Dim Sum Toyland

So some of us here have had some illness come and go and that really put a damper on my drive to cook – Aedan in particular has had a less-than-ideal sleeping schedule as of late.  I on the other hand had somehow got myself involved in helping out with our stake gold and green ball (on Valentine’s Day of all days so we’ve gotta pull out all the stops!) and, well, have you stopped reading yet?  It is kind of lame to start with excuses and I really haven’t forgotten this whole dim sum event, which by the way, if you want to enter for the giveaway you better do so quick! 

One of my items on my dim sum to-do list was to talk about dim sum for kids.  I have a soft spot for play food, something I didn’t remember having a lot of as a kid and something I’m loving playing with now as a mommy.  Then enters the idea of felt food. 

It is incredibly cheap to make and really doesn’t take a lot of time (assuming you have time to spare right?) and it is cute to boot.  I even bought the supplies to make all these cute dim sum and sushi items (idea from lilblackdog etsy shop) as part of the challenge, costing me no more than $6 for everything. 

For now I will just have to drool over these pictures and try again when life isn’t eat-sleep-gather decorations.  Here are a few fun foodie kid items that I am lovin:

Dim Sum Food Erasers, really would you dare use them? If only they were scratch-n-sniff…

 

Chinese Food Playset: Probably the least appetizing of them all, it still looks fun and it would fit in nicely with all the other cheap plastic food we have.   Yum Yum Dim Sum Board book.  Aedan likes his food books so maybe someday we’ll get this one.

The idea of dressing up as sushi seems like a geeky costume but when you have a super cute kid in it, it doesn’t seem so bad… I just want to “eat him up”… and no, I’m not thinking dim sum for this year’s Halloween costumes…

Fortunate Event #7 - Greenfield Village

Last Monday we (myself, Aedan, Neal, and my mom) took a day to go to the Henry Ford Museum Complex in Dearborn, MI , first to Greenfield Village and it was a little boys dream come true! For those who've never heard of this place, it is the nation's largest indoor/outdoor history museum complex of what started as Henry Ford's personal collection. My next post will be of the indoor museum itself, too many pictures for one post! We definitely needed more than a day at these places and we definitely needed a stroller but oh well... Here are the highlights in the mind of a two year old:

Aedan was thrilled to meet Trevor (do I really need to explain all of these Thomas the Tank Engine names to you?)

The Mason Bogie is one of the oldest operating steam locomotives in the U.S.

So we took a ride and loved it up until Aedan got scared of the loud noises.

We had to calm ourselves by having lunch. We just had to pick up a hobo lunch for Aedan!

DT&M Roundhouse and turntable where Aedan met several other trains (which we also gave names to among them Mavis and Toby and Old Slow Coach for those of you who know your stuff). There were workers there and one even looked like Sir Topham Hatt and when I told Aedan that was who he was Aedan was in awe. I am loving the little boy stuff!

This was his Gordon.

We would have loved to see the turntable in action. But alas...

Thomas Edison's laboratory stuff. Don't know exactly how it all works but it is certainly impressive!

And they actually give out Model T rides (ours is a 1919)! Aedan is really into Disney Cars stuff and once we told him he can have a ride on a Lizzie car he was sold. We really had fun and the nice old man driving was more than happy to tell us all about everything and anything to do with this little car! I thought it was especially fun that they had only old men driving these vehicles around, whether they are trying to relive the glory days or that is just park policy, I thought it was cute anyway.

It just so happens that I found a Lizzie car when we had to go to get some medicine for Aedan after his ER visit. So we gave him Lizzie as a souvenier and he was so excited about this "grandpa car" and I had to explain to him that Lizzie is a girl and it is a "grandma car". He was a little disappointed because grandpas to him are the ultimate cool. I talked to him about how much fun we had with his grandma riding trains and riding in the Lizzie car and he suddenly realized grandmas are pretty cool too so now she is a "grandma car".

Celebrate Good Times!

Last week Aedan had a birthday party at the Orpheum Museum and had friends and family in attendance.  We like going to the museum but often times there aren't kids his age to play with and so this was a real treat for him to have his friends there.  Aedan's favorite part of the museum is the elaborate train table they have and so we used his favorite characters Thomas the Tank Engine and friends for cake, gift bags, invites, etc.  Ok, truth be told, I was the one that probably got the most excited about train stuff for the party and this is why...

Aedan loves "cuppy capes" and so do I for the convenience value.  Rather than decorate each individually I put them all together and decorated it like a whole cake.  They do that at local grocery bakeries but I had too much fun doing it myself.

To do this I first frosted a single layer of frosting (white) over all the cupcakes to make one continuous surface (there will be little hills as it is hard to get every cupcake to bake to the same height). Then I decorated on top: Thomas is the candle, the bridge was a cut up plastic cup frosted over, the sand is finely ground graham crackers, the rocks are chocolate covered raisins (don't spend $$ on rock candy, these work great), and the rest is colored frosting.  The only piping I did was the train tracks (used a plastic sandwhich bag) and the bushes (needed a star tip for that) and I put little circle sprinkles on the bushes for flowers. 

We started off the party by having free play time at the museum for about 1.5 hours.  It was the perfect day to go - we were the only ones there except for three kids so it almost looked like we rented out the place :) 

They had some fun play time with Thomas and Friends...

The little ones commandered a river boat....

They dug up fossils/threw sand at each other...

They climbed around and played and played!

Like I said in a recent post, after we got home, Aedan sighed and said, "We had fun!" and proceeded to tell me that we need to do it again and again.  Thanks to all the kids and moms/dad who came!  We had fun! And apparently we will have to do it again sometime!

Dabbling in Debatable Deals

I may be opening up a can of worms here, I think I am going to ease myself into this.... I went to some garage sales today and came away with some good finds. At least I think they are. I was lucky enough to find some Thomas the Tank Engine trains and tracks for Aedan and I will put those away until his birthday. I also got two videos, one is Elmo's Magic Cookbook and the other is Tubby the Tuba. The first one is for Aedan and the last one is actually more for me. Tubby the Tuba was a childhood favorite of mine because I grew up playing the cello and I can totally relate to poor Tubby who never gets to be heard in the entire orchestra (just let him play a melody why don't ya!). Either the lady selling it to me liked my childhood memory stories or just liked my child because she ended up giving it to me for free. Well, okay I am beating around the bush, these aren't the debatable objects in question.

The loot!

The question for you: Do you find it strange, and slightly crazy that I bought a doll house for my little boy? I suppose you might suggest it was more for me or for a future girl (if that will ever happen), but really, Aedan has fun with it, plain and simple. This is a Little People play house that came complete with mom, dad, and baby, a whole lot of furniture and house add-ons. It had crayon marking all over it but I knew my trusty magic eraser could handle it. By moving certain parts in the home you can activate corresponding home noises (toilet flushes, computer clicks, phone rings, etc.) and it still works too. All of that for $8. Maybe I could have talked them down a buck or so but Aedan was too busy with his hands at the garage sales so I just went ahead and got it.

I wish it weren't so pink and purple though. I was kind of scared of Neal's reaction (which was mixed) so we will see how it goes. I should have prefaced this by saying that I wasn't much of a doll person myself and I have been known to play with many a He-Man toy in the past.

I know times are changing and all that and people want us to encourage this kind of thing instead of discouraging it, but there is always that thought that makes me hesitate. I don't worry that he will grow up a pansy or anything - in fact after a while of playing with the house he starts treating the little people like they were canon balls.

I am making too big a deal out of this right? Maybe we can learn something from Tubby - melodies are not just for the violins and the weirdo piccolo, none of this orchestra prejudice garbage. Melodies (and dollhouses) are for everyone to share. Ok now I've gone too far...

ps. I wont be offended if you say I should take it back...

Striving for Harmony in the Home

I am so grateful that I grew up with music in the home. I started playing piano when I was four and cello when I was eleven and while I would like to say that I have done a good job at keeping up the skills, I just can't. We have a piano and I have my cello here and I just don't get around to playing either very often. I know I should, if nothing for the fact that Aedan loves music, even when I play a few sour notes.

Rather than mope about it here, I thought I'd share some of the musical happenings that actually do go on in our household. You've already had a taste for Aedan's love of disco music, and you have had the chance to even hear him sing/participate in song a few times over.

However, it was apparent early on that he had great interest in musical instruments. (10 month old)

For his first birthday we bought him a really fun assorted percussion kit that came with a CD and he loves to listen and march around playing his little tom tom or triangle.

He even got a Chinese drum rattle from his Hong Kong relatives. (1yr old)

His most recent instrument interest has been the harmonica. Just before Christmas we had some of Neal's family over at our place and we had a little holiday program where each family was to do something festive and Neal's dad/Aedan's grandpa played Silent Night on the harmonica.

And ever since then, Aedan has referred to a harmonica as a "grandpa" and I haven't had the heart to correct him. He sure looks up to his grandpa and he begs to play a harmonica just like his grandpa. So I finally bought a Blues Band harmonica that is small, affordable, but very easy to play. It has such a beautiful tone (no sour notes!) and I love how excited he gets when he plays. He even likes to applaud himself. I should have him play at our local bookstore and set a little tin cup down so he can start his college fund... What do you think?

We look forward to the many years of music we can experience in our own family and the great blessings that can come from having music in the home and a song in our hearts!

Family, Fun, Food, and... Fonics

Okay so I am pushing it with the title but I'm a sucker for alliteration, even at the expense of proper spelling. I posted a project idea a while back in which I am going through the letters of the alphabet with Aedan. We basically look for things around the house that begins with the given letter and slap it on a piece of paper in the shape of the letter it represents. Well, here is a progress report:

Here we have almonds, beans, Cheerios/cereal, duct tape, Easter eggs (double e double points!), feathers, grass, hand prints (we have too many of these in the house), and ink (stamped on). I have found that the food items are a little more fun because we snack and craft at the same time. He loves making these crafts and they are very quick which is just right for his attention span. I have some tricky letters on the horizon though so we will keep you posted... I will move these to his room to make a border on the wall near the ceiling until they either fall apart or gross me out.

Here are some more recent efforts to fill his cranium:

I just purchased a Melissa and Doug Magnetic Chalkboard/Dry Erase Board at a local bookstore and it comes complete with some wooden alphabet and number magnets. I'm not sure who is more excited about this, him or me. I've wanted a little board to be able to do some story telling pieces with so this should be fun. I might actually wait to give it to him on his birthday so, shh, don't tell him!

I was inspired by a suggestion found in the December Family Fun magazine however I'm sure I'm not the first to do this. We had alphabet pancakes today with, you guessed it, mangoes and strawberry fruit "confetti". Even though Neal wasn't there to partake, we felt we should make one for him too because we miss him.

I am a pancake person and Neal is a waffle person. Aedan prefers not to take sides on the issue. My mother-in-law makes a fabulous whole wheat blender pancake/waffle but seeing as I am currently blenderless I turn to The Pancake Handbook for inspiration. I thought these turned out rather well and yummy AND healthy to boot (but with lots of butter...). This is also among my many attempts to use wheat in my cooking (gotta love those big buckets of wheat that we so ambitiously snagged for our food storage) so I might as well share the recipe if you are in the same boat.

Oatmeal Pancakes

(originally oatmeal-raisin but we don't do raisins in pancake)

from The Pancake Handbook, Specialties from Bette's Oceanview Diner, Second Edition

about 16 (4-inch) pancakes or at least the entire alphabet plus some random numbers

serves 4

1 1/2 cups all-purpose or whole-wheat flour (can do a mixture)

1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup chopped walnuts* (optional but highly recommended)

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except nuts). In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, milk, and butter. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stirring just to blend. Fold in the walnuts. The batter should be slightly lumpy. Let the batter rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or heavy skillet over medium high heat. Portion 1/4-cup measures of batter onto the hot griddle, spacing them apart - if doing letters, use a spoon to "write" the letters with batter on the skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles cover the surface of the pancakes, and their undersides are lightly browned. Gently turn them over and cook for about 2 minutes more, until the other sides are browned.

Serve with real maple syrup, apple butter, or fruit spread. Garnish with small pieces of mango and strawberries (opt.)

*A tip with the nuts, if your kid is picky and wouldn't go for big chunks of nuts, I recommend chopping them a bit finer in a food processor. That way you still get the lovely taste the nuts lend but without the extra crunch. I, for one, am in favor of the crunch.

Thanks to Kristy, I now have this picture curtesy of an Einstein chalkboard generator