A Fun Veggie Trick We Learned

We are working on eating more raw veggies. This will benefit us in so many ways...less heat in the kitchen, less time to prepare dinner, less dishes to wash and, did you know...raw veggies generally contain more live enzymes and vitamins than cooked veggie have.

We started this tonight with cucumbers. Our main dish was loaded nachos (corn chips, cheese, chili peppers, tomatoes, olives and shredded chicken). The kids LOVED it (and so did me and Glen). Joseph ate his cukes up and Esther, well, she did not. Her plate sat and sat and sat. Finally, we had an idea...kids like to sometimes to do things that are forbidden to them, so...

...we forbade Esther to eat her veggies. That's right! And it worked like a charm. Glen and I kept telling her not to eat her cucumbers, while Joseph cheered for her to do. Then Glen and I told her not to listen to Joseph. So, what did she do? She listened to Joseph and ate all of her cucumbers...with a big grin on her face. She got more nachos.

Listen to the video as Joseph reveals why Esther should not eat vegetables (hint: he says that veggies make people stronger and if Esther gets too strong, he and Glen won't be able to handle her). Yes, Esther is strong and has a lot of energy...those darn vegetables! ;)

Lost Teeth

So, do you remember that Joseph had loose teeth on his half-birthday? One of them came out. Yep, right in the middle of his school day when he least expected it, there it went!

At Joseph's preschool, the kids all brush their teeth after their lunch. Joseph brushed his teeth, spit, and out came his tooth. He told us that it almost fell into the ketchup on his plate (the kids brush their teeth RIGHT after their meals). :) His teacher put it in a plastic baggy for him to take home.

Do you remember when you lost your first tooth?

Here are some pictures of his "less-one-tooth" smile and of the tooth, itself. The tooth fairy almost forgot about his tooth, but she remembered right before bed and that's what counts! :)

This is what Joseph plans to buy with the money he received from the tooth fairy. He is crazy about Legos!

And now...listen to Joseph as he tells about what the tooth fairy brought ($1). :)

Bunnies At Our House?

At the preschool story time, our library shows a short, fun video at the end. We have seen all kinds of movies...and I remember seeing some of them as a little girl!

We had the opportunity to see the film called Knuffle Bunny, which is adapted from the book "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale," written by Mo Williams. It's a great story (and a great show) about a little girl who loses her Knuffle Bunny. In the end, he brave dad finds it in the most unlikely place.

Well...for Christmas, Esther got a doll, who has her own bunny-doll. Guess who just became Esther's "Knuffle Bunny"? Esther carries the bunny around with her, loves it, and takes the bunny to bed with her.

Here are some pictures of Esther with her teeny-tiny friend.  :)

Here is some video of Esther with her "Knuffle-Bunny." Stick around, there's a little surprise at the end...:)

Halfy-Birthday to our son, Joseph!

This week has been busy!  (But we love it).

Joseph celebrated his half-birthday on April 27, 2010.  We had a fun dinner from Taco Bell and had fun eating a strawberry cake Joseph picked out at the store.  He's 5 and a half now and growing wiser by the minute.

He is also very excited about two loose teeth he's got...

Here he is with a special plate we got from Aunt Judy.  The moment he saw it, it became his.  ;)  It has a heart shape outline in the middle of it.

Next, he and his candles are shining for this camera shot.

And here is the video we took:



It was an awesome day with Joseph and we had such a fun time. Mine is the next half-birthday celebration. We'll see what kind of cake I come up with. :)