If You Are Going to Have a Star Wars Party,

Then you have to go for it and hope the force is with you.  Sport turned 6 recently and since he has been diagnosed with Star Wars OCD, we had our theme.  Now mind you I couldn’t get my head around this for weeks, so about 5 days out it all finally started coming together thanks to Google.

I was lucky enough to have Padme and Anakin (my daughter and my neighbors son, both third graders) stop by and help with the Padawan training.

The Padawan’s were greeted at the front door and were given their their vest and told to start building their own lightsaber, as all Jedi must.

The lightsaber consisted of swim noodles cut in half, that had been taped with duct tape on the ends.  The Padawan’s built their light saber buttons out of yellow and black duct tape.  The vests, were pieces of felt that I cut a V shape opening for their heads, then uses some ribbon as the belt.

Then the training began.  In the garage, there was reflex training.   They had to hit the balloon with their lightsaber.  Then the Padawan’s flew to the Dagoba system a.k.a my basement, for agility training on an obstacle course.

Upstairs, Padme and Anakin trained them with a game of Yoda says.  Touch your toes, you must.  Use the Force you must, and if you must was not said, they were out and had to work on their listening skills.  The next game was Star Wars Charades, where they had to pretend to be a Star Wars character, such as R2D2, C3-PO, Darth Vader, Anakin, Jabba the Hut, etc.  We also played a game of pass the detonator.  While the Catina band played, the Padawan’s passed the detonator until the music stopped.  That child was then able to give the birthday boy his present.
What’s a birthday party without cake?  So we had an R2D2 cake this year.  I finally learned this year to freeze the cake before you cut and frost the cake.  R2D2’s legs were falling apart like crazy, and luckily I had a ghost cake in the freezer for an upcoming Halloween party.  I grabbed the frozen cake and made a refurbished R2D2 leg and it worked out wonderfully.  So from now on, I will be freezing my cakes a day before and they will look a little less homemade.

That was our Star Wars party, thank you for everyone who has  gone before me and come up with wonderful ideas, my Padawan and his friends had a great day.

Star Wars Halloween

In case you missed it, but it was Halloween last weekend.  I have three, well two kids that are influencing the baby,  who are gaga for Star Wars.  Sport knows more about George Lucas’ creations than my brother does, I just never thought that that could be possible.  In fact, almost every breathing moment is spent informing me or someone else what this clone did, this droid, etc.  Speaking from the Crib describes this obsession to a T.

I digress, back to Halloween.  My daughter, Pumpkin, broke away from the Disney  Princesses last year and wanted to be Padme (for those of you who don’t know she’s from Episode I, II and III).  Since, I want a strong independent daughter I was all on board.  To be frank it was the easiest costume ever.  I purchased white leggings, a white  top and sewed a table runner into a cape and there you have Padme.

This year, has sadly marked the death of the princess fascination in general, this year she really wanted to be a Jawa.  So I pulled out the sewing machine and began goggling.  I found this pattern, and modified it, by taking a shirt pattern and making the arms a little more fitted.  I have to say I think I did a pretty good job.

This year my son, Sport, wanted to be a Clone Trooper.  So I could make a Clone Trooper costume or I could buy one.  Yes, I bought it.  I have to say it turned out to be one of the hardest costumes yet.  Silly me didn’t think that the 8-10 sized costume would fit my newly turned 6 year-old, but it was.  My Mom made a mad dash to Target and bought the correct size,   then we figured out the costumes seams were torn, probably because some 10 year old squeezed himself into the costume splitting the seams and mommy returned it without telling Target.  So at 5:30 on Halloween, Cinderelly whipped out her needle and thread and sewed it together.   Here are Sport and Pumpkin ready for Trick-Or-Treat by 5:45.

Now here is my favorite costume of the year…baby Yoda. Thanks to Four Little Sparrows for the hat pattern.  It worked wonderfully.  The only change I made as I sewed a crease in the middle of each ear.  The cloak is made from felt, I simply cut a hole for the head and there was his costume. 

The Star Wars Halloween has come and gone, The Clone Trooper, Jawa and Yoda costumes are now in the dress up box.  I wonder who will visit next year?  Will princesses be back?  Will Star Wars still be the thing?  Will we go gory or cutesy?  I can’t wait to see.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Octopus for Dinner

Here is  the latest meal made especially for my finicky eater.


My daughter will eat just about anything, my son is another story.  He likes the usual kids stuff: sloppy Joes, spaghetti, chicken nuggets and spaghetti.  I usually serve some kid friendly meals two to three times a week, but there are days I just can’t do it and I make meals for Mommy and Daddy.  Then there are days that I just make dinner for them, and this was one of them.

I made a pasta salad with, mixed vegetables, served with octopus, a.k.a. a hotdog, and sprinkled with goldfish crackers and parmesan cheese.  The trick to the hotdogs, is after you cut the legs, boil the hotdog until it’s heated through.  This meal was a HUGE hit.

Wordless Wednesday

Cooco for Couscous

Milk and soy allergy you say?  How can that be?  But it’s true my little guy is allergic to soy and and dairy, which sent me reeling a few months ago.  I had to kick the dairy habit, which for a yogurt and butter lover such as I was hard.  I’m sorry did I just whine? 

Well, now little guy is a seven month old with two teeth and ready to move on from strained peas.  What do I feed him?  He’s not quite ready for table food, and quite frankly, with two other children in the household prepared baby food is so handy.  Don’t you know I have to read the labels of baby food for milk as well???  I just didn’t think baby food would have dairy in it since so many kiddos are allergic, but they do.

So what are my choices…there’s Gerber of course.  But the ones I found have dairy in them.  Organics' Best had a couple of choices.  Then there is Nestle which owns Gerber, they seem to be an option, but I can’t find them in the states.  I have a couple of samples from my parents brought back some from their trip to Sweden this year.  Which brings me to the title of the blog, they brought back Couscous with Chicken.  Couscous for babies?  Babies can eat couscous?  They sure can, and little guy loves it.  Since I only had one jar, I am now making couscous with chicken at home, and it’s pretty yummy.  He loves it, and it wasn’t that bad to make.  Here’s the recipe if you would like to try it at home.  Big people like it as well, you just may want to add some salt and pepper and maybe a spice or two.  Enjoy!

Couscous with Chicken
1 lbs.  Ground Chicken
1 package couscous, cooked according to the package
1/2 cup pureed mango
1 zucchini
1 red pepper
4 carrots
1/2 onion
Heat about a Tbs. olive oil and sauté the onion and brown the chicken at the same time.  When the chicken has browned, set it aside (remember to break up the chicken into very small pieces).  Meanwhile I pureed a mango, with a little bit of water.  I cubed the zucchini and three of the carrots and boiled them until they were very soft.  Then using a food processor, I essentially pureed the vegetables.  The remaining carrot, I cut, into very small bite size pieces, just big enough for the baby to have something to chew on and boiled those pieces until they were extremely soft.  Then I combined, the chicken, prepared couscous and the vegetables, and the mango and we had a ton our own Couscous with Chicken.

Now I have to say, that it doesn’t have the same jelled consistency that a lot of baby food has.  I think that’s because I didn’t use any cornstarch and flour to make a gravy, but it really wasn’t needed.  He loves it just the way it is.  So, I’m not changing a thing.  In my mind if it works stick with it.

So this is the start of my baby food making journey, how long, and how intense of a journey it is going to be is still in the works.  This or one other recipe may be the entirety, you just never know.  But so far it’s been fun and rewarding.

An Award, who me???

My first award, and I don’t think any other will ever mean the same.  My friend, Hurst burst, just game me the “You are my sunshine” award and said the kindest things about me.  I’m speechless, really they were some of the nicest compliments I’ve ever gotten.  Go check her blog out, she has the greatest stories and makes me laugh daily.  In fact, she is pretty good at spreading sunshine herself.

So it is my turn to bestow the sunshine award, the best that I can.  As far a crafting website goes, Little Cotton Rabbits deserves this award.  Every time, I visit her site, I am amazed by her talent and inspired.  In fact, her Knitted Cupcake pattern decoration, inspired me to embellish a t-shirt for my daughter with a knitted heart.  Two Valentines later, she still adores it. I can’t wait to make the cupcake someday.

Every time I look at Lotta’s garden, I smile.  The photos are always beautiful, and let’s me get a taste of home every once in a while.  And to top it off, I have a chance to practice my Swedish with every one of her posts.

Karen, at And So I Sew, makes me smile.  I love the glimpses into her life, it reminds me how I want to parent, and she even has time to sew.  Her sewing Pledges for 2009, made me laugh, because in my mind I have the same goals.  I hope she reaches her goals. 

Lastly, there is Overseas Living.  I love to read this blog, it reminds me how wonderfully exciting the whole world is.  Through her eyes you get to see the craziest things, then the next day she’s busy parenting her children, just like any other American mother.  It’s a big adventure, that I have the privilege to see through her blog.

Ladies, thank you for filling my life with sunshine, I really feel honored to peak into your lives.