Fun with Friends

Girl with dragon

When I decided to look for a new job I had a bunch of goals. Some I thought might be a little lofty and others were must haves.

Must Haves

1. I need to have the ability to spend more time with my family. Working 50-60+ hours a week was taking me away from the people who needed me most, and who I needed most. This realization set in when I packed work clothes and no pajamas as I (crazily) thought my house was going to fall down post tornado. 
2. I want to be able to be in the moment with my family. Even when I was with my family, I'd sometimes be thinking about work I had to get done.
3. I didn't want a job with a bunch of travel that kept me away from the people I love the most. See #s one and two. 

Like to Haves

1. I wanted a job that I felt like I was making a difference. Helping the business.  Helping the customers. Just feeling like what I did mattered.
2. I was hoping for a job that enabled me to use the skills and knowledge I had, while still gaining and building new skills. 

What I realized was the "must haves" were about my family and the "like to haves" were about the job itself. Fortunately, I believe I found a balance between the two.  

The last two months I've done more with my family than I did in probably a 6 month period before. I actually cook dinner most nights. Yes, it's typically with the slow cooker, but it's cooked. It's at home. We're all together at our dining room table - a table that Katherine sets each night. (proud mom)

Then I decided we should "do" some things. Katherine loves an art project and there are always reasons to break out the craft stuff and create something together. At Christmas time we all made ginger bread people, reindeer ornaments... we made shrinky-dinks. Good stuff.  

As I started to think about things to do I realized that if I didn't put them on the family calendar and plan for them, they likely wouldn't happen and then some of my "must haves" would be missed.  

Tonight was one of those pre-planned events. A few weeks ago I was looking at the calendar and saw it was the Lunar New Year. Hello party! Who doesn't love celebrating the new year?! =) We were gonna party like it was 4709!! 

I found a book online on the Lunar New Year and learned that it was the Year of the Dragon. Begin: Search for dragon craft project.  Success.  Begin: search for fun dessert. Success (with the help of our neighbor). Begin: plans for chinese food dinner (thanks be to Take-out!). 

Katherine and I were going to be solo for the event, and while that would be fun, I was thinking it would be even more fun with two of our best ladies. Our neighbor and her daughter. We started off by having some take-out chinese food, followed by making some Lunar New Year treats (also known as haystacks!) and then made some pretty snazzy dragons.  Oh, and lest I forget one of the traditions of my youth: banging on pots and pans on the porch to celebrate the new year.  

Making music on the steps! =) 

I know Katherine had a blast and I think our neighbors had some fun too. The planning paid off. Now to start thinking about our next activity... I think it'll have something to do with Valentine's Day. =) 

Free invitation card personalized with Smilebox

Fun Things to Do

This week I've had a couple of moms ask about the things we find to do with Katherine. I'll admit to struggling and trying to come up with something interesting to do I have started researching things in advance of holidays, etc. so that I can start planning things to do. Nothing elaborate or expensive, just a little something to special to make an ordinary day a little special.  I thought I'd share some of the research I've done on upcoming holidays/things to do.


Cooking Class
This week Katherine and I went to a cooking class together. This is absolutely something that can be done at home. With just a little bit of planning you can have the same type of thing.  As I mentioned we made mini muffins and cheese quesadillas. In between making each thing we read a story and at the end read a story and sang a song. This kept all of the participants entertained and kept with the theme of the day. You can do this with one child or multiple, as long as you have some other Mommy/Daddy helpers. 


Chinese New Year
January 23rd is Chinese New Year.  The Year of the Dragon.  I thought it would be fun to have a little new years celebration. We've invited a friend over for some chinese food, a little story (that I bought on amazon) and we're going to make some kind of crafty thing.  I found two things online that have possibilities for the dragon.  

Paper Dragon

Felt Dragon

Valentine's Day

There are a couple of fun activities that I found.  One is a little mouse puppet made out of felt and another is a heart t-shirt. I was thinking even without the doily it could be fun to just do a t-shirt project.  There are pretty inexpensive fabric markers available at the big chain craft stores.  If you find a 40% or 50% off coupon you can get them at an even better price. I think I paid around $6 for mine. They've worked great for everything we've used them for so far. No washing issues and aren't that messy. 

Felt Mouse Puppet

Heart T-shirt

Here are also some ideas for Valentine's Day cards. Be warned... If your'e on Katherine's valentine list you might be receiving one of these!! :) 

Fun Valentine's Day card idea

Photo Lollypop Valentine

Lollypop Valentine

And if you're into baking here's a Valentine's Day cake. When I bake with Katherine I get everything prepped on the counter before calling her in. She then dumps everything into the bowl as I tell her and helps mix it. And yes... sometimes even eats the beater. 

Valentine's Day Cake Recipe

PiDay

This is celebrated on 3/14. I hope you get it. :) We either make a pie or have the bakery make one (depending on schedule and time) and have a little Pi fun after dinner. 

Mardi Gras (February 21, 2012) 

Mardi Gras is celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which kicks off Lent in many churches/religions. I'm thinking we might either make a King Cake or a friend has offered to ship one to us from Louisiana. (How cool is that?!) Part of the fun of the King Cake is finding the baby inside of the cake.  =) Here's a recipe for a King Cake. 

I think we'll also make some kind of creole dinner. Still looking for some yummy recipes there. I think I might look for something that can even go into the crockpot. =) 

I find it's helpful to put events on the calendar and set a reminder 4-5 days in advance so I can work on getting things together. And I rarely tell Katherine about the activity until the day of or just before we're about to do it. It saves a lot of "is todayyyyyy the day?!" 

Have fun!! 

xo

Darlene

Our First Cooking Class

Enjoying her dinner

"Katherine, when you're asked to dump something into the bowl what should you say?"

"YES SHEF!!" 

"Good job!!" 

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't take advice from Gordon Ramsey. And mayyyybeeee yelling "yes shef" in her first cooking class wasn't as amusing to the instructor as it was to me. And maybe she was so caught up in the moment she actually forgot to say it... =) *whew*

Tonight Katherine had her first cooking lesson at a place called Lil Chef. We signed up for 6 classes where she'll get to cook her own meal. Pretty cool. I know I was excited. And it wasn't just because I hope in a couple of years she'll be able to cook me dinner... What? Too soon? Okay. I'll give her till she's 8 but then seriously she needs to earn her keep. ;)

Tonight's menu was Pooh Bear Honey Banana Muffins and Tigger Quesadillas. Both were a hit.  

Katherine had the privilege of putting in an egg, a 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, mashing bananas and stirring like a girl on a mission.

After we made the muffins it was onto story time while we waited for the muffins to bake. Next up was a cheese quesadilla. This is also referred to as "mexican grilled cheese" in the Aleksza family. =) 

Katherine did a great job shredding her own cheese and "making it rain" into her tortilla. After making her quesadilla she and her new friends were able to "cook" in the little kitchen in their area while they waited for them to bake. When she was able to finally sample her cooking, she enjoyed it so much that she ate the entire quesadilla and muffin. After she finished eating it was time for another story and a few songs before leaving till next time.

It was super fun and we can't wait for the next 5 classes.  I think we have a special Valentine's Day class coming up next!! =)

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