WOW, The most snow we've seen since 2004~

Well, this is a weird or shall I say unusual winter for us...

we havent had too many snow days like we have had this January

for a long time. But ya know Im not complaining though, my job is working

for the school system so I love my TEACHER schedule!

When the kids are out for snow days sooo is MOMMA!!!

Its absolutely perfect, I even think Daddy is jealous. hee hee

I do have to skimp by with having less of a paycheck but heck,

I guess I will eat ramen for dinner in February alot...

and it will be just fine with me since Im spending time with my bebes!!

Mr. Kitty was enjoying the view of the snow and smelling it but was

not overly excited about jumping out into the cold white stuff...

even when I had our back door open here above for him to escape, I mean explore.

Hayden loves to catch snowflakes on this tongue!

'Lyza Jane loves to make snow angels!!

Our front yard and my car covered in the snowy white blanket of winter!

A bird house in the back yard swaying in the winter scene.

Hey lets just roll and lay in the snow!!

Lyza yelled...

"Mommy its a bed!!"

Does that mean the fluffy white stuff is as soft as her bed?

"Miss Lyza Janes Bed of Snow"

That would be a great book title if I could ever get off my duff and

write a book one day, we all have our goals though dont we!!

Enjoy your snow filled wonderland where ever you are~

Love Somer Jane

An Orange in January~

This book takes you on a journey of the life of an orange

starting from the blossom on the tree to getting at the store and bringing it

home to eat at your house. Of course you can not read this book with

out eating an orange afterward like the kiddos did below!!

OOOhhh and for even more fun we made ORANGE cinnamon rolls

for breakfast the very next morning!!

Nothing says yummy warm January like ORANGE CINNAMON ROLLS!!

Love Somer Jane

LATEST CHILDRENS BOOK SUGGESTIONS~

Well Its been awhile since we have recommended some great reading

material on this here blog...

We have recently checked out a handful of books from our favorite local library

that were definitely worth passing along to anyone looking for a great book

to read before bedtime.

In no particular order here our the latest suggestions to request:

This book Silly Tilly by author Eileen Spinelli

is very funny and cute for my two kiddos (6 & 3yr)

It had some silly scenarios and stuff we could giggle about

that this bird brain duck gets into. We loved the silliness!

It also has a hidden message about accepting people for who they are too.

Ok I think I had way to much fun getting into the character of this book! My kiddos enjoyed the way I kept playing the character, saying "Its mine, Its mine!!"

But the book above called, The Boy who wouldnt Share by Mike Reiss was great and the kids especially my son Hayden wanted me to read it almost every night. It does send a great message about sharing. The book even has a little sister which worked out great for my two kiddos learning from the book like it was written just for them?! Maybe it was!! (Great pictures goes with this story too!)

This book was a boys delight~ my son loved the aliens and cool pictures!

The book Bobs Best ever friend by Simon Bartram was creative

and I liked the neat alien kid friendly illustrations.

I did a search after checking this book out for more Simon Bartram

editions and they have a few more worth checking into if you like this one!

'Dougals Deep Sea Diary' by Simon Bartram is on our list next.

Mermaid Sister by Mary Ann Fraser is for all the mermaid addicts out there!!

My little mermaid has really found this book to be amazing.

I might have to buy this book since she really doesnt want us to take it back.

The book is about a girl who wishes for a sister and gets a mermaid

sister from the beach trip her family makes one day.

The story has a happy ending and the pictures are delightful and colorful throughout the book. My daughter gives it big thumbs up!

( I admit I thought it was cute and girly too)

Soo there are just a few books this house would like to suggest to the readers

out there in the 3-7 age range. We will be back soon with some more great

finds hopefully soon. When we come across them from our next favorite

local library adventure that is....

Till then enjoy all your bedtime reading!!

Love Somer Jane

Hayden Finally lost his loose top tooth!!

I thought Hayden was gonna loose his other top front tooth

before Christmas time.

I was soo ready to sing him the classic song~

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!!"

Anyways that darn tooth hung on till today.

He finally knocked it out and now he has the cutest toothless grin!

;-) hee hee

(You can also see his two adult teeth on the bottom that have already grown in... those are some big chomper teeth compared to his baby teeth)

They grow up too fast...TOO FAST!!

Of course since I was taking a picture of Haydens teeth, baby sister runs over and says take a picture of my teeth too mommy!!

So here is a pic of 'Lyza Janes beautiful smile as well, no teeth lost of course!

Heres to tooth fairys and the money Hayden will be getting tonight!!

Love Somer Jane

Snowflakes are Winter's Butterflies~

We are enjoying the first snow days and trying to keep busy with

snow themed activities since everyone is home from school and work.

I found this neat snowflake recipe snack that is easy to

make and goes with the snow day theme:

Tortilla Snowflakes

flour tortillas scissors

powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil skillet

Warm the tortillas in the microwave, just enough to make them pliable, about 10-15 seconds. Carefully fold the tortillas into quarters.
Using scissors, cut snowflake shapes out of each tortilla, just like cutting a paper snowflake. Heat vegetable oil in skillet on high until hot. Reduce heat to medium-high. Fry tortilla until it is crispy. Adult supervision is needed when using hot oil. Remove to paper towels to drain oil. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.

Snow Day Activities~

Hayden loves Mazes so I found a SNOW igloo themed maze in one of his

coloring books he received for Christmas to work on and color above.

'Lyza Jane just loves to color so she colored a Snowman pic

out of the coloring book we found. Very frosty blue I must say!

Then we worked on a 'Snow Day" artwork page...

I gave them each a colored construction paper to draw & color

OUR house with trees on the bottom of the page...

Then using Q-tips they spread glue around the top of the page

above the house and trees they had drawn.
Then I gave them a shaker filled with rice to simulate the snow
falling on the house and trees they drew...which was fun
making it snow using the shaker.

Above is Haydens Snow Day masterpiece with his house and one tree.
He also drewour two outside kitty cats...The black creature is our cat
named 'Racecar' and the peach colored cat near the tree is 'Outlaw'.
Too cute that he thought to add them in his Snow scene by our house!


Enjoy the Snow Days!
Somer Jane

Here are two cool websites to make online snowflakes with the kiddos~

http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

http://www.zefrank.com/snowflake/

Our 1st Snow Days of the year!

Woke up today from the phone ringing to tell us that school had been

closed due to inclement weather!

YEHHH I get to go back to sleep and not go to work!!

ha ha ha

Actually I love my job and really wouldnt have minded going

in to work, but staying home spending time with my kids

is soo much more fun if I had to choose!

Well, Hayden first thing wanted to jump outside and get into

the little bit of snow we did have...

Sooo brave I would not want to put freezing snow all over

my face.... but he was really loving it!

This shows me truly that kids do enjoy everything that

life has to offer and all its blessings!

Ya Got Snow on your Face! A big disgrace... hee hee

Snow Angels by my Angel~
Pretty in Pink posing in the snow!

Happy SNOW DAYS!!!

Somer Jane

Happy New Year 2010~ Haydens 1st Sushi!

I was having a craving for some sushi!

I have been not feeling well and my christmas was spent in bed,

so I wanted to do something nice for myself to make

me feel better about this new year that has come~ 20-10!

I decided to get some sushi takeout and enjoy my treat at home relaxing.

Well Hayden was very interested in what I was eating...

"Mommy what is that?" he said

"Its called Sushi" I said

"I want one" he said

"Really? Ok then, you can try one"

"Mmmmm, this is good, I want another one!" he said

"Lyza, do you want some of mommy's sushi?" I said

"Nooooo, un-uh" shaking her head

"Ok more for me" I said

I guess she got her Daddys tastebuds! hee hee

This is a California Roll above (with cream cheese added) a kind of sushi roll, usually made inside-out, containing cucumber, crab meat and avocado, sprinkled with tobiko. You can get the cream cheese added on request.

This Philadelphia roll almost always consists of smoked salmon,

cream cheese, and cucumber. This one is sprinkled with sesame seed.

SUSHI FACTS:

What is sushi? - Not just raw fish -
Is sushi equal to raw fish? No. Raw fish is called sashimi in Japan and is not the same as sushi. Sushi indicates foods that use rice seasoned with sweet rice-wine vinegar. Of course, raw fish is the most popular ingredient in sushi, but the main element of sushi is Japanese sticky rice. There are many kinds of sushi, which don't include raw fish.

History of Sushi - Came from China -
The origin of sushi is not Japan. It is said that sushi was introduced into Japan in the 7th century from China. People began making sushi to preserve fish by fermentation when there were no refrigerators. Since salt and rice were needed in order to ferment, sushi became closely related to rice in Japan. It developed into current sushi which combine fish and rice.

Sushi Nutrition -Low in Fat-
Sushi is low in fat and is a very nutritious food. A typical setting of 7 to 9 pieces contains about 300-450 calories. The fish in sushi provides protein and can be a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Vegetables are a great source of vitamines. Seaweed is rich in iodine.

And rice provides complex carbohydrates.

Im soo proud of my son for being adventurous and trying

his very first sushi cuisine on his own.

I now have a sushi eating partner in the family....yeah!!

Happy New Year!

Here is to trying new things and

being adventurous in 20-10!!

Somer Jane