Lunch Ideas for School Kids (2)

I have been longing to make this post for such a long time now but it looks like today had to be the day. I seriously am one busy woman! (Who isn't, ha?)

I had shared four lunch ideas/recipes with you here previously. I prepare lunch for my son on a daily basis, and Miss Junior now has lunch at school a few days a week as well, so, do expect many more to come in time but for now, enjoy the ones below:

1. Lunch and Snack:

• (Homemade organic) bread and spreadable cheese with chia
• Avocado slices
• (Homegrown) cherry tomatoes
• (Organic) cranberries
• Pineapple slices

2. Vegetable and cheese kebabs:

• Red capsicum, 
• cucumber, 
• mozzarella cheese

3. Lunch: 

• Carrots
• Raw fresh garden peas
• Slice bread
• Cheese slice

Snack: Fruit Salad

• Blueberries
• Kiwi
• Strawberries
• Nectarin

4a. Lunch and Snack for Mr. Junior

• Homemade roast beef - cold cut.
• Baby spinach and fetta cheese salad
• Flat bread chips
• Cucumber, yoghurt and mint dip (tzatziki)
• Fruit salad with melon, kiwi and strawberries

4b. Lunch and Snack for Miss Junior

• See 4a for content.

All for a Special Person

Recently, we have celebrated a special day of a very special person in our family, our little daughter's 4th birthday. This year, her birthday fell on a day during the term break, only a few days before Term 2 started. She attends a Montessori school and they have a particular way of celebrating birthdays, which embeds a lot of learning about the solar system into the celebration. They use a globe that represents the planet we live on, and a round yellow candle to represent the Sun. The candle is lit and is placed in the middle of a circle (they have a particular mat that marks a circle - or rather an oval, really - and the children sit around it, just behind the line); the birthday child holds the globe and walks around the circle as many times as the number of their new age. For instance, if the child turns 3 on the day, the child turns around the circle three times, which represents the fact that since the child was born, the Earth has circled the Sun 3 times, once a year. The child's family also provides a photo for each year of the child and the children in class get to see the photos in the order starting from birth to understand the evolution of the child in time.

We don't normally have birthday parties or do traditional birthday celebrations at home, but we make every effort to make sure that the birthday person feels 'extra special' on the day (or perhaps the week!) just to make sure that they understand, once again, how special they are to the rest of the family. We all try very hard to spend the day (or the closest convenient day) together, spoil the person with a special breakfast (it is pretty much the same for our children as the request comes from them and it has not changed much so far: some homemade pancakes with lots of berries and fruit and some honey, maple syrup or berry sauce), do things that the birthday person enjoys doing the most or that has put in a request for. We also aim to do some donations on behalf of the birthday person.

This year, I asked my daughter just before the term break whether she wanted to have a Montessori celebration at school as well or not and she said yes. Therefore, the teacher marked the first day of school in Term 2 for her birthday celebration (half an hour of the day). The school's procedure is that every child that celebrates birthday at school is to bring in photos of themselves (one per year since birth) and a fruit platter.

 At the end of the day, every child gets a little gift from the birthday child, which is totally optional. Our little princess wanted some finger puppets for her friends and we worked on it throughout the holidays. Even my son made his own finger puppets for a few of his friends, all on his own!

My daughter actually asked for 3 puppets for each of her friends but luckily, I was able to negotiate with her and we settled for two. We also packaged them together at the end. I now have one happy class-full of 3-5year olds. We still keep getting compliments from the school and the families about the puppets. Just today a mum was telling me how her 3year old son's puppets are also a favourite at home for her 14month old daughter too. They even play together! I surely had quite a few late-nights to make all those puppets but it was well worth it!

 

DID YOU KNOW ...? (79)

Click here for source

Here is an interesting fact about the wingless insects, fleas. According to a source, they are able to jump 150 times and another source 110 times their hight. They can jump approximately 18cm (7inches) vertically and 33cm (13inches) horizontally. If compared to humans, it is equivalent of a 180cm tall human being jumping about two football fields high!

ANNOUNCEMENT: A New Blog

I have been working on a brand new project, a new blog, for a while and it is now ready to go public (Well, mostly. There is still some fine tuning to do but it will happen in time). 

The new blog is very different to this blog here. It is called ENGLISH IN COMFORT and aims to teach English to the speakers of Turkish language using comparisons of both languages, explanations, examples, work sheets, songs, research results and everything else that you can imagine that helps in learning/teaching a new language. 

You can click here to have a look it and if relevant, follow to be posted on a regular basis. 

DUYURU:

Yepyeni bir blog ile yine karşınızdayım. Ancak, yeni blogum burada olandan çok daha farklı bir konuda ve Türkce okur-yazarlara hitap ediyor. ENGLISH IN COMFORT adını verdiğim bu yeni blogda, çogunlukla Türkçe dilini kullanarak İngilizce öğretiyor olacağım. Dilin kuralları, Türkçe ve İngilizce dil yapısının anlamayı kolaylaştıracak karşılaştırmaları, örnekler, açıklamalar, alıştırmalar,  kendiniz için ya da İngilizce'yi çocuğunuza öğretebilmeniz için gereken her türlü paylaşımda bulunuyor olacağım. 

Buraya tıklayarak yeni blogumu ziyaret edebilir ve hatta takibe alabilirsiniz. 

Harmony Day

A solo voice was singing

quite a pretty little song

Another voice who knew the tune

joined in and sang along

The duet sang in unison

their voices side by side

One bass voice one soprano

on the same melodic ride

Another singer joined them

Counter pointed to their sound

As this voice descended theirs would climb

and the other way around

The tune got woven, twisted, plaited

in a tapestry to hear

Building to a pretty picture

that grabbed people by the ear

Now each singer had to listen

to the other singers' part

to stay in time and stay in tune

With all fellow singers' hearts

They had to work with common purpose

If they all would get along

and welcome other different voices

to build the richest fullest song.

All the voices joined together

had the audience entranced

Folk were swaying to the rhythm

while some other people danced

And they sang about community

but with a common ground

where each one had a part to play

so that harmony was found.

(Harmony, by Paul Walker.)

(Harmony Day: This year on the 21st of March, 2015, Australia will be celebrating the 15th Harmony Day. It is a day that reminds and celebrates diversity, respect and inclusiveness... Harmony Day coincides with the United Nation's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.)

Guest Post: Make the Most of the Small Bathroom

About the Author: 

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in topics related to home improvement, DIY and interior design. In her free time she enjoys reading and preparing healthy meals for her family. 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianaSmith82; 
E-mail: dianasmith.dany@gmail.com; G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116091795770131287107/posts

Guest blogger: Diana Smith

While bathroom is a really important part of your home, it doesn’t mean that it needs to be big in order to be beautiful and functional. Truth be told, small bathroom leaves a lot to be desired from this space, but if you make an effort to make it functional and compact, you can make it look bigger than it is and you can really make up for its lack of size. At least, visually, your bathroom can be more spacious, but you just need to think through its design a little bit. Here are some of the ways you can do it and some of the ideas to make the most of the small bathroom place.

 Click here for image source

Use the Vertical Space

Small space usually seems even smaller if you allow for the furniture and details to come into your way and break it into areas. This happens when you have a lot of stuff that you need in that space and little space to store it. Also, if you cannot move around freely without bumping something over, the space is dysfunctional and seems pretty small and cramped up. What owners of small bathrooms usually forget is that they can use the vertical space as well. Be creative about it and use those walls to make the storage space for all the things that will free up the space around you.

Tie the Room Together

When you tie the room together you achieve the effect of unity of the space which makes it seem like it is one big space rather than several areas in one. You can achieve this by tiling. Use the same tiles for the floors and then use them for the lower part of the walls and tile over the bathtub and all the things you can up until the certain level. Visually, this will make the space look much bigger.

Furniture That Goes with the Space

In order to make sure that the space is properly used up, you will need some furniture that will go with the space and that will take up as little space as possible. This means that some of it may even be custom made to fit into the corners and don’t interrupt the line of the space so that it blends in with the walls. This will make the space look more opened up and uninterrupted, so it will appear to be bigger.

Click here for image source

Toilets and Showers

A much better solution for the small bathroom, than a bathtub, is a walk in shower or even the wet bathroom. Walk in shower has no obvious separating from the rest of the room so it doesn’t shrink it up. Wet bathroom makes it even easier to save space, but it cancels out the possibility to freely use walls for storage as the stuff might get wet. However, this can be taken care of with careful choice of storage shelves. Toilets that are perfect for small bathrooms are built in toilets that have the free space beneath them. Sinks as well. However, this means that you will have to call the plumber for every case of blocked drains as it will be difficult for you to take care of it.

Clutter

All the things you do to make the bathroom more spacious will be in vain if you clutter it up with unnecessary details. Small bathroom needs to be filled only with the necessities and all the things like empty bottles, too much details, ornaments and home chemistry should not be stored there. In reality, they will not take up too much space, but visually, it will seem like they do. Entire side of the bathroom where these things are stored will look used up and this automatically shrinks the entire space.

These are just some of the things that you can do to make your bathroom space look bigger than it already is. Giving it a lot of light and making sure that the colors used in it are bright and light, will definitely make it look larger. Also, when it comes to colors, one wall can be painted or tiled in a deep blue shade as it will add another dimension to the entire space.

Plum Compote: A Summer Drink

As a child, I lived in a house with a flower garden at the front and some fruit trees at the back. It was not far from the sea and even closer to a river. In hot summer days, we would have some breeze due to the location and the trees, and it was such a treat to just settle with a book or a craft project in hand on the sofa on the balcony. I never thought summer was too sticky or unbearable at such a place as a child. It was one of my favourites to spend a good chunk of my free time on the balcony. I remember of reading without a break for hours and hours at a time. It was just a pure joy.

It is also a part of my sweet summer memories to have my mum's homemade compotes. The fruit that she used for the compotes was always organically grown, mostly homegrown fruit. It is the taste and the heart warming memories attached that made compotes always a favourable drink in my life. Not that I knew how to make it, well, up until a month ago.

Approximately a month ago, we had some heatwave here in Melbourne. Coincidentally, it was also the time when I was given a bagful of green plums that I did not know what to do with. They were too soft in texture for my liking and the taste was too savoury for me to handle. Since the rest of the family was not really enthusiastic about them either, I simply had a challenge in hand: somehow utilise them without wasting any.

It didn't take long for me to have the urge to try my hand at compote making. I simply searched for recipes online and then adjusted them according to my expectations and taste buds. All I used were 4 ingredients: water, plums, raw sugar and a cinnamon stick.

I don't quite enjoy sweet drinks and prefer my children to have as little exposure to added sugar in their food/drink intake as possible. Therefore, I simply reduced the amount of sugar suggested in recipes and added some cinnamon stick to it while boiling. I don't have a particular recipe to suggest but I strongly recommend you to try making it if you have not yet done so. It is easy, hassle free and a healthier option to most other summer drinks.

Recently, on the way back from an outing at a beautiful little country town, Woodend (VIC), we spotted a great organic farm, where we were lucky enough to get some totally mouth watering berries and some sugar plums. The plums were Mr. Hubby's idea and he didn't believe us when we said that we were unlikely to have much of it. He bought a generous amount just to notice soon after that he too couldn't handle it as they were more savoury than he thought they would be. Therefore, we ended up with plenty of plums to find a way not to waste. Luckily, the weather warmed up again after some coldish weeks and they too ended up turning into some much loved compote. Everyone in the family happily consumed it. No waste, much taste!

From Mama to Bubba Series (3)

The dress in the first picture below was originally worn by my brother's daughter, then my sister's daughter and more than a few months ago, we were given it so that my daughter could wear it too. I assume it is at least about 15 years old, if not older. It is a special piece for many of us in the family. 

However, since I was given the dress, I just could not bring myself to put it on my little one, as I've always felt a bit anxious about ruining it. So, instead, I convinced my sister to take some photos of Miss Junior in the dress for keepsake and also make another dress for her using the same pattern. When I say the same pattern, don't get me wrong, we had no pattern, up until my sister and I got together a few weeks ago and after some hours' work, frustration and endless laughter, we came up with one. 

We simply laid down the original dress on some large pieces of paper, traced lines, then put the paper pieces together just to see that it looked awkward, and did it all over again, possibly a few times! Well, lets not get too much into detail, the idea is that eventually, our pattern making worked and worked wonderfully!

We upcycled an unused and unwanted shirt for the top and used a new leftover fabric for the skirt. My little one was not quite enthusiastic about the dress most likely because of its colour, until, she got to choose the applique. We showed her some options but as soon as she saw the blue and yellow flower with a smiley face, she knew exactly what she wanted. She is often pretty decisive like this and I love it about her, well, most of the time. 

I am truly in love with the dress at this stage. It suits Miss Junior's personality and body type so well. She loves dancing in it and cannot stop watching her twirling skirt in the mirror as she turns around.

We altered the original pattern a little and made the skirt a bit longer by adding an inch to each skirt piece to suit her better, used a ribbon at the back instead of fabric, used three buttons only and sewed up the rest of the dress until the last skirt piece and used an iron on applique on top as opposed to using pockets. Thanks to this project, I tried my hand at making a buttonhole on my sewing machine for the first time too and it was not as scary as I thought it was.

If you would like to see my previous 'From Mama to Bubba Series' posts, click here for No 1 and here for No 2.

Gone Knotty Again

Remember my French knot addiction (click here for a tutorial on French knots) ? Well, not much has changed since then and I am still totally addicted to it.

by MADE BY Y

I had made the half of the bib with the French knots on it a while back not knowing how to finish it until recently, then one day, I found this gorgeous red fabric that compliments it well in my ever-growing stash. Once I saw it, I knew just what to do and this is what I came up with.

Almost every time I make a new design, I keep staring at it for a while and then walk off. After a while, I look at it again and see whether I am still happy with it. (I actually keep doing it for some time.) Every time I look at this design since I made it, I still LOVE it. I guess it is a good sign that it is ready to be shared with you as well, right? I find it to be unique, cute, stylish, fresh, elegantly colourful, and yet, still babyish. The yellow ribbon on the side adds a character to it too. Do you agree?

DID YOU KNOW ...? (78)

The first graded sewing pattern was invented by a tailor named Ebeneezer Butterick in Sterling, Massachusets in1863.

The idea or the articulation of the need came from his wife, Ellen, who was the main person to sew their son's clothes at home. She told her husband, Ebeneezer, how much easier it would be to sew for her son if she had a pattern correctly sized for him and Ebeneezer came up with the concept of graded patterns as at the time, patterns came in one size only. He also was the first person to use tissue paper in pattern making too.

RECIPE: Bite Sized Chocolate Coconut Balls

This is something that reminds of my childhood and my early days in the kitchen. It is something from the past for me and has a warm feel attached to it. As far as I can remember, this is one of the first and mostly tried recipes of mine since much younger. It is a recipe that has not failed me, not even for once. I am sure you can find several recipes around for this delicious treat but I can guarantee you that this is one of the easiest and most successful ones ever!

Ingredients: 

250gr finely crushed arrowroot biscuits
250gr melted margarin or butter (I use butter)
3 tblsp shredded coconut
1 cup caster sugar
2-3 tblsp cocoa
2-3 tblsp finely chopped hazelnut or walnut (optional)


Method: 

Place butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and mix well. Add biscuits, cocoa and the nuts and keep mixing until it forms a dough that sticks together when squeezed. Make balls in a desired size using this mixture and then roll through coconut. Place the chocolate balls in the fridge at least for half an hour and serve when nice and cool.

Enjoy!

While Waving Goodbye

It is that time of the year once again that we are able to say goodbye to a year and welcome a brand new one. Most likely, we have been who we are throughout the year and we will be who we have been tomorrow regardless of the change in the year. However, we can take this end of year/beginning of a new year as an opportunity to reflect on our strengths and weaknesses, have more organised thoughts and plans for our personal and professional future and take a breath and share our best wishes with our families, friends, and even strangers. It is also a reminder that regardless of what one has gone through, life continues on and will keep bringing on more and more... hopefully including many cherished moments.

Warm wishes to you all and may 2015 bring a healthier, happier, more peaceful and fulfilling year than ever for us all regardless of our gender, and cultural, racial, lingual, socio-economical, educational or religious backgrounds.

Focusing on the positives, here are some of the many beautiful experiences life has brought me, my family and my business, MADE BY Y, in 2014.

The picture below (featuring one of my MADE BY Y bibs) belongs to a father-to-be. When I was sent this photo all the way from Italy, it just made my day! The comment said that both the mother and father-to-be LOVED their MADE BY Y set but were a bit unsure whether the sizing was right. As much as it looks good on him, I think they are right that the bib is a tad small for him, don't you think? Joke aside, wishing this excited dad-to-be, his partner and everyone else that is expecting a safe and easy arrival of their child in 2015.

As for the pictures below, I took them this morning and they are from a cactus plant that we have in our front yard. We have had the plant for over 9 years and this year is the second time it has ever flowered. It is pure beauty! We have noticed also that they always open in the evenings or at nights and stay open for one and a half to two days. Before it flowers, the plant starts giving a dark round fury/hairy bud around the side on top, then that bit starts growing longer for some days and then it turns into this unique flower in about 5-6 days or so. These three marvellous flowers opened up all in one day yesterday and we woke up to them today! Before this lot, we had four more but all on different days and one after the other, never together.

Stay safe and happy New Year!

Guest Post: 7 INCREDIBLE KIDS' ROOMS

By Jane Blanchard

There's no other place like home for a child in his or her own bedroom. Children have great personalities and wild imaginations; having an incredibly designed room that goes with a certain theme or fantasy they harbor makes for fantastic childhood memories. Designing a fantastic children's room doesn't have to be brain-wrecking and difficult. Simply take a look at ideas, cartoons and imaginary games your child is obsessed with, and build from there.

Here's a collection of 7 incredible kids' rooms we've found. Draw inspiration from these, pair up with your kid and create a gorgeous daily memory that will last a lifetime.

1. Princess-Themed Bedrooms

Every little girl dreams of being a princess, right? Make your precious jewel the princess of your kingdom with this fairytale-themed bedroom design. You can easily bring this to life in a number of ways. Paint shades in jewel and pastel pinks, blues, purples and other shades can be purchased at your local home improvement store. Getting the bed can be as simple as shopping specialty stores. Rooms to Go, Rilane and even eBay have Cinderella style beds for your little princess.

http://qumore.com/wp-content/themes/flix/images/jz/zoom.png

2. Pirate-Themed Bedrooms

Ahoy matey! Allow your little rascal to live out his dreams of sailing the seven seas in this pirate-themed bedroom. Spruce your design with skull and crossbones wall art, pirate flag carpets, treasure chest toy boxes and other décor. You can even find pirate-style bedding, beds and decor on Etsy, eBay and cull ideas from Pinterest.

http://www.ratecore.com/kids-room/tropical-space-sport-pirate-themed-kids-rooms/

3. Space Theme Bedrooms

Let your child experience the wonders of being on the moon or in outer space with this themed bedroom. Space themes are for the child whose big dreams reach beyond our mere little atmosphere. Design a solar system on the wall, infuse the bedding with galactic star-studded sheets and comforters. Rockets or spaceships can be painted on wall murals or added with appliques. Let your imagination run wild by cultivating ideas on Etsy, Pinterest and Pottery Barn Kids.

http://industrystandarddesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/space-themed-bedroom-3-600x393.jpg

4. Under the Sea or Mermaid Theme Bedrooms

As a child, my friends and I were obsessed with The Little Mermaid. We dreamed of trading in our land legs for sea legs and being completely immersed in a sparkly underwater world of fun and excitement. You can design a beautiful underwater or mermaid themed bedroom using a number of methods. You can cultivate mermaid theme ideas directly from the movie, complete with Ariel, or you can switch things up and make it completely unique.

5. Jungle and Safari Themed Bedrooms

Let your child be king of the jungle with a cute, safari themed bedroom. This is a really fun theme to use, as the options can be as tame or as wild as you'd like them to be. There are an abundance of jungle-themed items for a child's nursery too. Beso also has some super cute finds.

http://www.jp-designer.com/jungle-safari-theme-bedroom-design-ideas/jungle-themed-nursery-wall-stickers/#image-1

6. Super Hero Bedroom

OMG! Aren't these rooms the coolest ever? Who doesn't love the idea of being a superhero? If you want a superhero bedroom for your child, the choices here are pretty endless. Batman. Superman. Spiderman. Hulk. Wonder Woman.

http://bensbargains.net/thecheckout/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/superhero_superman.jpg

http://bedroomdesigncatalog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Hulk-Bedroom-Decor-Theme-Ideas.jpg

7. Sports Themed Bedrooms

Encourage your child's desire to become the world's next greatest athlete. There are sports of all kinds. You can mix and match decor and design themes in conjunction with sports they participate in, or centralize the design around their favorite professional sports team.

http://images.viralnova.com/000/027/233/desktop-1406691527.png

http://www.trioplex.com/377/boys-sports-bedroom-decorating-ideas/boys-sports-bedroom-decorating-ideas-bmx-wall-decal-sport-kids-room-decorating-ideas

For more kids room ideas and inspiration visit Modernize!

Simplicity

'Abra-to-gabra' says my 3 year old butterfly when turning a chair into a teddy bear or her brother into a cloud. There are always at least a few of those large straw looking handles that are often attached to balloons that some businesses give out as a way of advertising at home and my kids have lots of fun using them in their imaginative plays or while pretending to be a magician even when the balloons are long gone. 

Even though they find an amazing use of those long straws as they are, they also sometimes have fun cutting them into pieces too. Of course using my kitchen scissors!

They sure make a great team. My son cuts the straws into pieces, my daughter carefully places them on the floor all over the house so that we can see at least a piece or two in every room of the house.

However, the fun doesn't end there. They both love threading them as well. My son does it because he just enjoys threading and my daughter does it because a girl can never have enough accessories as you may be well aware especially if you have a little girl in your life.

This is a win-win type of an activity for us. I am happy -as long as they use their own scissors, that is- because the straw pieces don't end up invading the whole house and it is almost totally hassle free. My kids are happy because they have fun while using their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and focus. I think having a jarful of those straws can be a lifesaver even when there are a few of their friends over too. Any happy children-happy mama moment is to be cherished!

 Have a relaxing day!

Spelling the 100-200 Oxford Words

In a previous post, I have shared with you the list of 307 sight/Oxford words that my son's school uses in their Foundation classes. After the first two terms of the school, it turned out that my son was ready for a new challenge. After a discussion with their coordinator, his teacher decided to provide him with the spelling words lists. The idea is the same as the reading sight words; each week, he is tested and once he achieves that particular lot (normally 10 a week but it also depends on the individual's pace) confidently, the next set of spelling words are worked on at home and tested at school the following week.

I thought it may be beneficial for many of you to have this list to use with your children now or save for later. To access to the list, click here.

Have a wonderful day!

RECIPE: Homemade Playdough

Just recently, I heard something called 'cream of tartar' and that you can use it to make some homemade playdough with. Did I just make it obvious that I don't really bake much normally? Anyway, no need to get into unnecessary details here, right? 

Well, I found the packet of cream of tartar in the baking aisle of a chain supermarket in my area. I wanted to mention it here so that your search of it is much less painful and time consuming than mine was in case you too have never bought it before. 

The rest was much easier. I also bought my first ever food colouring pack and voila! I simply came home, stored them until kids were at home, then took them out one day and made playdough with my little helpers. I used same recipe on the cream of tartar packet (I used McKenzie's cream of tartar). It was super easy!

Recipe:

2 cups plain flour
4 tbs cream of tartar
1 cup salt
2 cups water
2 tbs cooking oil
Food coloring

Method:

Mix all ingredients. Stir over medium heat for a few minutes. When the mixture congeals, it is ready!