Pumpkin Carving and Roasting the Seeds

We took the boys this week to a local farm, Shlagel Farms, and picked a pumpkin from their pumpkin patch. So,yesterday Jacob and I made a jack o' lantern and roasted the seeds. Lucas supervised from his stroller, off the ground and away from my knives.

Cleaning out the seeds and "gunk".

Despite numerous attempts, I couldn't get both of them to smile at the same time, so here are two pics!

We roasted the seeds using a recipe for Kids' Favorite Pumpkin Seeds from Country Woman magazine's website. It called for a little cayenne pepper, so I almost didn't use it, but I thought maybe it was just enough for a little "kick", since it was supposedly for kids. Well...they were pretty hot. Jacob ate one, and my husband who usually likes spicy food didn't seemed thrilled with them. I ate a few handfuls but probably won't finish them. After all, how many pumpkin seeds can a girl eat?

Cooking With the Boys: No-Bake Cookies

Jacob and I made Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies yesterday. We only had a few left by the time Daddy got home. I hadn't made these in a very long time, but we only had one egg left, and I didn't want to heat up the house by baking. They sure were yummy, but I'm back to dieting today.

Here's the cookie recipe:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter (optional)

Combine sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in a saucepan. On medium heat, bring to a boil for one full minute.

Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter (optional), vanilla and oatmeal. Drop by the spoonful onto wax paper. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Things to Do With Preschoolers in Washington DC

Washington DC was just named by Parenting magazine as the #1 city in the US to raise a family. There are a lot of things to do with your kids in DC, and the majority are free, like the Smithsonian museums, the Smithsonian zoo, touring historical and government buildings, and looking at monuments.

I'm surprised DC ranked that high considering factors like affordable housing and crime rates, as well as commuting time for parents. But, I guess someone crunched the numbers in 84 categories and came up with this.

My sons aren't old enough to appreciate most of the museums or history of Washington DC, but we've tried or want to try taking them this summer to these preschooler-friendly places:

Smithsonian Zoo
We took Jacob here last summer, and several of the exhibits were closed. I hope it's improved.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Since my husband works for NASA, I've been to this one more times than I'd like to remember. But, I think Jacob (almost 4 yrs) would enjoy seeing the huge airplanes and spacecraft. And, they have a McDonalds and Pizza Hut in this museum. The food is overpriced but kid-friendly.

George Washington's Mount Vernon
We took Jacob and his cousins to Mount Vernon last summer and took a boat ride on the Potomac River. They loved it. You can't take strollers inside the buildings, so I wouldn't recommend it with babies. We probably won't do it again until Lucas is older.

National Building Museum
We want to take the boys here this summer. They have a Building Zone for kids ages 2-6 where kids can build a tower or wall with giant blocks, drive bulldozers and other play trucks, and wear construction gear while doing it. Sounds like a fun place for any preschooler like mine who is obsessed with anything "construction". It looks like you can even have a birthday party there for a mere $400--yikes!

For more things to do in DC:  100 Things to Do With Kids in Washington DC.

Have you been to Washington DC with your kids? What would you recommend?

Walking With the Boys

A friend and I met two times this week to walk with our boys on the Indian Head Rail Trail. We're planning to meet three times a week.

The first time, we let our two 3-year-old boys run around while we walked. I pushed Lucas in the stroller. But, between breaking up the boys' fights, water/bottle breaks, and reminding them to stay on the path to avoid snakes and poison ivy, we only made it 1.25 miles before we turned back.

For the second walk, my friend brought her husband along. He carried Lucas on his back, and we pushed the older boys in strollers. We were able to walk about four miles total at a steady pace, with just one water/bottle break. We've invited a few other mamas to join us next week. Maybe we'll call ourselves the Stroller Brigade.

Using Resurrection Eggs To Tell the Easter Story

Jacob and I have been going through the Easter Story this week using Resurrection Eggs I bought a couple weeks ago at the local Christian bookstore. I've seen them before, but this is my first time using them.

It's been a great experience for both of us! He can't wait to open an egg or two each day to see what's inside, and the eggs come with a book that tells the journey of Jesus to the cross. As you open each egg, you read the next part of that story from the book and see what's inside. The first egg holds a donkey, and you read about Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The last egg is empty, representing the empty tomb on Easter morning. 

The book tells the story in easy-to-understand language and gives the Scripture as well. I've enjoyed going through it with him, and it's a neat way for me to remember Jesus's sacrifice during Holy Week. We started opening the eggs on Palm Sunday and will open the last on Easter--or maybe the Saturday before. I think we're down to only three eggs.

Curling Dandelion Stems

Today was a beautiful day here in Maryland--about 75 degrees--so Jacob and I picked dandelions, plucked off the heads, split the stems in two, and watched them curl in water. Lucas sat in his car seat and just watched.

This reminded me of growing up in rural Indiana and picking dandelions with my sisters when we were young. Fun times!

So, what makes dandelion stems curl? According to Google Answers (I don't have a biology degree and have no idea if this is true.), curling happens when one side of a bilayer expands or contracts faster than the other side. Whichever side is on the outside of the curl probably absorbs more water (and expands more) than the other side.

Bringing Out the Paint

Last week at our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting, our guest speaker was the owner of an art shop and talked about ways to introduce our preschoolers to art. Other than a scrapbooked Valentine card we made a few weeks ago that I let Jacob glue together, I don't do much with him. Coloring is about it. Actually, I hated art class in elementary school and probably just received a "Satisfactory" on my report card because of effort.

The speaker said that you could give your children an appreciation for art by exposing them early. I suggested to my twin sister that maybe we were so bad at art because we didn't go to the art museums or "do art" at home, but she disagreed with "No, I just don't think we had the talent." Probably true.

But, I did buy a Crayola easel last summer at a yardsale for $5 and bought three huge bottles of washable paint and art paper at Michaels. Jacob loved painting outside during warmer weather, and he's been pestering me to let him do it again, but it's been so cold. We had a warm day last week and invited a neighbor boy over to play.

I took a roll of old wrapping paper, strung it across the brick courtyard (back side of the paper facing up), and let them go at it. Jacob mostly wanted to paint with his feet and use it as a "paint slip and slide". A good portion of the paint ended up on the brick, but thankfully, washed off with the next rain.

Both boys had a good visit, and I somehow felt like a "good mommy" for trying to inspire the young "artists" and let them make a mess.