The Great Balancing Act

So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act.

Dr. Seuss sure was wise. The above quote feels like most our lives these days.

Schools and daycares celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday this week. We paid homage with Cat in the Hat and Horton shirts and Cindy Lou Who hair (as close as we could get with her toddler hair anyway). 

This face is adorable.

(toddlers are so busy. No time to stop and take photos)

In honor of Dr. Seuss week, I also attempted to be creative. Pinterest obviously helps since creativity is not my forte.

One night, we made sensory balloons. We funneled different household items into balloons and saw how each items feels different. My (and A's) favorite was the cornstarch; Chad's was the coffee. (interesting note, the bowl full of balloons has gone missing. We've searched the house and can't find it anywhere)

Today A & I did some baking--Dr. Seuss Pinwheel Cookies, of course. I am happy to be baking again but it's kind of tough avoiding the mixer (she really does panic). Creaming butter and sugar by hand is no bueno.

Our first attempt was not a success. I could tell that the recipe was very off (the ratio of wet to dry ingredients didn't feel right).

This dough is all wrong, Mom.

She's a cute little chef.

So, in an effort to still achieve the cookie before the week was over, A and I ran to the grocery store to pick up a sugar cookie mix. This was much better. They don't look (anything) like the cookie I was aiming for (I didn't have neon food coloring which produces cookies that look like the cover art on Oh, the Places You'll Go and my colors ran together more than I would have liked) but they weren't completely a fail.  And they were tasty.

Grinch cookie, for good measure

Toddler approved

Crafty wins or not, we had a lot of fun this week. Next week I may try homemade play dough or something like that. 

And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed). Kid, you'll move mountains!

Baby A is currently succeeding in becoming quite the little diva. She wants to change shoes/boots all day long and occasionally insists on wearing her raincoat or parka around the house. This is such a fun age!

Snow Day 2014

I have posted 200 blog entries. Whoa.

I was able to really do a lot of enjoying family stuff the last few days because last week we submitted a grant that has been hanging over my head for what feels like forever. I am pretty behind on manuscripts but it was nice to feel better for a few hours.

For Saturday's lunch, A was less than certain about the options (she did love the blood orange).

She found her school pillow and blanket and insisted on pretending to nap in the kitchen.

Yesterday, we had a few inches of sleet followed by snow so OSU was closed and Chad stayed home from work since the roads were pretty treacherous. Unfortunately, he caught A's head cold and stayed in bed most of the day.

I made A pancakes and strawberries for breakfast, which she loved.

She's a pretty silly girl.

I previously saw ideas on Pinterest and friends' Facebook pictures of "paint" with yogurt and food coloring so I thought today would be a good time to try that. Baby A was initially very unsure about coming near the paint. She has gotten pretty fearful lately. We are trying to be supportive and validating while also having her face the feared objects. This worked really well for the paint and she ended up having a great time (this has not gone well with her fears of loud noises; namely, the vacuum, the blender, the garage door, the mixer, the washer, and as of today, the refrigerator when it is making ice).

I promise she didn't watch the Oscars last night; though it seemed she was inspired by the selfie that went viral. :) She takes a lot of selfies with her teacher at school. :)

We also baked toddler cookies. Neither Chad nor I liked them. Baby A loved sneaking bites of the raw dough (no eggs so it was okay!) and seems to like them, though not as much as the muffins I made a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if the cookies will freeze very well.

Just in random news, I got a new blender for my birthday. I love it! I got it for the main purpose of trying to get more fruit and vegetables in my diet. Several of the graduate students have been very convincing that you can hide spinach and kale in a smoothie and they were right! Last week, I made a number of different "kitchen sink smoothies" (meaning I just threw in whatever fruit I had lying around) along with a handful of spinach, a spoonful of yogurt, and a splash of almond milk. I take half to work and freeze the other half in ice cube trays for a later date (Friday I used this method and it worked great, though I had read that 4 ice cubes = 1 smoothie and that was definitely not my experience). I am hoping to decrease some of the fruit and increase the spinach.

The cubes on the left are raspberry/strawberry (not a good combination; do one or the other!) with oats, spinach, and banana. The ones on the right are a mix of who knows what...

Because I didn't go through all the spinach before it was about to expire, I blended what was left to add to future smoothies. I'm a little nervous this may not work but we will see. I combined the leftover spinach with a Granny smith apple, hoping that would help some. I am fascinated that this actually works.

So yay. Smoothies. If anyone has a favorite recipe or other reasonable ways to hide veggies in their diet, I would love to hear them!