For several years during the Christmas season (before children) I made cut-out cookies and really enjoyed it. When the girls came along, life became too crazy to keep that tradition going.
But then I had a brainstorm when the girls were toddlers -- make cut-out cookies for Halloween and Valentine's Day when life was a little less chaotic and the social calendar wasn't so crazy. Now these two holidays rarely pass without the girls and I making a few batches of cut-outs to decorate. It's been a great family tradition for us.
And since I'm still not up to climbing mountains yet and haven't done a whole lot outdoors lately (I'm still working on getting back in shape after my surgery) I thought I'd share my 'learnings' about making cut-out cookies for those parents who want to make them for the holiday season.
Make the dough ahead of time. It can take an hour or more just to make so I prefer to do this with the girls a day or two ahead of time. Plus, rolling out *cold* dough really is easier and makes a better cookie.
Frozen cookies are easier to decorate for little hands, especially if you decide decorating (not rolling and cutting) is the way to go with your toddler/preschooler. Plus, unfrosted cookies last a month or more in the freezer if packaged well (in a freezer ziplock baggie and carefully stacked so they don't break). Just be sure cookies are completely cooled before packaging up for the freezer.
I've never been very good at decorating cookies but the girls enjoy mixing and matching various sprinkle and frosting options.
"Look mom, I'm a pumpkin head!" She's 11 and I'm amused she still thinks that's funny.
Sugar Cookies
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
Mix butter and shortening together then add sugar and baking powder. Blend until well-combined. Then add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add one cup of flour at a time. Make dough into oval shape, cover in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for at least 3 hours (I usually keep in overnight).
Roll out dough on a floured surface (kids tend to put too much flour, a tablespoon is usually enough) and be careful the rolled-out dough is not too thin (1/4" works well for us).
Bake cookies on an un-greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees (cooler than most recipes but I've found this temp works better) for about 5-6 minutes (depending on cookie thickness).
Cookies are done when the edges start to lightly brown (which doesn't always look done but it likely is so experiment with one pan at a time at first).
Let the cookies sit in the pan for about 2 minutes after removing from the oven. This will help ensure the cookies don't break before moving them to the cooling racks. I have 6 cookie sheets to keep the cookie cutting and baking moving along for the kids.
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (we like orange too) extract
1 Tablespoon milk
Mix everything together until well combined. Separate into small bowls and then add food coloring.
This time she involved some American Girl 'Molly' dolls along with the plastic cups and she and her friend A. had a grand 'ol time with the game yesterday while the thunder and lightening storms were going on.
G. didn't play; she took it upon herself to record the game to share with her YouTube friends.
Doll bowling
What do your kids do indoors on a thunderstorming day in the summer?
NOTE: I know I'm a geek and this has NOTHING to do with being outdoors with children. But I can't resist sharing the info with other parents looking for books to read with their kids this summer ...
PPL's new feature on their homepage - Tumble Book Library (you have to click the link off the library's home page to access it though) - looks really fun for young children. It's a kid-friendly site of children's picture book titles in audio book format WITH the book's actual illustrations. It's pretty cool and includes a lot of titles I recognized that my kids read when they were younger.
We have accessed Rosetta Stone learn a language feature on the library's site and found it to be kid-friendly. It's free (for PPL card holders) and doesn't require you to go to the library to register for it online. My kids haven't made it too far into the Rosetta Stone program but they're thinking about getting back to it this summer just for fun (because they really think it is).
But one of the features that caught my geek-minded attention today was LibriVox. It's a site for adult and young adult readers who want to listen to the classics in audio book format without any hassles (no registration or 'check-out' policy like the library's other audio book site). My kids are getting older and although aren't all that interested in reading a lot of the classics on their own yet, they do like the audio versions.
The cool thing about LibriVox is that all the audio is contributed by volunteer readers. If you like to read and have the basic recording equipment/software (an mp3 player or computer with a microphone) you could volunteer too. And you don't have to record yourself reading an entire book, just a chapter if that's all you want to do.
I've listened to a few chapters from different books on the site and although the recordings are done by volunteers, they're pretty good. The site offers a variety of ways to listen to the recording and by downloading the .zip file of the entire book, you can burn it on CD and take it to go in your car.
My girls liked the Anne of Green Gables movie and wanted to listen to the audio book version this summer. They're participating in our local library's summer reading program and although they plan to read other hard copy books, we thought it would be fun to listen to that one together. And I find that it's nice to have an audio book going in the car because it's a great way to get in some 'reading time' on the way to one of our outdoor adventure locales.
After the kids' experience with their YouTube channel, I can't image recording some audio would be all that hard for them. The trick is finding a chapter from a book on the list that they want to record.
I think it's a great family challenge for us with our summer reading.
Oh and if you have time this weekend, it looks like there are some great children's authors participating in the Maine Festival of the Book today!
OK, tomorrow I will be back to my regularly scheduled outdoor adventures with kids and crazy pets postings...
What happens when you get a group of kids together that like to sew and knit? In the case of my kids' 4-H club, a new afghan for charity.
Yesterday the kids' 4-H Club put together an afghan for the Warm Up America! program. It's a non-profit that encourages community groups to knit or crochet afghans for people in need.
Basically this whole project started with my girls wanting to learn to knit. I taught them the basic knit stitch (all I know!) and they found they liked it and ran across the Warm Up America! website when looking for simple knit patterns. The only problem was that my girls' were beginner knitters and after knitting their first squares found that they weren't exactly, well, square.
That prompted me to consider making a completed afghan to donate to the program because I could work their not-so-square pieces into the strips needed for the afghan. I spoke with the girls' 4-H leader about making it a service learning project for the club and she thought it was a great idea.
It worked out that about 7 of the 49 squares were knit by the kids; the rest were crocheted by an adult (i.e., me - I crochet much better than I knit) over the course of a couple of months.
I wasn't sure how long it would take for the kids to actually put the whole thing together at the meeting so I did some hand-wringing (it's in my nature to over-think things) about the best way to organize the squares for the kids. Surprisingly though, it took less than 2 hours for them to hand-sew the squares together (which was thanks in large part to a couple of the older girls' focus and skill!).
The speedy, skillful sewers of the day!
Once the afghan was put together, some of the kids got silly wrapping themselves up in the afghan.
Even though not all of the squares of yarn were baby soft, it really was soft and "snugly" (as L. and her friend C. put it).
And there were a lot of proud faces after completing this service learning project.
I had ordered some 4-H tattoos for the meeting since they were working with their hands for the project and the kids had a lot of fun with them.
If you are interested in this type of project, you should check out the Warm Up America! website. They have directions and patterns to make single squares or strips (which you can make only a single one - of the specified measurements - and mail it to be included in a future afghan) or organize a group to make a full-size afghan.
It's been a busy week of nothing special, just keeping up with all our various activities. The kids downloaded some video of the ducks that they insist I share here once they edit it. We'll see how that turns out when I get home from the office later. G. just emailed me to tell me she was 'working' on the computer right now.
Actually, it's pretty funny to exchange emails with the girls while I'm at work. I started an email account for them a couple of months ago and both girls love it (they are 9 1/2 and 11 years old now). Of course I monitor what they're doing (I love Google mail's tools and the fact that multiple users can be logged on an account at the same time without a glitch) and send them emails periodically.
I often send them links to kid-friendly websites because:
a) They are disappointed if they don't have at least one new message each day
b) If I don't suggest a new website to explore, they will play on Webkinz.com for hours and hours (not that the site's not good, it is, but I think a little variety once in a while is a good thing)
c) They always email me back to tell me about it and I like that
Today, G. emailed me about a website link (Math Cats) I sent her that can tell you exactly how old you are (from the months down to the seconds).
Dear mom we were on math cats. but i will tell you how old we were at home ok. math cat was cool. love g
And then there are the emails that L sends to her friends that she usually shares with me too. She tends to write more but usually forgets the punctuation. But hey, she spelled Amethyst correctly and she knows a lot about ducks so I won't worry about her too much.
we got two new duckings we don't know if they are boy or girl i think my sisters is a girl and mine is a boy but i gave it a girl name instead it is Gracie my sisters duck name is Amethyst do you know how to tell a girl and a boy duck apart? by there quacks i cant tell if mine is a girl i don't know which quack is a boy or girl to tell if the ducks are boy or girl
(And no, we still aren't completely sure about the ducks' genders yet.)
But there has also been a fair amount of these type of emails from the girls recently.
Hi mom when you come home can I put a video on youtube?
Nope, they don't miss an opportunity to work things to their advantage; they figure out stuff pretty darn quick.
The kids were not happy about seeing this weather report this morning. They love the snow but we're all ready to move on.
WCSH6.com graphic
But that's how April goes around here. It's hard to believe just this past weekend my family was out hiking to Georgetown Island (more on that later), looking for birds and getting excited about spring.
The kids have been distracted lately with the Birdsong Identiflyer they got for Christmas. They identified some birds while hiking and in our backyard and now they can't put the thing down.
The Identiflyer is a handheld device that has special encoded cards with birdsongs on them. We haven't invested a lot of effort into learning about birding other than the basics (bring along the 'Maine Bird Guide' and binoculars on hikes and see if we can figure out what kind of birds we see). The Identiflyer is a whole lot more fun - and accurate - so the kids can say with confidence what kind of birds they find.
They play with the Identiflyer so much that last night they heard a whip-poor-will in our backyard and immediately knew what it was. Actually I bet our cat Toddy could identify several birds as well since they have spent a lot of time "teaching" him the birdsongs too (useful information for our blind, indoor cat of course).
So last night when they were supposed to be doing something else, they were instead playing with their Identiflyer again and lamenting that snow was on the way.
Today we're off to the Edible Book Festival at the Portland Public Library (yes, we eventually finished making our entries late last night once we put the Identiflyer away).
The basic idea of the event is to make something edible based on a book. Last year the entries were VERY creative and the winner made a rye bread bowl and put a stake in the middle with a picture of a baseball catcher for the book, "Catcher in the Rye." A lot of entries are done by local artists and are really impressive (ours however are not, we do it just for fun).
The Festival opens at 11:30 a.m. today to view the entries and vote for your favorite. It's an annual fundraiser for the library but there is no fee to stop by; it's $5 for 3 voting tickets and a plate for the feast.
We eventually finished our entries for the Festival, which were as much about trying to being creative as they were about tasting good (our entries last year were not so tasty to eat -- G. didn't like her black frosting and L.'s egg roll wrapper hand shadow book needed a little salt). This year it's all about jelly beans, candy and white cake.
Yesterday the kids and their friends were learning about aerospace and made several paper airplanes to learn the theories of flight.
The kids had fun but I admit that I chickened out with taking the crew (there were 7 of them) outside. It was way too slushy and muddy to deal with 2-3 airplanes per kid when they had varying degrees of throwing accuracy and tolerance for mud. I think it was ultimately a good call for my sanity.
Anyway, I took some photos and videos of them working on the project and when I sat down to make a quick video for YouTube, I was given some unsolicited advice from G.
"Mom, that song is not good," she told me looking over my shoulder when I was experimenting with music for the photos (she's not a fan of U2 or other "rock" music).
"Yeah, Mrs. Almeida, that one isn't very good," her friend A. replied.
So we did some searching through our iTunes music list and G. chose a song from "Lilo and Stitch."
"That's a much better song Mom."
(She also offered her thoughts on my choice of transitions between photos which were "kinda boring" so she suggested an alternative for that as well. Stars were "a lot more fun.")
But what her chosen song has to do with paper airplanes is unclear to me yet A. approved of her choice so ultimately I was out-voted.
When A.'s mom saw the video she gave a puzzled look and then said, that it "sort of grows on you after a while."
This is what 21st century kids are like now ... computer back-seat drivers.
Yesterday was a beautiful day but we didn't spend any time outdoors. The girls have been working on sewing projects for the Cumberland County 4-H "Fashion Revue." It's a county-wide sewing contest and fashion show held every year for 4-Hers and my kids have entered projects for judging for the last couple of years. They've developed some great sewing skills through 4-H and have enjoyed the many sewing opportunities offered (from club activities to the county-wide sewing class).
But the girls have been a bit behind schedule with their projects this year (you know, we sit around all day doing nothing...). So yesterday we decided to make that the day to finish things up (the entry deadline is Friday and we've got a lot going on between now and then). They are both pretty excited about their entries this year now that they are done with them.
G. made a "fancy doll dress" (it has a collar and that was quite a challenge for her) for her American Girl doll. And L. had it in her head she was going to finish the quilt she started a couple of months ago. It was a huge project and I wasn't convinced she'd get it done in time. But when L. decides she wants to do something, she usually finds a way to make it happen.
G.'s doll, wearing the dress she made, was hanging out with L. as she was tacking her quilt, the final step to complete the project. Neither project is "perfect" but the not-so-straight lines and unintentional pattern variations makes them all the more interesting. I try hard to help the girls understand the Revue is more about feeling good about your project and the time and effort you put into it, not the ribbon you're awarded.
The problem now is that L. wants to actually use her quilt. The idea of turning it over to the Revue committee for a week isn't sitting well with her at the moment (i.e., she's whining about it and driving me a little crazy).
So we're headed outside this afternoon to play in the snow. Nothing like some fresh air on a beautiful day to expel some extra energy and help everyone be happy again.
... with the stomach flu and outdoor adventures are put on hold for a few days, the kids stay busy making one of their favorite crafts - perler beads (a.k.a. "iron beads" at our house).
Perler beads are a special kind of bead that is used on a peg board to make a design and then set with an iron.
There were no outdoor adventures this week at the Almeida homestead. I was sick and in no shape to do more than our basic weekly schedule (which was hardly restful) so the kids spent more time than usual on the computer.
Both girls received Webkinz stuffed animals for Christmas from their cousins in New York and have been consumed with their animals and its virtual "room" online.
Basically Webkinz are small stuffed animals that have an ID tag. Kids log onto the Webkinz website and register their animal's ID number. The website hosts a virtual room for that animal and gives the kids virtual money to decorate their room and play with their pet. When the kids run out of money, they are prompted to play games (some more educational than others) to earn more for their pet. (The whole concept of Webkinz is quite clever; basically by purchasing the stuffed animal you've bought a subscription to a website.)
The other component of the website is the Kinz Chat, a way kids can virtually visit their friends who also have Webkinz. But the kids have to know their friend's Webkinz user name to "chat" which I really like; I can easily monitor who they are talking to.
So this week the girls were in Webkinz bliss because both of our home computers were available for them to play with their pets and visit each other's rooms.
G. had talked to me previously about making a video of her pet online to share with her Webkinz-less friends for her YouTube channel. As I was recording G., L. decided to spice things up as only she can do.
L., while visiting G.'s room through the Kinz Chat, had her pet tell G.'s pet "Looks like this room isn't decorated yet." This prompted G. to gasp and yell into the other room to ask why L. thought that.
"Because you're room is naked!" L. replied.
I caught this bit of "action" on the video clip but as you can see below, L. has a very different idea on decorating.
G.'s room with its calming color scheme yet has a little fun thrown in with the little trampoline (lower left).
L.'s room - and although a bit hard to detect with the busy color scheme is the big giant white bunny decoration (white blob just left of bottom center). It sort of speaks for itself.
The wind chills were below zero yesterday so playing outside was not really an option for the kids. Their indoor boredom-buster idea of the day was a bowling golf game that L. demonstrated for me when I got home.
The kids have been busy sewing with 4-H this month. Last week they attended a county-wide 4-H sewing workshop and made tote bags. I was at the office while they were at the class with their dad but when they came home they explained how they made the box-like bottom for their bags. They were quite pleased with their sewing skills after the class and really liked the idea that they could teach me something new.
Then yesterday the kids' 4-H club spent their meeting time sewing cat mats for the Animal Refuge League and this morning L. wrote a story about how she did it.
And did you know that ANYONE in Maine can submit stories and photos of things going on in your community too? Here's how you - and your kids - can do it:
My.MaineToday.com is a new initiative by MaineToday.com designed to allow anyone to report the news in their community.
Post a photo: You can create a photo gallery if you have a bunch of photos to share or a single photo. It is up to you. The site accepts standard JPEG images, just like those from nearly every digital camera or camera-equipped cell phone. You don't have to write a story to go with your photo(s) but a brief title and basic description helps others understand and appreciate them even more.
Post a story: Stories can be just about anything and you can add up to three photos to your stories - or upload a gallery of photos separately. It's an anything goes type of thing. And adults don't have to be the only contributors - kids can do this too.
To get started, go to My.MaineToday.com and look for the green-shaded box at the top of the page titled: "Get Started Now." The site will guide you through the upload process (it's only 1-3 steps depending on if you're uploading a story or photo; it's really quick). And the best part is that your stories and photos become "live" on the site as soon as you're done.
Share the great things going on in your community with others. It's easy!
Note: There was some debate in our house about posting this video but the males of household (Fino and Toddy) decided they were manly enough to agree (and I think Fino suspected that they would be outvoted anyway). But really, his research on doll hair paid off and L. is happy with the results. Although I did hear them discussing a hot oil treatment for next time...
This is what an 8-year-old does when her sister is in class and she has some time on her hands during the month of October.
Meet the pumpkins starting clockwise from bottom left: Poodle, Mummy, Vampire, "Save" (reserved for her sister to decorate), Chiquita Banana Girl, Ghost, The Lady (love the Life cereal eyes).
We were listening to the audio book "Hoot" in the car last week and I have to recommend it based on the humor factor, not to mention its worthy environmental message to kids.
The adult characters in the book, for the most part, are depicted as being dimwitted, which of course the kids thought was great. But at one point, we had to shut off the CD player because we were laughing so hard. The reason: a chicken reference.
As the story goes, the main characters - kids - are trying to save these little burrowing owls from being buried alive on a construction site. The kids talk with the foreman on the project about the owls then see one fly by right in front of them and burrow into the ground. The kids point it out to prove their point but the foreman says, no, there aren't any burrowing owls around. Those things flying around are "wild chickens!"
You gotta read the book - and a little of my blog - to really appreciate why this was so funny to us.
And then yesterday afternoon we were weeding the garden and collecting eggs while the chickens were taking their "dirt baths." They do this all the time but when I looked more closely, I noticed a bunch of holes in the ground. I asked the kids what was going on.
"The chickens dig holes for their baths mommy. You didn't know that?" G. asked.
"Yeah, kinda like the owls from 'Hoot' only the holes aren't so deep," said L.
No, I never noticed that our chickens dig holes in the back yard.
Maybe I should re-read "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" because this place - and the things I've learned here - is like no place I ever imagined I'd be today.
Of course I wouldn't trade it for the world. I mean, you never know when this weird bit of information might come in handy.
We have more rocks and "crystals" than we know what to do with in the kids' playroom. The bag of crystals (it's quartz) they collected while mining for gems at Mt. Apatite a couple of weeks ago has been sitting there - untouched - since that day.
So this weekend, with our outdoor activities still thwarted by rain, I decided it was time to find some craft project we could make with all the crystals.
I had some craft wire and tulle from the girls' old dance costumes that we used to turn the rocks into necklaces.
The tulle was great for covering up our less-than neat twists of the craft wire at the ends.
And then G. made a "princess" headband that she was quite smitten with.
We still have a whole lot of larger rocks left in our bag and L. decided to use them to make some new fairy houses in the backyard this week.
I'm glad we found some creative uses for the quartz we found at Mt. Apatite. Now if we could just figure out what to do with the all the buckets and bags of sea shells and other rocks they've collected over the years, they might have some space to actually play in that playroom.
If you have any craft ideas with rocks and sea shells, we'd love to hear about it.
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