Friday, October 29, 2010

Done!






I think I nailed it! When I saw the pink wig for $6 I knew it had to be. We also added a "slime"to a headband to help keep her wig on. The "slime" is a key character of the Dragonquest game...apparently. Bear was very happy with the way the costume looked, the acid test of recognition by her peers was passed with flying colours....although her music teacher thought she was Gelda or was it Zelda?.

two down, one to go










I have completed the costumes for Boo and Yum Yum... they wanted to go as their cuddlies.."Bunny" and "Ducky". It would have been a whole lot easier to just buy them a costume each...but I always have to complicate things and make more work for myself.
Bears' costume is still a WIP, to be completed very soon, hopefully by the time the Halloween tailgate starts this afternoon! The fabric glue is making me feel a little odd.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Wish me luck....

Bear wants to be this "hero" from the Dragonquest game. Apparently the game allows you to choose your own hair colour so we won't be concerned about pink hair. We have come up with a compromise regarding the skirt , it will be an apron. The chances of finding pale yellow long sleeved top and leggings are slim so we will be using white, possibly dyed with some tea.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

It's Wednesday night- must be bento time


Yes, you are seeing googly eyes on a banana. I'm hoping it gives them a giggle. Yum Yum is my only banana eater and even then it isn't always her thing. For lack of any other fruit to fill the gaps, Bear and Boo have carrots and teeny rounds of edam cheese-cut with an apple corer. I'm doing the apple pancakes again but I had to combine a Bisquick with a Jemima pancake mix, and it didn't seem to cook as nicely. I couldn't find the fruit leather so this time I used cranberries and dried apricots for faces. The photo is upside down- don't ask. Back in OZ we would ordinarily mix our own pancake (pikelet) batter but we have become accustomed to the reliable results of Aunt Jemima's- (read lazy).The twins will also have a yohgurt drink (Danimals Smoothie) whilst China always has 2% skim milk provided at school.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

When 4 year olds paint pumpkins....









When the Breadwinner spied these globs (not globes) he exclaimed his surprise that we would choose to buy green pumpkins. On closer inspection he wanted to know why anyone would paint orange pumpkins, green? There was a very adamant response.."they are NOT green daddy, they are GREY!".
Whew, 'cause what to do with them otherwise? When I think about their handiwork I have to admit they actually came up with a perfectly valid Halloween transformation. I have some ideas on how to complete their vision. Even if I hadn't been distracted by a sparkly cat yawning...



I don't believe I could have (or should have) changed the outcome. They enjoyed themselves and that is what mattered.

Reasons to like Fall-photo fest














I'm sure you can see why we love this time of year here in the US... it's simply beautiful. No more humidity in the air, crisp mornings, colour in the foliage, harvest festivals, apple picking, pie eating, corn mazes, hay rides, doughnuts and apple cider. There are plenty of reasons to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. Halloween is now just weeks away and is a big community wide celebration. We have started decorating the house inside and out and I'd better get cracking on costumes. One farmer, a scarecrow, a bunny, a duck, and some person from DragonQuest ?

Friday, October 8, 2010

Bento update


This is my new favourite breakfast- homemade granola, greek yohgurt and berries..mmmm.

Do you remember this bento- complete fail. The biggest fail was that Bear could not open the yoghurt parfait...apparently it never occured to her to unscrew the lid!

During the week since... they have all had chicken noodle soup with crackers, tortellini and hot dogs- in their thermos' (not all on one day!). These were happily eaten.

I did have great success with Monday's bentos but I forgot to take a photo. I added a grated apple to some pancake mix, a little sugar and cinnamon and made funny face pancakes. I used fruit leather cut with kitchen scissors into small circles/triangles, arches/curves to make faces. I put the "face" parts onto the pancake just before turning them. I tidied them up with a circle cookie cutter- the uniform shape and size enhanced the cute factor..and it was amazing how little was trimmed in order to make each a perfect circle, not that the trimmings went to waste. I put the pancakes (3 each) in the lower section of the bento with parchment circles between them. I packed a little blueberry jam for each which none oft he girls bothered with. I popped paper plates into the lunchbags for Boo and Yum Yum so that theirs could be warmed a little in the class microwave. They had fruit and nut free granola (same as my breakfast) as a side.

Tomorrow's bentos I expect to be well recieved. I hopee. I know Bear likes my "chicken nuggets" for school lunch , just hope the twins also enjoy them at school. Only Bear likes kiwi fruit. I will add a yohgurt to her lunch in case she is hungry.I should add that during the drive after preschool- to pick up Bear from her school, the twins often request their leftovers from their school lunch.
And somebody else is benefiting from the bento production line. Here's the Breadwinners lunch..he gets a bunch of crackers and slices of parmesan cheese, and a bigger serving of fruit and chicken of course.
Just in case you want to know here's my recipe for the chicken strips/nuggets,

chicken breast cut into small chunks or strips
drench in seasoned plain flour
dip into beaten egg
coat in breadcrumbs
place on "foiled n oiled" baking tray, lightly drizzle with olive oil
cook at 350F about 25 minutes, turning halfway through.
The crumbs can be seasoned- garlic herb is tasty, or you can added lemon zest, sesame seeds .