No Fear

Matt is really loving his Little Gym class. The thing he loves best is the balance beam. On this particular day, they added an extension to the top of the beam so it is a little wider. Matt was fearless - he got up walked it without help and as he jumped off to do his dismount he yelled "cannonball". It is great seeing him progress on his skills.

Definitely a Food Critic

So, yesterday when I mentioned Matt's love of dumplings, my sister, Lori made an observation that in his future career Matt would be either a chef or a food critic. We joked about how both would have great benefits - a good cook to cook for his family or a critic who would take you (okay, his mom) out to many restaurants. Well, I think the food critic is shining through.

Today we took the kids for lunch to Charlie Browns one of their favorite places. I had plain sliced beets on my salad plate from the salad bar. I had them cut into smaller pieces. Emily asked me it they were meat and I told her no beets - a vegetable. I asked her if she wanted to try it and she immediately said "no thank you". Well, Matt without a beat says, "I'll try it" - not really a surprise, he'll try just about anything. He was sitting across from me so I fed it to him off my fork. As soon as it got in his mouth, he closed his one eye, tilted his head and started chewing the beet on the side of his mouth that he had the eye shut....it looked as if he was savoring and thinking in the moment. He finished chewing open his eye and said "that is fantastic". I had to laugh because it was like watching a food critic compiling his thoughts regarding the food he is eating. So, Lori, it looks like you might be right about his future career. Although he may become a chef in a fire house too. He can fight fires, cook for the crew and then be a critic on his days off.

Turkey Time

I love that Emily's teacher does a theme based Show and Tell and asks the kids be creative with their presentation. This past week's theme was 'Your favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner'. Emily chose turkey - I don't recall her eating all that much turkey in her short lifetime, but that was her choice. I explained to Emily that we wouldn't be able to "create" a cooked turkey version but we could do a precooked version. She felt it necessary to confirm with her teacher that this was okay before we even started the project. So, the turkey is made of two Styrofoam balls and a Styrofoam circle that Emily painted brown. Then, she glued feathers on the tail. The wings are colored foam along with the beak and gobbler, googly eyes and pipe cleaners for feet. The hat is stiff black felt with foam pieces making the band and buckle. The base is Styrofoam covered in colored foam with foam stickers. All the pieces are pinned together with bamboo skewers and hot glue. This was a fun project.

Now, originally Emily named the turkey Sophia but by the time Dave came home at 8:00 p.m. the name changed to Sonic and then on the way into school it changed to Jolly Rancher. So, I guess the name is Sophia Sonic Jolly Rancher Wessel. Her teacher loved the turkey and asked to keep it for the next week leading up to Thanksgiving. Next week's theme is 'What am I thankful for..'. Oh, and next week I think we get report cards, so we'll see how Emily is progressing across the board.

Inspired by my Niece

One thing I admire most about my niece Shellie is her level of commitment to a task. She is one of those people who evaluates things, commits to them and follows through. I don't know how long she has been doing this but each year Shellie pick something to "give up" for the year in the way of food. One year it was chips, another french fries and I believe this year it is pizza - sorry about the Giordano's trip. My brother Dennis being the great dad he is joins Shellie in her task. A few months ago, I was reading a book and wanted to give up my use of artificial sweetener (equal, truvia, aspartame, etc.) but I wasn't ready to commit to the task. About a month ago, I joined our local Gold's Gym and met with one of their trainers (Ishmael Parez - Ish for short) who is also a nutritionist. I signed up for a training program and part of that included doing a 5 day food journal. After one week, I was put on a nutrition plan to accomplish my fitness goals. The kicker is that it starts with an 8 week cleanse/re balancing of my body - ready for this it is a gluten and dairy free program and no artificial sweetener is allowed. I got my push. The first week was hard but I kept thinking if Shellie can do this so can I...she became my focal point for staying on task. Now, I am seeing the results of my eating and workout plans and I am thrilled. After the 8 weeks, we will reintroduce certain foods back into the program to determine how my body reacts to the food. As of Thursday, I started my fourth week on the program and am doing really well. Dave and the kids have been very supportive of this too - even have them eating a little healthier. I've found some great alternatives to wheat/gluten and dairy items (even found a bakery that caters to this style of eating - YUM) and have even gone a little organic. So, Shellie "thank you" for being my inspiration to stick to my goals and reap the benefits of the outcome.

I'm a City Girl

Emily loves going into NYC. She feels that she is a "city girl" and dresses accordingly. Emily is still very much into wearing skirts, so we made the November 1st tights rule - must wear tights or knee socks with all skirts. I love how with Emily every picture turns into a pose. Emily's teacher loves telling me the comments she makes regarding peoples, including the teacher's, outfits - "I love the colors of that scarf" "Your outfit matches perfectly", etc. Ms. Palummierri is sure that Emily's future career will be somewhere in the field of design. She even commented jokingly to Emily that if she becomes a fashion designer to always remember her 1st grade teacher. Emily is our little fashionista - not always matching but that is her style.

I LOVE Dumplings

Matthew is definitely our child with a diverse palate. Last Saturday we headed into New York City to the lower East side which consists of both Chinatown and Little Italy. The kids actually like Chinese so we headed in that direction. Matthew is always so willing to try new food items and will ask "can I have some of that?" when he sees you have something he wants to sample. Dave got some steamed dumplings and Matt was instantly intrigued. So, after his first bite of dumpling dipped in soy sauce his exact words were, "that is amazing". Needless to say he had another one during the meal. Matt also loves any of the satay styled chicken. It was a great meal - even Emily ate well, although she was disappointed that they didn't have any sushi. Yes, she loves sushi. I know it is crazy, for her it is either chicken nuggets or sushi - what a range.