The Whimsical Momma

Merry Christmas Eve!!! Today we have been busy little bee's, cleaning our house and getting all the chores done that we had neglected during the time we were sick, I also decided that it would be to our advantage to start on some of the food prep for tomorrow. I am so excited!!! This will be our first Christmas as our own little family, we will be doing our own meal and getting to watch our little bear open her presents and partake in the celebrations.  Someone Loves her veggies! :)  Potatoes soaking and ready for roasting tomorrow.  Here is packed lunch for tomorrows trip to visit family. So, from our Family to yours, we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas! May it bring you lots of happiness and joy.

I apologize for not updating these past few days but we have been down with some sort of bug that is going around. :( My little bear has been so good considering, it reminds me just how strong, positive and sweet thing she is. She's always in such a great mood unless things are really bad. I hope everyone stays healthy, warm and safe during the holidays. During times like this, the holidays,  I miss my mommy so much (she lives in Spain), I long for a hug from her & her yummy cooking. no one can ever cook like mom can! anyways, here are some pictures I took throughout the week.  She loves outdoors.  Crushing up an old crunchy leaf.  She loves my hat.  LOL  A sick little bear wearing one of my hats.  Getting ready to help mommy do the dishes.  so cute, she makes them hug, dance, kiss and jump around.  Murray & Elmo Scarlett's newest bff's. I love peppermint stuff so I had to get this, Baking these tomorrow.

Today's post is about Apps! I don't know about you but my daughter is crazy about my mobile devices. She used to be crazy about my phone at first, then she moved onto the ipad and it's been her favorite since. I have downloaded a ton of free and paid apps since this started and there's only a few which have remained a favorite for her. Here is our list: Peekaboo: Ladybird Baby Touch Interactive, Fun, Colorful, has sounds, teaches them objects and animals. Happy Babies: Ladybird Baby Touch Similar but its about momma and babies. We loved it just as much as the first. :) Juno's Piano - Learn Songs, Play with Parents, and Free Play HD Let them go crazy on the free play here. Interactive Alphabet ABCs  Fun, Colorful and Interactive. Peekaboo Fridge (You can download peekaboo friends and peekaboo presents for free) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally appisode  Fun Interactive game/ video. Miss Spider's Bedtime Story fo

Today I was thinking about how happy I am that my little girl loves to eat, even though right now she is eating a little less than her usual amount, she still loves food and says "yum!" when she sees food. I love that she is so open to trying everything I give her. Just yesterday she held broccoli in her hand and made it seem so good. :) I thought I'd share a little collage of some of the meals she has eaten lately. I know I have gotten lucky here, not all children are so eager to eat everything that is put in front of them and not always will they like everything they are given, but one thing I have learned is that my daughter likes me to keep it fresh. If I repeat foods too much or they start lacking color and variety she seems to not eat so well. So if there is anything I can ever suggest to any parent food related wise, it is keep it fun, fresh and full of variety and don't give up, because even if they don't like something right now, that doesn't mea

Here are some of the not so very pretty gingerbread men me and my daughter made earlier. This was our very first attempt at making and trying these little guys. We enjoyed making them and tasting them. In case anyone wants to try making these, here is the recipe we used. The recipes is as follows: 3 cups Flour                                                   2 tsp Ginger (ground)                                    1 tsp Cinnamon (ground)                               1 tsp Baking Soda                                          1/2 tsp Nutmeg                                               1/4 tsp Cloves (ground) 1/4 tsp Salt 3/4 cup of Butter (softened) 3/4 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar 1/2 cup unsulfured Molasses 1 Egg 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside. 1. In a large mixing bowl beat the brown sugar and butter until soft and fluffy, add the molasses, egg and vanilla ext

Not an amazing picture, I know! The past few days my daughter has been feeling a little picky about eating, she has a good reason though.  She has been having teething pains from the canine teeth that appear to be coming in. :( She's pretty good about the pain, apart from the eating which she still does but just not as good as usual. So I made her one of her favorites, Turkey patties. Recipe is as follows but you may add and subtract as needed. 1 pack of Ground Turkey or Chicken Half a small onion chopped small 1 tbsp coriander chopped or pureed 1 cup of mushrooms chopped small 1 celery stick chopped small Soy sauce to your liking 1 generous pinch of ground pepper 1 Garlic Clove minced 1 tbsp of your favorite cooking oil. Mix all the ingredients, shape into patties and cook on medium heat or medium low, depending on your stove.  Flip half-way through and you are done. I served hers with some sticky rice (easier for her to pick up), steamed mix veggies and apple sl

Today, we finally dedicated ourselves to the tedious task of going to buy a tree and put it up. I love Christmas but getting the tree and unpacking it is just so time consuming with a little one in tow, it just seems to take much longer and you know all they want to do is take it all back down.  I get it though, I would want to do the same.  I mean, there is something just so magical about decorations. They sparkle, they have different textures and colors...everything is just so pretty. That is also the main reason why we didn't go too crazy on decorations this year.  We don't want to get upset if she takes them down and breaks them.  So the more important ones are near the top.  The rest are plastic and we will not be heart broken if they need to be tossed away. :) Well, time for a nice relaxing weekend. Hope everyone enjoys theirs. :)

Today I decided I wanted to make some play dough for my daughter. Play dough is an important tool in child development. Lets look at what skills it will help develop and how. Motor Skill Development: The manipulation of the dough will help strengthen finger and hand muscles. By kneading, poking, squeezing and pinching it gives those muscles a workout, which will later on help with simple things like writing. Cognitive Development: Using play dough helps a child practice using their imagination and other cognitive abilities such imitation, symbolism & problem solving. This helps the child learn more about his/her environment as he/she makes and mimics everyday objects with the play dough. Emotional Development: We can all get stressed, overstimulated or just in a bad mood, play dough can be a great mood changer. think of it as a stress ball, it has a calming effect which  is useful for teaching anger management skills. Additionally, it may help them feel more com

Today I woke up in a festive mood and thought of how wonderful it would be to make some Christmas ornaments with my daughter. I remember I had a recipe sitting in my old files for Salt Dough, so I dug it up and we got to work. This is the recipe we used: 1/2 Cup of Salt 1/2 Cup of Plain Flour 1/4 Cup of Water Mixing Bowl Cookie Baking Tray Cutting Board or Kitchen Worktop Knife Toothpick Paints & Brushes (optional) Sealer if you want a more finished look. (Optional) 1. Preheat the oven at 200 °F . 2. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl and knead until dough forms. 3. Separate into 2 or 3 dough balls, flatten the out some so you have something resembling a pancake. 4. If you would like to make the Santa Ornament from the first picture I posted, you just need your child to make a hand impression on the dough. You could also do what i did if your child doesn't want to lend a helping hand, You could make some out of those lovely alphabet magnets