Toddler Tuesday is for the BIRDS!

It's Toddler Tuesday! Time to share ideas of activities for Toddlers -- ages 2 to 4 years old. Whether you're a babysitter, grandma (like me), parent, sibling, daycare provider, aunt or nice neighbor, I hope you'll find some good ideas in this weekly post. If you have ideas to share, please post the idea on your blog, then leave a comment here. You're welcome to cut and paste the Toddler Tuesday banner to put on your blog. Fall Weather is fast approaching, so winter can't be far off. I thought this week Brayden and I might make some bird feeders, which we can enjoy throughout the winter months. This idea comes from the website of Albert Egg Producers in Canada.

Birdfeeder
Tools & supplies required: Egg carton bottom, scissors, string, birdfeed.
Poke holes in the four corners of the egg carton. Cut 4 pieces of string (about 45 cm or 1.5 feet each) and knot each at one end. Pull a string through each carton hole. Gather strings in middle, and knot. Fill each egg section with birdseed. Hang on a tree and watch the birds feast!

From the great blog Adventures in PreSchool comes this great idea for making a bird feeder from a toilet paper roll. This is a great craft for Toddlers, but messy! ROLLED BIRD FEEDER 1 empty toilet paper roll 2 paper plates 1 "glob" of peanut butter Birdseed Craft or popsicle stick Yarn or string for hanger Simply punch two holes in opposite sides of the top of the TP roll, and put yarn through the holes to later tie up the bird feeder. Put a "glob" of peanut butter on a paper plate, and have the child roll the TP roll in the peanut butter. (She gave disposable knives to the kids to help spread the peanut butter, but for toddlers, I suggest using a popsicle or craft stick.) Once the peanut butter is spread, give each child a second paper plate with bird seed, and let them roll their peanut butter covered TP roll in the seed. That's it! Hang up on the nearest tree and enjoy! Don't forget the Birds! I know Brayden, now a whopping 31 months old, loves anything to do with glue. I have found a picture of birds in a magazine, and will have him glue it to a piece of construction paper, and then help me cut it out. We will then glue the bird to a popsicle stick... I can already picture him running through the house, waving the bird through the air to make it fly! OR - print of this coloring page of a bird and have your child color it whatever color he/she wishes! Cut it out, glue it to a sturdy paper (cereal box cardboard might last longer than construction paper), and attach it to a craft stick. That's what Brayden and I will be doing this week! Hope you'll share a fun activity you do with your Toddler! See you next Tuesday!

Just a thought...

I found this poem on one of my new favorite blogs, The Simple Woman Hope you enjoy it! A Prayer for Womanhood God, give each true good woman Her own small house to keep, No heart should ache with longing, No hurt should go too deep..... Grant her age-old desire: A house to love and sweep. Give her a man beside her, A kind man, and a true, And let them work together And love, a lifetime through, And let her mother children As gentle women do. Give her a shelf for dishes, And a shining box for bread, A white cloth for her table, And a white spread for her bed, A shaded lamp at nightfall, And a row of books much read. God, let her work with laughter, And let her rest with sleep. No life can truly offer A peace more sure and deep.... God, give each true woman Her own small house to keep ~Grace Noll Crowell~ ~~~~~~1934~~~~~~

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my Window... red begonias and yellows mums flowering - in my neighbor's garden! I am thinking... of how I can get laundry and paperwork done today, and still find some time to sew. I am thankful for... My house is clean, there's fresh linens on our bed, and the cat has not bitten me for almost a week. Life is good. From the kitchen... pork roast thawing for tonight's dinner. I am wearing... light gray capris, orange 3/4 sleeve t-shirt, no shoes, no socks. Temps in the 80's today! I am reading... "A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries" by Thomas Mallon. Fascinating! Also Jimmy Buffett's new book, "Swine Not" - surprised at how much I'm enjoying it (listening to the audio book). I am hoping... to really get motivated on doing some new home dec projects I have in my head. I am creating... a folder of home dec ideas I've seen in magazines that I know I can make myself. I am hearing... Water bubbling in the aquarium, "KidStuff" channel from Sirius radio, even though there's no kid here today! Around the house... Because of my two big days of housework last week, I don't have a large to do list today! Yay! Need to make up the guest bed and do some laundry. One of my favorite things... when my husband WANTS peanut butter and jelly in his lunch. How easy is that! A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Sale shopping and lunch with Lynne on Tuesday, babysitting on Wednesday and Friday, trip to the library, and a whole bunch of sewing. Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... 'Nuff said...

Menu Planning Monday - Easy Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe

After taking advantage of some sales on meats in the past two weeks, I didn't buy any meat this week when grocery shopping, so meals this week are planned around what is already in the freezer. On Wednesday and Friday I babysit for my 2 yr old grandson. He leaves around 5:30pm, and meals on those days need to be quick and easy, so I can have time to collapse in my chair for awhile! (Yes, he wears me out!) In an effort to cut down on our grocery budget, I've recently incorporated one meatless meal each week.

Monday Boneless Pork Roast w/garlic and rosemary Baked Sweet Potatoes* Steamed green beans Tuesday Pork and grilled vegetables fajitas Green salad black beans and corn salsa Wednesday DiGiorno's Garlic Bread Pizza Thursday Meatloaf (in freezer, ready to cook) Mashed potatoes Corn Friday Soup (canned) Grilled cheese sandwiches Saturday - Meatless Meal Baked Ziti Green salad Sunday - Breakfast for Dinner Sausage Biscuits (homemade) Scrambled Eggs Fruit Salad

*Baked Sweet Potatoes Recipe 1 large sweet potato - serves two Butter cinnamon/sugar Thoroughly scrub sweet potato. Preheat oven at 350. Place sweet potato on rack of oven for one hour. (Open up top of foil and poke with fork to make sure potato is soft all the way through.) Cut potato in half, and slit lengthwise. Top with pat of butter and generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, re-wrap in foil and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

This week...

Just a quick update (Brayden is upstairs with Umpa "shaving"). Yes, I got my downstairs cleaned yesterday, and despite how tired I was last night, it felt great! Tomorrow Jeff and I will get the upstairs done. Brayden and I did the "Race Car Painting" mentioned in this week's Toddler Tuesday. He had a GREAT time and it kept him busy for about 90 minutes! Here's photos of the artist at work and his resulting art work.

Two Scheduled Days of Pure Housework

Now, I know it's the season of Halloween and all, but yesterday I went to put water in a terrarium I have in my office and saw..... cobwebs! LOTS of cobwebs! Halloween or not, this is NOT cool! I know I've been a bit lazy lately about housework (yes, I confess... I get lazy!), but I refuse to get to the point where there's cobwebs in a very busy room in my house! I can live with cobwebs in the garage and in the basement, though we do go through with a vac once or twice a year and get those cobwebs out, but in my office?! Shame shame shame! So today (Thursday) and Saturday (I have Brayden all day on Friday), I will be doing housework the Don Anslett way... Grab all my cleaning supplies -- Windex, cleanser, furniture polish, rags and paper towels, long-handled cobweb brush, cleaning toothbrush (yeah, I know -- I am THAT anal when I clean!) -- in a bucket, start in the corner of a room and go all the way around, cleaning from top to bottom, using the appropriate cleaner/tool as I go. It's a very speedy method of cleaning, and is especially good at getting dust, fingerprints and yes, cobwebs! I plan on getting the downstairs done today, which is kitchen, family room, dining room, my office, bathroom and laundry room. On Saturday Jeff will help me do the upstairs (hey, he volunteered!), which is master bedroom, guest room, Jeff's office, my quilting room, two full bathrooms, hallway and stairs. A word to the wise (which I'm sure you are, so you already know this), you can't clean clutter, especially with this method of cleaning. My house isn't normally cluttered (OK, except for my office where all things paper land in this house), so I just took a few minutes last night to go from room to room and do a good general pick-up/put away of anything that needed to get back to it's home. But if you have clutter, I highly recommend you head to Flylady's web site and get out from under the clutter before attempting a good thorough cleaning! So I may be blogging a bit less for the next few days -- but I know you'll understand. A clean home environment is more important than blogging -- well, it should be anyway! OK, some days it's not, but you know what I mean!

Pumpkins - Not just a decoration!

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." — Stanley Horowitz Every Halloween I buy a large pumpkin to put out on the front porch, but never carve it (well, not since my kids were young). I simply use it as a decoration near the front door. Immediately after Halloween, I grab the pumpkin and head to the kitchen. First, I cut the pumpkin in half and pull out all the seeds and stringy stuff (I was going to say "guts" but that doesn't sound very appetizing, does it?!). I separate the seeds, wash them off, dry them on a dish towel and pop them onto a Pam-sprayed cookie sheet. I put them in the oven at 325 for a few hours. Yummy toasted pumpkin seeds! Next I cut the pumpkin into manageable sections and take the thick skin off. You need a very large sharp knife to do this with any kind of ease. Once the skin is off, I cut the pumpkin "meat" into fairly large chunks and put it all in a soup pot with about an inch of water on the bottom. I cover the pot and let the pumpkin just simmer and steam for a few hours, until I poke several pieces with a fork and find them soft. I drain off the liquid and mash the pumpkin with a potato masher. I put the mashed pumpkin in collander and let it sit for awhile to release some of it's liquid. Then I put it in ziploc bags in 4 cup servings, and pop it into the freezer. You may not realize that pumpkin is very high in Vitamin A and anti-oxidants, as well as 5 grams of fiber and only 40 calories per half cup! But what can you do with pumpkin? The obvious recipes are for pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pancakes. But how about these ideas? --Spread pumpkin on a slice of your favorite bread. Spread a second slice with peanut butter. Add sliced banana in between. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to every 1 cup of mashed potatoes. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to 8 oz cream cheese, add 2 tbsp honey and a pinch of cinnamon for a great bagel or toast spread. --Add 2 tbsp pumpkin and 1 tsp maple syrup to your oatmeal in the morning. --Add 3 tbsp pumpkin to 1/2 cup applesauce for a nice sweet treat. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to your favorite boxed macaroni and cheese mix in place of the butter/margarine! --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to your favorite corn muffin recipe or mix. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin for every 1 cup of rice to the cooking water or broth of your favorite brown rice. Makes a nice risotto-like rice. Whatever recipe you can find on the Internet that calls for canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree, you can replace with your own pumpkin from the freezer. And if you can wait until the day after Halloween, pumpkins are usually on sale for half price or less! It's a great nutritious ingredient to add as a staple to your kitchen. NOTE TO COMMENTS BY GRAMMY: In a comment on another post, "Grammy" asked me about the Samosas I mentioned in my Monday Menues. I can't take a picture because we ate them! I purchase them frozen, from the ethnic foods department of our local store or in local Indian supermarkets. They are small triangles, perhaps 2 inches per side, stuffed with potatoes, peas, and spices. I have been reading recipes for them, and some people use puff pastry and some use filo dough. Here's a web site for you, Grammy, that has a photo and recipes. If you make your own, let me know how they turn out! I wanted to email you, but there's no email address on your blog.

Toddler Tuesday

Toddler Tuesday - a day to share activities suitable for Toddlers, ages 18 months to 4 years. Join Toddler Tuesday by posting an activity on your blog, and come back here and tell us about it in COMMENTS. Feel free to "right click" on the Toddler Tuesday banner to use on your blog. Paper Cup Stacking - Warning! Giggles Guaranteed! Buy a bag of cheap 100-count paper or plastic cups (check your local dollar or discount store), and you've invested a very small amount of money in a toy that will be a favorite for several years! From the age of 18 months to 7 and 8 years, my two kids loved to stack paper cups. They made walls to knock down with cars, they made castles and houses and garages. They stacked to see how high they could stack. Grandson Brayden loves his cups. Just like his Mom and his uncle, he stacks to knock the cups down, just to stack them all over again. If he can get Joey the Killer Cat to knock them down, so much the better! Grandson Brayden is currently fascinated with several things - cars, trains and guitars. I found this great activity on Family Fun web site, and plan on trying it tomorrow with Brayden. RACE CAR PAINTING CRAFT MATERIALS: Large sheet of white paper Masking tape Toy cars Washable, nontoxic tempera paint 1. Before you begin: Cover your work surface with paper, keep wipes handy, and wear a smock or old clothes. 2. Begin by taping a piece of paper to a kids' table. Squeeze or dribble a line of tempera paint onto the paper. 3. Now let your child drive his toy cars through the paint and over the plain paper 4. Keep the fun going! When the raceway fun is done, fill the kitchen sink with soapy water, grab a rag, and have a car wash! What's your Toddler's favorite activity these days? Share on your blog (or in comments if you don't have a blog) and come back and leave your posting address. FRUGAL AND SIMPLE CHILD'S ART SMOCK Brayden and I have not yet done any painting (though I know he has painted with his Mom), so it occurred to me that I need to have an Art Smock for him! I found this great idea on the web - a simple art smock made from a pillowcase. You can find easy no-sew instructions on the Blissfully Domestic web site. However, since I do sew, I will change the instructions by not using the Brads they suggest, but instead sewing a seam where the Brads are located, both front and back, and thus creating some pretty cool pockets!

A Simple Woman's DayBook

FOR TODAY, October 7... Outside My Window...soft pastel colors of an early morning sunrise - soft blues, pinks, yellows, grays - perfect colors for a quilt! I am thinking... of what I need to get done today. I am thankful for...a husband who is such a wonderful role model for his grandson. From the kitchen...the smell of waffles and syrup. I am wearing...Jeans, salmon long sleeve v-neck, no shoes I am creating... wallets for Christmas gift-giving, an I-Spy Quilt for Brayden's first "Big Boy" bed. I am going...to the public library I am reading...Greg Olson's A COLD DARK PLACE - not normally my style of reading, but it pulled me in! I am hoping...To get my errands and housework done early so I can spend more time sewing today. I am hearing...the quiet bubbling of the aquarium, Joey meowing at the door. Around the house...A little too much dust, a dishwasher that needs to be emptied. One of my favorite things... That first cup of coffee of the day. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: More sewing, babysitting for two days, preparing for an upcoming yard sale on 10/18. Here is picture thought I am sharing... Because of Brayden's obvious interest in trains these days, Jeff got out one (of his many) model trains and set it up and showed Brayden how to run it. They both thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Post your own Simple Woman's DayBook - read about it here.