race updates!

I’ll see you there! (with donuts in hand)