Giant Suckers

The tradition is to give goody bags at the end of a birthday party. We bought a selection of board games and giant suckers and let each kid pick a game and a sucker. Almost a month later and our kids decided they should taste the suckers they gave out to their friends.

It's as big as her face.

He likes the color pattern.

The verdict? They taste sugary. He tried a few licks and then threw it away. She sucked on it for about 5 minutes then threw it away. They just don't like sweets.

Dominican Republic resort

So the family went on a vacation in the Dominican Republic. 2 kids, their father, their aunt and uncle, and one set of grandparents. (Their mom had to work.) That makes writing about this more difficult as I am the mom! I will do my best to recount the wonderful vacation they had without me. :(

Burgers

Kayaking

Balcony

Dinner

Fuseball

The Bear's Den

Have you ever wanted to eat dinner with two 400 pound black bears? I'm serious. This is a real thing. The bears are safely locked up, but they do sit at a table and eat. They pick through their food and swat at each other for the good stuff.

We are all headed toward their table

They sit and eat and have the table manners of a pack of elementary students

We are about 5 ft away from their table. There are multiple cages/fences/etc between us

 This was toward the end. They both have some food inside their arms that they are protecting

Here one of the trainers was having them do tricks for dessert. This allows them to check on the health of the bears without ever getting inside the cages

Cruise versus Reality

Here are a few photos of the daily life on a Princess cruise. A reality check is at the end of the post.

 Our cabin. The kids slept on the top bunks and loved every minute of it.

On deck. Live music that wasn't too loud, swimming pools, and general relaxed life.

Meals. Eating out every meal, plus snacks. In this case we were being served breakfast rather than going to the buffet. No cooking, no cleaning.

This is what we returned to - snow. Not exactly what we were used to on our tropical vacation. Sometimes reality bites.

Adult Entertainment

We started the days at the pool and when the rest of the family joined us, we would go to the beach. Eventually we would get hungry. One day we found this place to eat within walking distance. We were still in our swim clothes or cover ups. They had the most amazing (huge, strong) margaritas.

While we enjoyed our drinks, the kids entertained themselves by borrowing people's hats. Here's Sweet Son in a big floppy hat.

Here's Sweet Daughter in another hat.

The whole family full with alcohol and a bit of food. Priorities, right?

(Full disclosure, the kids did not have any alcohol.)

Teacher Christmas Gift

Last year the kids and I made all of the teachers these great giant smores on a stick. (Yes, they have a lot of teachers and I wanted to snack on a few.)

You will need: giant marshmallows, candy sticks, melted chocolate, graham cracker crumbs, and food bags. I found the candy sticks and food bags at the local craft store. The food bags even came with the ribbons already set so once the food was inside it tightened and was very easy to tie.

Step 1: Dip one end of the candy stick into melted chocolate then push into bottom of marshmallow. It will need to go about half way up. The chocolate helps hold the stick in firmly. Let this set until chocolate is hard.
Step 2: Dip the marshmallow into melted chocolate trying to cover as much as possible.
Step 3: Roll the chocolate covered marshmallow in the graham cracker crumbs.
Step 4: Stand them up on their stems to let the chocolate dry.
Step 5: Eat or Wrap

A note about step 4 - while standing up they need to be as balanced as possible and not touch anything. You can see I was creative with my options. I had some standing in an upside down dishwasher rack, some in a strainer, and a few in the cheese grater. You might want to make a plan for this before you get there because I was left just grabbing things.

These tasted great and the teachers loved them. It also wasn't an expensive gift and the kids could help with most of the steps.

Strange Kids

These are just a collection of short stories that have happened this month and remind me of just how strange my kids are and I LOVE it!

During lunch the kids were discussing favorite foods. According to them Daddy's favorite food is ice cream. Mommy's favorite food is anything chocolate. Sweet Daughter's favorite food is kefir. Sweet Son's favorite food is peas. They are right, but still that's not normal.

I told them they didn't have to take a nap based on their behavior (they weren't acting tired and haven't had a nap in weeks). They decided to take one anyway. Sweet Daughter slept and Sweet Son just played quietly in the room. I'm thrilled and will certainly take it, but once again not normal.

Every day Sweet Daughter begs to do Life of Fred (Math curriculum). There are times I feel like I give in too often when they ask for things, but when they are asking for vegetables and academics I can't justify saying no.

There are times I offer to let them play on the computer and they will say no. They have discovered a tv show they both love. How It's Made. Silly me trying to let them watch kids programming or cartoons.



Sweet Daughter: I want to do Life of Fred.
Sweet Son: I want to do a Spelling test first.
Sweet Daughter: Do you think we could do both?

Then they both ran over asking me at the same time if they can do both. Yes, my nerdy children we can do both. hahahaha

Science Camps

After a week of a Science camp focused on the human body, Sweet Daughter was singing a song that she made up this morning. My favorite line? "My princess blood cells are white and they fight, fight, fight to keep away a virus and to heal my cuts."


The Science camps the kids have been attending require them to bring a snack. I ask the kids if they could bring any snack they wanted, what would the pick? I was prepared to refuse the first few choices. They both answered dried fruit. We got 4 different types and everyone's happy.

HoneyBaked Ham Store Review and Giveaway!

HoneyBaked Ham provided me with a giftcard to spend in their store. I bought the rest from them with my own money. The opinions I share about the food are my own, and HoneyBaked Ham did not tell me what to say. In fact, they won't agree with some of my opinions.

Here's my to do list:
Run a 1/2 marathon
Make sure kids get to music class
Grandma comes in town for a visit
Our city Easter Egg Hunt
Go with the kids to a friend's birthday party at a bounce house place
Promote two giveaways that are happening on my blog
Promote two giveaways I'm doing on another blog
Do homework for my Coursera class
Complete lesson plans for upcoming week

That's a pretty crazy list for a week, but that's actually my list for one specific day. The biggest issue? My family still expects to eat. I know it's crazy, but they want 3 complete meals and a snack. Turns out explaining the importance of fruits and vegetables has made this even more complicated. They won't let me serve cereal for every meal.

That's why I was so happy to learn about the HoneyBaked Ham store in Plano, TX. I had never been to one and didn't realize the variety of things they have. Of course they have ham, but they also have turkey, sides, desserts, mixes, and condiments. I don't like ham and neither does anyone else in my immediate family. I'm fairly certain I'm not supposed to say that in my review, but it is true. However, my family loves turkey. We were able to pick up fully cooked turkey breast - baked in the honey glaze - already sliced. This seems like a simple thing, but having it already sliced saves me time.

We also bought mashed potatoes, spinach artichoke dip, broccoli rice casserole, and cornbread stuffing. Each of these is individually packaged and can be heated in the oven or in the microwave. Another great benefit - all of them can be frozen and cooked from frozen. I have a deep freeze with plenty of storage space, but my refrigerator is often full so this saves me space. Once again it's the little things that help.

The most difficult decision to be made at the HoneyBaked Ham store is which dessert to pick. We were good and only picked one, though they were all tempting. We passed over the cheesecake, pecan pie, and chocolate mousse cake. We decided to get a coffee cake. Then we had to pick a flavor. We ended up with the banana walnut, but were tempted by the other flavors as well.

We also picked up a couple of other items because one stop shopping is more efficient! We needed some pancake mix (made with real blueberries) and some mustard. The food was all excellent and so easy to prepare. For a formal family meal, I highly suggest the HoneyBaked Ham store. If you are as busy as I am, you should buy your Easter meal from here. If you aren't as busy as I am, would you like to help me? I could really use it...

There are some specials going on that I wanted to tell you about.

• In-Store Specials
• $54.99 Easter Ham & Turkey Combo – Pair a Turkey Breast (approx. 3 lbs.) with your choice of a Boneless Ham (approx. 3.5 lbs.) or Quarter Ham (approx. 4.5 lbs.)
• $22.99 Turkey Breast (with any Half or Whole Ham purchase)
• $24.99 Easter Brunch Bundle – Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake and Honey-Spice Bacon
• Heat & Share Sides: Two for $13.99, three for $19.99

They are also offering a coupon off Ham to all of my readers just go here: Coupon.

HoneyBaked Ham is sponsoring a giveaway! 20 people will win a $50 giftcard to spend on anything at their closest HoneyBaked Ham store.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wordless Wednesday

Resort Restaurants

The resort had a few different reservation only dinner restaurants. We tried the Italian one that had great reviews on Trip Adviser and weren't impressed. The next night we decided to try the Spanish one. We were in Mexico after all!

The restaurant was truly Spanish, i.e. food/decor from Spain. It was one of the best experiences we had at the resort. The food was great and the staff was outstanding.

 

First, they brought out hats for our kids to try on and play with. I should note we had the only kids in the entire place and they were exceptionally well behaved.

Then they brought out the best table game ever. A lime with a napkin on top. The corners of the napkins are twisted and it forms a shell over the lime. The waiter sat it down and gave it a little push. It waddles across the table and made everyone laugh. They let each child play with one. Such a simple idea, but it kept the kids entertained while we waited for the food to be prepared.

 

Even after bringing the food, the staff continued to offer special attention to our kids. They brought out shot glasses filled with something clear. The kids seemed nervous, but took a cautious sip. Then they were hooked and finished drinking the rest of the shot. It was Sprite, for those who are wondering. It was the first time either of our kids tasted Sprite. They now refer to Sprite as "an adult drink" which does cause some interesting conversations, but I like the concept. haha

At one point Sweet Daughter dropped her shot glass on the floor. It shattered and she was upset. The staff rushed over to clean it up, apologizing for giving her glass. I was apologizing for her dropping it. She was just upset and thought she was in trouble. We all assured her she wasn't in trouble. There is a reason we don't give glass to 3 year olds.

Wordless Wednesday

They wanted a snack so I gave them fresh veggies. :)

Lessons Learned while Cruising with Preschoolers

While we had cruised on our own before, the experience with twin three year olds is completely different. Here are some of the lessons we learned on this trip.

We travel so much that our kids just naturally get out of the car and start carrying luggage.

You never know who you will run into. Here we are with a friend (and former co-worker) that we ran into on the ship. We had no idea we were going on the same cruise and had fun catching up.

The service is SLOW, especially during dinner. We have cruised before and had exceptional service. This trip the service was painfully slow and many nights we left before dessert because it was simply taking too long. Things like having to ask for more bread or a refill just simply didn't happen on our other cruises.

Bring something (stickers in this case) for the kids to do while waiting for meals. Yes we look silly, but the kids were quiet, contained, and didn't disturb anyone around us. Every meal we got compliments from people around us on how well behaved our kids are. 

We are a very active family. We don't spend a lot of time sitting still. We are always on the go and one of our concerns was how our kids would burn off their energy in such limited spaces. The kids' club was fine, but didn't really get the kids up and running around. We took the kids up to the running track every day to let them simply run in circles. The other people on the track loved it and were encouraging. They were giving high 5's and offering words of encouragement.

Our overall impression of cruising with preschoolers? We will try cruising again, but not on this cruise line. The positives simply didn't out weigh the negatives on this trip for us. Honestly, the level of service and entertainment on this cruise line (which we had traveled on more than once before) has gone down so much I don't think we would even consider it without kids. I still love cruising and once we find a good fit I can see it becoming one of our more regular styles of vacation.

Birthday Plans

We are talking about the kids birthday party next month. Sweet Son ask if there would be food - his world revolves around food. I assured him there would be pizza. Sweet Daughter asks (with a look of disgust) if there would be cake. I turned it around and said, "Do you want cake?" That's when she told me her idea. She wants pizza and quesadillas instead of cake. She even added that they could have lots of veggies and cheese so it would be like dessert.

This child is weird. Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the other kids if I tried serving quesadillas filled with veggies instead of cake? This is the same child that asked her teacher why she had to eat her broccoli before her plums since broccoli is so much better.

I'm weird, but I can't remember ever turning down cake - or liking broccoli for that matter. I blame her father. haha

The importance of working memory

As I mentioned in the executive function post, working memory is extremely important. Working memory is the best predictor of school success. It is both academic and social. So, what else do we know about working memory?

High IQ does not equal high working memory. The opposite is also true, high working memory doesn't equal high IQ. While most IQ tests are sensitive to socioeconomic status (SES), working memory is not. For example, one section of most IQ tests for children is on general knowledge. If you ask a child "What is a police officer?" the correct answer would be something along the lines of "someone who helps people." An incorrect answer would be "someone who takes my Daddy away." Clearly this is measuring experience, not intelligence.


There are ways to improve working memory. It all starts with diet and exercise. I've address the importance of exercise on the brain already. So which foods are best to include in your diet? Dairy, berries, herbs, and foods with omega3 and dha have all been proven beneficial specifically for working memory. Foods that will have a negative impact are processed and contain high amounts of sugar, fat, and chemicals. One Organic Mama was kind enough to write a guest post for me on healthy living.

Once you have addressed the diet and exercise components, the other way to improve working memory is through proprioception training. In fact, proprioception training for just one day shows and increase in working memory by 50% and it lasts many months. As with anything, the more you do it the better the results. Proprioception is the ability to sense the position, location, orientation, and movement of the body and its parts. Proprioception training is all about balance and body awareness. It includes things like walking on a balance beam with your eyes closed, jumping to a target with your eyes closed, crawling on a balance beam, and running.

Exercise and the Brain

I wrote about this topic more than a year ago, but I wanted to post again with the additional research.

The importance of physical exercise on your neurological health is fascinating to me, so when I'm attending a conference I tend to chose sessions that include this topic when possible. One of my favorite speakers is Dr. Kenneth Kosik. (You may notice I referred to his research in the post linked above also.) He does a lot of research on Alzheimer's and brain health. Here are some of the notes I wrote down from his session.

If you have more education and a more demanding job, it protects you against Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's, heart attack, and stroke have many of the same risk factors.
Vascular blood vessels in the brain would be 500 miles long if stretched out.
Childhood cardiovascular health impacts the blood vessels in the brain.
70% of 40 year olds have affected blood vessels in the USA.
Children should not ever have more than 50g/day of sugar. (A juice box is 25g.)
Travel reduces risk of dementia, as does socializing, knitting, and gardening.
Biking, swimming, and golf don't reduce risk of dementia.
Dancing and playing instruments lowers dementia risk.
Cognitively, it's better to follow than to lead when dancing.

If you notice, taking care of your heart and physical health is obviously one of the most important factors in keeping your brain healthy. Nutrition and exercise reduce your risk of cardiovascular problems and mental problems. Trying things that are new and challenging, especially facing the unexpected (traveling, socializing), should be encouraged at all stages of life. I was disappointed that biking and swimming aren't more helpful since I enjoy those. I will continue to play instruments and encourage my kids to do so. I dance like a white girl with two left feet, so I will avoid that one for now. haha

I also attended a lecture by Dr. John Ratey (Harvard Medical School). He shared how humans are de-evolving. We sit in front of screens hunched over and it's making us much worse off. He is a big proponent of the FitDesk if you have to do computer work. Here are some of my notes from his speech.

It's better to wear out your body and mind than to rust.
Running will get you results in half the time of walking.
To add 3 years to your life run 100 min/week or walk 200 min/week.
Running is the best exercise for neurological health.
The computer offers hypernormal stimuli.
Fitness increases neurons and connectivity in the brain.
Exercise is as good as Zoloft to treat depression.
Exercise is the equivalent of a little Prozac and a little Adderall.
Running increases your endocannabinoids. (like marijuana)
A PE teacher gave grades based on how long students' heart rates were in the target zone and there was an 83% drop in disciplan referrals.
Teachers should offer a time in instead of a time out (run, bike, etc) in order to turn the brain back on.
Improving cardio fitness improves IQ.
Strength training improves physical health, but not mental.

I should note here that I hate running, so hearing that was the best thing I could do for myself mentally was a major disappointment. However, it was also the push I needed. As I write this I'm in week 4 of a couch to 5k program. By the time this is published I hope to have completed it. I still hate running, but after seeing the evidence, I feel the need to run. I would love a FitDesk , but don't have the money or a place to put it. I like the idea of PE grades being based on something that everyone can achieve with effort.

So, has any of this information made you want to start exercising?

Solar Oven

Here's another fun Summer project. We used a pizza box to make a solar oven to reheat our pizza. Simple, fun, and a great Science project.

First place a piece of black paper in the bottom of the box. Then cut the lid as shown below. Cover the lid in aluminum foil to reflect the sun onto the pizza. Cover the opening with plastic wrap to keep the bugs off. Then you just need something to hold the top open and get the right angle to heat the pizza (this is not a photo of the correct angle). 

What have you heated in a solar oven? We are looking for more ideas.

One Organic Mama on Eating Healthy

During the blog party I was asked when I was going to do a post on nutrition. Since I'm just starting to understand nutrition myself, I ask another blogger if she would be willing to do a guest post on the topic. I'm thrilled to introduce you to One Organic Mama. Be sure to check out her blog after reading this post.

 

From time to time I have been asked by my friends... or more accurately my parents' friends - what are the absolute things they need to do to eat healthy.  

Like a top 10.

Honestly.  I don't know.

I am not a professional.

I am just a mom.  Trying to do what's best for my kiddos without being a lunatic.

I would say I am successful about 50% of the time :)

Anyways... here is my "list"...

<a bunch of words are linked up - so if you don't know what 'gmo' click to find out!>

Do

Don’t

Have high standards for your food at home – NO GMOs, no artificial coloring, organic if you can Get to know some farmers – if you’re in an area where there are farms - introduce yourself, check out their farm, get some local sustainable food from them! Your research!!  There are some great people out there reporting on all things food – 100DaysofRealFood and FoodBabe are two of my favorites. Cook from scratch!  Getting back to basics (especially using organic ingredients) makes sure no nasty food additives, preservatives, or anything unnecessary are in your food. Make as much of your diet, whole, real foods. Buy minimally processed foods. Make your own your own non-toxic cleaning supplies!  HINT - vinegar and water... good for pretty much everything :) Use cloth diapers if you can! Get into essential oils Cut yourself a break.  Just reading about these things are more than the average consumer does!  You’re doing great just finding out what’s out there! Try doing things naturally first.  All things.

Obsess about things you can’t control (like food eaten outside your house) – I know my kids will eat more food from my house than anywhere else – if they have a red dye filled ice pop at a friend’s house every now and then – it’s ok. Eat at fast food restaurants – it’s no good, all fried in GMO soy, just stay away from it. Buy things in packages that don’t need to be in packages (ie: individually wrapped apples and potatoes). Forget to read the label – it is easy to think that you’re getting something fantastic from some of the deceptive advertising that’s out there! Believe that “natural” or “all natural” means anything!  It doesn’t.  Either – talk to who made it and find out about their sources OR look for the USDA Organic stamp Use Johnson and Johnson, just don’t. Use canola oil anymore. Buy anything with an ingredient you can’t pronounce or don’t recognize Do a lot of soy.  Once you start reading ingredients - it is in EVERYTHING processed and most (95%) is GMO.  It also messes with hormones... yikes!  The 90s told us soy was a perfect protein and we should all be eating it all the time and drinking it up as babies in formula. Not my style.  Read the link for 170 reasons why you should cut it out of your diet. Reject science.  Lots of times, in lots of cases – medicine is the answer.  Don’t ignore it because sometimes its not!

Like I said, nothing here is hard and fast - it is a slow transition - and even then... aim for 50%  :)  

Kristin is a high school history teacher in Central Massachusetts and a member of the board of directors of Kai's Village. She is currently taking the year off from school to be home with her two crazy boys. She enjoys laughing, getting out of the house with the boys everyday, cooking healthy yummy meals, sneaking take out with her husband after the kids are in bed, and pretending to know how to blog. You can get to know her on her facebook or on her "blog."