Just Groovy

Munch has discovered Barbie. I was unaware that she had them at her new daycare (which she started this past fall). So I was surprised when, at Christmas, she told Santa that a Barbie doll was at the top of her wish list. (And, from all accounts-because I wasn't with her- Santa assured her there would be one under the tree on Christmas morning- we won't be visiting THAT mall Santa again!) I loved Barbies when I was a kid- I had a bunch AND a dreamhouse- no Corvette though! But I just felt that three years old was a little young for Barbies, but then again, all the kids seem to be getting into things at a younger and younger age nowadays (gosh, that makes me sound old!) I decided that with the holidays and her birthday, I wouldn't mind if she happened to receive a Barbie as a gift, but I really wanted to find an alternative. So I went looking around online and at the toy stores.
First, I saw the Only Hearts Club dolls- these are "real-looking" dolls whose message is to "listen to your heart and do the right thing". Nice, positive message, but geez those dolls are kind of ugly. Next!
So I moved on to the American Girl dolls. These dolls were so much cuter. I was most aware of their line of historical dolls, who come with stories that are set in American history. And of course, there was the Jon & Kate Season 1 episode where they took the twins to NYC to an American Girl show for their birthday. But have you seen the price of these dolls?!? Most of the collection, such as the historical line or the "Just Like You" dolls run in the $100 range. Not exactly the kind I can afford a collection of!
Turns out though, the answer was in our local, independent toy store- Groovy Girls, made by Manhattan Toy. Positive message? Check! The Groovy Girls have partnered with the Girl Scouts to create the Troop Groovy line, whose dolls promote respect, responsibility, and courage. Cute? Absolutely! These dolls are soft and cuddly with colorful yarn hair and wear adorable and funky outfits. And there is a good selection of princess and mermaid dolls, which Munch adores. Diverse? Yup- but without smacking you over the head with it. And the price? I have yet to see a doll over $20- and most of the ones Munch has are in the $11 to $14 range.
Munch DID get a Barbie from a friend of mine this past Christmas- her girls are older and definitely in the Barbie stage. And we did get lots of Barbie play in those first few days of Barbie infatuation- her recently purchased Ariel is Barbie's newest pal. But it's her Groovy Girls that Munch talks to, tucks into bed at night, and carries around most often.

Money Lessons

Munch got a birthday check from her very generous grandparents recently. Rather than just depositing it for her, I wanted her to understand and experience the process of saving it. So off we went to our bank where Munch told the teller that she had a "posit". The teller asked if she'd like to endorse the check, so Munch carefully wrote her name on the back. I decided that she could have $15 dollars of it to go shopping with, so the teller gathered up fifteen dollar bills and counted them out with Munch before placing them in an envelope for her.Munch loved holding actual dollars- she's been really into dumping the coins out of her piggy bank and counting and sorting them lately.When we got to Target, she carefully took one dollar out of the fifteen in her envelope and said that she'd spend this one and save the rest- I had to re-explain that she'd already saved some at the bank and THIS was all her spending money. We didn't get into the fact that a dollar wouldn't get her much :)
I let her look around the toy section, making sure that she checked the prices with me so that she'd stay in her budget. Munch ended up choosing some Tinkerbell themed paper lunch bags from the dollar bins and a mermaid-themed Playmobil play set.At the register, she counted out her fifteen dollars, held tightly to her very important receipt, and was thrilled to find she had about 70 cents in change to bring home to her piggy bank!

Munch's 4th Birthday

It's amazing the way the birthday celebrations go on and on. We had already had a family party for all our January birthday people. Then, Munch got her favorite dinner (mac and cheese) on her birthday along with a cake on her ACTUAL birthday.And after all that, of course we had the friends over for a birthday bash. Actually, the party was held at Grandma and Grandpa's house (thanks Mom & Pop!), because we live so far away from all her friends and I didn't want our guests to make the long drive to our place. Munch was a great help and did a super job with the party craft- Since we were hiring her dance and music teacher for the party, Munch and I filled and assembled "ocean drums".At the party, we had the kids decorate them as they arrived Next up was Jamaica, Munch's awesome music teacher from JAMaRoo Kids. She had the kids (and parents) dancing and making music in no time!After snacks present opening and cake Munch and her cousin A. got in a last cuddle with Grandma and Grandpa before heading home.

Family Birthday Celebration

We have a lot of birthdays to celebrate right after the holidays. Munch, her uncle, and her cousin are all within 10 days of each other in mid-January. Grandpa's birthday is another week later in February. So we were really glad of course, to be able to have everyone in one place (for once!) so we could celebrate all together. Munch and her cousin A. got to have a sleepover the night before-
I prepared taco fixings and whipped up some fry bread while Grandma and Grandpa picked up the Costco cake- YUM!The three birthday celebrants-We gave cousin A. a really cool pirate playset by PlayMobil that folds into a treasure chest-Munch got to open part of her present- a coloring book and some fancy-cut scissors-

Happy Birthday Munch!

Happy 4th birthday to my little peanut- I love you Munchkin!

a few days old- she was just swallowed up by those preemie diapers!

on Munch's first birthday

2 years old!

a pony party for Munch's 3rd birthday

just shy of 4 years old!

Peanut and Squash Stew

I've had this recipe tucked away for a while now. I came across it again during my recent reorganization of my recipe notebook. As good as it sounded when I first clipped it, inspiration took some time to strike again. A couple of weeks ago, I happened to record an interesting-looking 2-hour "Super-Chefs" episode of Iron Chef America, where the secret ingredient happened to be the White House garden. All the dishes turned out beautifully of course, but with vegetables as the star. The next morning, as I planned my grocery trip/meals for the week, I found that the majority of the dinners were fairly light on the meat and pretty economical as well (I spent all of $8 for this meal and it fed us for days! I'll certainly tuck half away into the freezer next time.) This one was our favorite by far. And it certainly hit the spot when my sister stumbled in one very late night after a LONG drive back from Tahoe. Warm and hearty, she easily put away a couple of bowlfuls of leftover stew before heading to bed.

Peanut and Squash Stew
The original recipe came from Real Simple magazine and I also found many variations of African Peanut and Squash stew around the web. I happened to misread the recipe and added the entire can of tomato puree. I'll try it with the correct quantities next time for comparison's sake, but I really like the way this turned out. I'd also add a little more peanut butter to get more of its flavor with the increase of the tomato puree.

Ingredients
1 c. brown rice
2 tbs. olive oil
2 c. yellow onions, chopped
1 tbs. grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
4 c. vegetable broth
1 28-oz. can tomato puree
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1 med. acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch-thick crescents
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 16-oz. cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded (I happened to have some frozen grilled strips from Trader Joe's so I chopped, heated, and used about 1 1/2 c. of those)
2 tbs. chopped roasted peanuts

Prepare the brown rice according to its package directions and set aside. Heat the oil in a separate 5 or 6-qt. pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook about 15 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, salt, and cumin. Cook a few minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add the broth, tomato puree, peanut butter, acorn squash, and sugar. Cook over medium heat, covered, until the squash is tender, about 40 minutes. Add the black-eyed peas and the chicken and heat through. Sprinkle with the peanuts and serve over the rice.

Pom Pom Flowers

A friend from work popped into my classroom the other day bearing a humongous tissue paper pompom. "Could you use this?" she asked. She also had a large garbage bag filled with more where this first pompom came from. My initial thought was no way do I want more STUFF in my classroom, until she suggested that Munch might like them. Well, then there was no hesitation-"I'll take them!"
Up they went in Munch's room in shades of light pink, magenta, and coral. I figured they'd go well with the string of lanterns and the bright pink Tord Boontje Midsummer pendant light. It's a darling room, with buttercup yellow walls and splashes of every shade of pink. I just love hanging out in there! Here's a peek-
"Come on in!""Everyone who visits my room has to play pretend.""What are you doing?""Okay, we're done playing. You can leave now."Thanks for the pompoms and for thinking of us Sarah!

New Year's Day at the California Adademy of Sciences, San Francisco

That's Munch standing in front of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Containing the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium, and the Kimball Natural History Museum, the Academy of Sciences reopened almost a year ago after a major remodeling and we were looking forward to seeing it.
We had heard that the lines have been INCREDIBLY long even months after the reopening, so we made sure to get there nice and early.We also chose to visit on the morning of New Year's Day, hoping that the previous evening's celebrations would keep people home in bed a little longer. Thankfully, our hopes were realized and the museum was pleasantly uncrowded at least until lunchtime. Parking was super easy, with a new garage built under the Music Concourse that sits between the Academy of Sciences and the DeYoung Museum. Once we got inside, we split up briefly to pick up the free, first-come first-served, showtime tickets to the Planetarium and the special 3-D Bugs film that was currently running. With specific show-time tickets in hand, we then took our time exploring the museum. Our first stop was the African Hall in the Natural History Museum-upon entering it, I was immediately transported back to elementary school and the numerous field trips we took to the "old" Academy. Munch immediately bypassed all the life-size dioramas and headed straight to the African penguins at the back of the hall-that's her on AudioDad's shoulders.
We eventually got her to move on to the Madagascaar and Galapagos islands exhibit where Munch loved seeing the tortoises, lemurs and played a game, projected onto the floor, where she stomped around on piles of leaves and tried to catch bugs.My parents found the exhibit on the global effects of climate change really interesting. This was a display about everyday waste and reusable alternativesYou can check out my parents' collection of American-made reusable tote, lunch, and grocery bags at Clean Conscience Goods- some items are also available through amazon.com.
Next we moved on to the Steinhart Aquarium's section where we came to The Swamp, an old favorite from the original Academy, which now is inhabited by a creepy, ghostly-looking albino alligatorDownstairs, we LOVED the different jellyfish- these we adorably tiny, with short, squat tentacles and these anemone-looking upside-down jellyfish, which bury themselves into the ground Here's Munch and AudioDad standing the front of the massive curved wall of one of the tanks-

We had packed a picnic lunch for the day, in order to avoid the possible crowds in the Academy cafe (I HAD heard that their food was quite good). We headed out to a few benches in the Music Concourse, which gave Munch plenty of room to run and play after eating.After lunch, we headed back into the now-crowded museum to see the Planetarium show (it was incredible!), and visit the enclosed, domed, four-story rainforest which was filled with butterflies, a few birds, and lush greenery We also couldn't miss the hilly, window-spotted, "Living Roof" of the Academy before heading home for a family dinner.