The Phineas and Ferb Challenge!

If you've spent any time surfing around the Disney Channel at all, then you've probably stumbled on the TV show called Phineas and Ferb. This just happens to be one of Kevin and my FAVORITE shows... and yes, we do watch it without our children!

Anyway, almost every episode starts out with Phineas and Ferb sitting under the tree in their backyard with their platypus, awaiting inspiration for the day. And in each episode, something sparks their imagination and leads them through a day long fantastical undertaking. The show is jam packed with exciting adventures, curiosity and science. You can see how clever and creative it is just by watching their theme song:



The point is, I was watching the show the other day and suddenly thought about my own children. Do I provide them with a creative outlet? Do they have imaginations like Phineas and Ferb? Can they be that clever and creative? I don't know! Because when they randomly have a spontaneous idea of something they want to do, (i.e. have a puppet show, build a princess castle, paint on boxes, or run a race around the complex) I usually say no because I don't think I have the time or the energy, OR I don't want them making a mess in my house.

This behavior has caused me to stifle my girls' imaginations, and NO mother wants to be responsible for that! So this week I decided to take part in the Phineas and Ferb Challenge. Basically that means the TV goes off all week and WHENEVER my children make a request to play something or do something with me, I will say YES!

Now of course, you have to exercise judgement and reason in a challenge like this. I'm not going to cancel nap time, bake every treat my kids ask me to make, or play the wiggle game in the car while I'm driving, but if they make a reasonable request that I can afford and accomplish safely, ITS ON!

And perhaps while I'm at it, I can inspire someone else to give it a try as well and we can all share a week long adventure with each other and our children! I will keep you updated on our impromptu play times and would love to hear from you as well. If you step out of your comfort zone this week to do something new with your kiddos, leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear about it!

Outdoor Adventures: Climbing by Erin Uda

Kids have an innate need to climb everything they see. This week, instead of going to a man-made playground, discover the natural playground around you.

Find a good climbing tree or tangle of rocks and get out with your children, showing them your technique. Start with small rocks and trees and gradually work into the larger, taller, more difficult ones. You want your child to get comfortable with heights and learn to master the feeling of unsteadiness that comes when you don’t have two feet flat on the ground.

If you don’t have trees and rocks readily available near your home, try going to a local park or a public school playground if you’re looking for trees. If you’re looking for rocks, search your city parks online and look for some natural rocks, retaining walls, or climbing areas. Or just look around as you’re driving. You’ll see them everywhere once you start looking.

If you can’t find a suitable outdoor climbing area, consider going to a climbing gym. I took my boys indoor climbing for the first time last month and after a few tentative attempts, they got really into it. Of course, the older one acclimated much faster and went off on his own after just a few climbs. I ended up climbing side-by-side with my youngest the entire time, but it was still a huge boost to his self-confidence to keep trying and finally get near the top.

Remember to tailor the difficulty level to the skill set of your child; don’t force him to do something he’s not ready for. But don’t let him chicken out either. You’ll both miss out on something special.

If the weather cooperates, you can turn your climbing adventure into a fun photo shoot. Just dress the kids in bright, warm clothes and snap pictures as they climb around.

And don’t be afraid to bring souvenirs home. Rocks are one of the most collected items. If you can, visit a rock quarry or natural history museum to get up close and personal with some of the more exotic and colorful types of rocks.

You could also FIND a geode, or thunder egg, GROW one, or ORDER some online.

There are plenty of stores, museums included, that sell semi-precious rocks; let your children pick out a few that interest them, then spend the afternoon researching more about them. What is it called? What is it made of? How is it made? Where are they found?

And when you’re all finished, try MAKING some rock candy.

Suggested Reading:

• If you Find a Rock, Peggy Christian
• The dragon in the sock drawer, Kate Klimo
• The Waterfall, Jonathan London
• Geodes: Nature’s Treasures, Brad L. Cross & June Culp Zeitner
• Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smoth, and Rough, Natalie M. Rossinsky
• The Rock Factory: The Story About the Rock Cycle, Jacqui Bailey
• Everybody Needs a Rock, Byrd Baylor
• A Tree is Nice, Janice May Udry

The "E" Date

For our "E" date last night, Kevin took me to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Runners Expo! We were able to have our good friends babysit the girls for the night which made driving into the city a lot Easier. In fact, my favorite part of the date was the drive there. It is incredible to be able to have an Entire conversation with your husband uninterrupted!

When we got to the Expo there was so much Excitement in the air. All the runners were nervously picking up their packets before strolling through the vendor rows. Kevin set an Eleven dollar limit for Each of us to buy something we really wanted. I got a stack of running socks and he stocked up on Energy bars!

Soon the Expo closed, so we hopped back in the car, picked up the girls, went home, and then Kevin used Eggs to make us some One Eyed Jacks for dinner. It was a fun and relaxing night and it was AMAZING to be Engaged in conversation with my sweet heart for three blissfully uninterrupted hours!

Good Friday: Car Wash

Because today was a BEAUTIFUL 84 degrees outside with a nice cool breeze to keep the sweat off, Brooklyn and I decided to clean the car to surprise Kevin for our "Good Friday" good deed!

The car was LOADED with garbage, empty sippie cups, and food crumbs (that I mostly ended up cleaning) but there was also a lot of dust and grime that needed some scrubbing... and that's really where Brooklyn came in.

She scrubbed and scrubbed as hard as she could, even though she couldn't reach most of the dirty spots, and when she was done she smiled from ear to ear and said, "Mommy, dad is gonna be SOOOO proud of us! I can't wait to surprise him!"

The whole job took less than 20 minutes, but it definitely made an impact on Brooklyn. She was thrilled with her hard work and I'm pretty sure Kevin will be too! :)

The 100 Workout

Lately I've been getting a little bored of running and going to the gym, and I can't find the motivation to put on another workout video. But the other day I stumbled on the 100 workout while I was messing around on Pinterest (I know, I'm an addict!). I've seen different variations, but the trick is to adjust it to how you are feeling and what your body needs and basically, just count down from 100. Here is how it works:

The 100 Workout

100 Jumping Jacks

90 Leg Lifts

(Lift leg up to the side instead of straight up. 15 times with the right leg, 15 times with the left leg.)

(15 on right side, 15 on Left side)

(15 with right leg, 15 with left leg... Brooklyn's form isn't right because she is 3, but you should have your hands directly under your shoulders, your knees directly under your hips, and your back straight. Then just push your heel straight up toward the ceiling 15 times.)

80 Crunches

(20 Standard Crunches at the beginning and 20 more at the end)

(20 Right Oblique Crunches, and then 20 Left Oblique Crunches are done between your 2 sets of Standard Crunches)

70 Squats

(Alternating by tens, do 10 stationary squats, then 10 squat and jumps - squat down, then jump back up to standing position. Repeat until you've done 70)

60 walking lunges or 60 Pushups

(You decide what you want more for your body... I do lunges because I can barely do 3 pushups in a row! You could also alternate between the two doing 10 reps of each before switching.)

50 more Jumping Jacks

40 more Leg Lifts

(Pick the two leg lifts you like the most and do ten of each on each leg)

30 more Crunches

(10 Standard Crunches, 10 Right Oblique Crunches, 10 Left Oblique Crunches... Or if you're feeling really brave, just do 30 bicycle crunches!)

20 more squats

(Alternating 1 stationary, 1 jumping, until you've done 20)

10 minutes of Running

(This can be done outside, on an elliptical, or a treadmill. Just make sure you finish off strong with some good cardio for your heart and lungs!)

Anyway, it is a pretty tough workout, but it will help get you to where you want to be. 

Just remember:

(Click HERE for image source)

Designer Knife Block

So the other day I saw THIS on Pinterest and it got me thinking...

In my kitchen, the refrigerator is black and silver, the microwave and stove are black and silver, and our toaster, utensil holder, magic bullet, juicer, KitchenAid, and spice rack are all black and silver. So why not paint my knife block BLACK and SILVER!

Here is what my dirty knife block looked like sitting on my dirty cutting board (because I'm awesome like that) BEFORE I painted it. (If you're wondering where all the knives are, they are dirty...and consequently, in the dishwasher.)


As soon as Lily went down for her nap, Brooklyn and I got to work sanding the block. (There was a lot of old dried up food we had to scrape off before painting...gross I know, but it happens!)

When we were done sanding, we wiped the block down and then took it outside to spray paint it black. The spray paint didn't cost me anything because we had some laying around from one of Kevin's past projects. I love it when that happens :)

Once the spray paint was dry, we brought the block back inside, put on the movie A Wrinkle in Time, grabbed some grapes for snacking, and started painting leaves on the block using $1.99 stencils that we bought at Joann's, a stippling brush, and silver paint that also cost $1.99.

When the leaves were finally dry, we finished off the block with a coat of Mod Podge for shine and protection. You can also use Polyurethane, but Mod Podge is easier, smells better, and at my house, its always readily available!

Anyway, this is what we ended up with AFTER all our hard work, and I LOVE it! In fact, when Kevin saw it he liked it so much that he suggested we buy some new shiny knives to put in it... YAY! But whether that happens or not, my old knives look a whole lot better sitting in my designer knife block and I had a blast doing this project with my sweet little Brooklyn!

Fried Green Tomatoes!

So... I'd heard of the movie, but even though my mom grew up in the South, I'd never had a fried green tomato until last month! Remember that GARDEN we planted for Family Home Evening a while back? Well, despite desperate attempts by the local chipmunks to falter our gardening plans, it grew! Most of the veggies were eaten, dug up, or destroyed by our fuzzy enemies, but the tomato plants, herbs, and carrots miraculously survived their efforts. However, once the tomatoes started to ripen, the chipmunks started to munch on them! So we had to find a way to use them while they were still green... BEFORE the chipmunks ate holes through them! Thus, we searched the internet until we found the perfect recipe for fried green tomatoes, and here it is:

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 4 large green tomatoes (I used some that were semi red and they were much harder to cook because they got soggy, and they didn't taste as good. So if you can, I would go green all the way!)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2. Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
3. In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels and then enjoy them as they are or with your favorite sauce! (We used Ranch Dressing. Yummo!).