Cooking with Kids

Food is a test of patience for almost all parents, well let's be honest all parents (enough to make you want to yell...).  I don't care how good your little eater is - every time that wee person with a very large will munches on something foreign and new and goes back for their second piece you are singing with joy deep down.

Eating is an adventure.

So is cooking.

Soren has been my kitchen buddy since I can remember.  I want him to grow up with vast culinary knowledge.  I don't want him to remember learning to cook - I want him to always have known how to cook, for it to be something inherent, second nature.  Like I was playing piano…  I don't remember learning, I just always knew where the keys were - my memory was too young to register it.  

Although it is messy - almost all the time now - I love it.  A couple nights ago, Soren made our salad , he made ice cream with me, we made cookies - he even poured the flour into the mixer! - and now, he rolls out dough with me, cuts it and monitors me putting it into the oven exclaiming 'hot!  momma - hot!' and I respond, my heart swelling with joy - 'yes, sweetie - VERY hot.  sssss..ow!'

Cooking is fun - more now than it ever was….

JoAnne is teaching Soren how to juice a lemon - takes a lot of strength!

Knitting

There is a poster I spotted on the internet awhile back - said something along the lines of 'I knit, but that doesn't mean I'm old!'.  I don't really give into many stereotypes, but I completely understand the validity of this statement!  I have been knitting since my sophomore year in college and been addicted ever since.  I made Soren's first hat and mittens, several scarves and hats for family - you get the idea.

I haven't knitted much since Soren was born though and got the itch after going through the several, no really - several skeins of yarn I have managed to collect.  I needed to clean out my stock.

Let the projects begin!  

I know a lot of babes on the way, so I thought - gender neutral baby hat?

That then turned into mittens and then booties (which I adore making…and they are so cute!). 

I noticed I had a slightly large and diverse amount of heavy weighted yarn, but not enough of each color for individual projects - so why not a lap blanket for a wee one?  Soren was a winter babe and we couldn't bundle him under the straps for his carseat so we would always double up swaddling blankets on his lap.  Well, here is one just for that!  And can double as a 'lovey', 'snuggly' or in Soren's case - just plain ole 'blanket'.  Can't fall asleep without it.  

I hope to embark on a new set of mittens, hat, booties and blanket with a VERY large skein of yarn - let me know if you want one!  

Once I get down to one basket of yarn, I'm set to snag some more at this local store I love!  

Start some projects from this site.

And make myself one of these!

Toddler Train Tote

Since my craft supplies have finally been unpacked, organized and ready for crafting - the bug has bitten.  All the random supplies I've discovered only feeds my quest to conquer new projects.  Fabrics from quilts I made 4 years ago, turtles I stuffed for Soren over the summer and a ridiculous amount of yarn - which coincidentally all have a similar color theme...hmm...suspicious?  So, I made a pact with myself - no more supplies purchasing until I make it through the majority of what exists.  The last thing I want is to run my family out of house and home with fabric and yarn!  

Lately, Soren has been perpetually stealing my bag filled with Goodwill donations (more on that later...), dumping out the donations and filling it with 'choo choo's'.  Carrying and dancing around the apartment, proudly toting the bag.  

With the old quilt fabric pieces and new rubber stamps (which is a more recent obsession of mine.  Aren't these awesome!) - I quickly got down to business in my new sewing station!  In Soren's 2 hour power nap, I was able to make him this train tote.  He immediately knew what it was!  He stuffed it full of 'choo choo's' and proudly 'toted' around the apartment.  Love!

What Moms Say

I have always admired mothers - how they adore their children, have wrinkles of wisdom (no matter how old you are, you end up with a few once you reach toddler-hood!), and they say the most incredible things.  But now that I myself am a mother, these words, their facial expressions and smiles hit me harder than they ever did before.

For instance:

1. New mother - pregnant with her first, little girl texts me 'So, I spent most of the class watching my belly bulge and wiggle because baby girl was mad at me for not eating before I went.  I'm amazed that I can see my belly move, she's no little alien anymore'.  Whenever I hang out with this mom, I always catch her looking down at her belly in admiration.  It makes my heart sing every time.  I know that feeling, that deep love for someone I hadn't even met yet.  I see such a proud, loving mom in her.

2. A mother blogger I follow wrote 'They make my heart swell up just looking at them. This is my family. I really can’t get over that we have 2 beautiful children. How did I get so lucky?'  I love reading this blog, I highly recommend it Jen Loves Kev.  This is a mom so in love with her family and her smile in these photos... leaves me speechless.

3. An absolutely wonderful, unconditionally loving mother I have had the pleasure of being best friends with for more than a decade wrote me this in an email recently '[my Son] is all my joy wrapped up into one little package. I cannot get enough of him.'  This flat out made me melt.  I started tearing up as I read this line.  It might be my favorite.  I love this woman - she is a pillar of strength and courage and so loving.  I wouldn't expect anything but this line from her.  She nailed it - this is motherhood.

4. Last but not least, this blogging momma and participant of 52 portraits. From her site Normal is a Setting on a Dryer, writes 'Sometimes, my child is so cute that it kind of hurts.  Or maybe that’s the boundless love of mother for child…'  Spot on!  I know this mom personally and this line suits her to a 't'.  

I love all these mommas and feel incredibly grateful that I have some as friends and others as authors to read.  They are wonderful and I appreciate their words... more than they will ever know.