Eat This: Baking with Kids

via www.simplebites.net

I read rave reviews about Pamela Druckerman's book Bringing up Bebe and unfortunately my local library branch didn't yet stock it so I ordered it from Amazon.com. I was not disappointed as this book certainly lived up to the hype. I have to say I am somewhat addicted to parenting books and blogs because I love information about raising children from other mothers. It is one thing to read about psychologist theory but quite another to hear it from a woman who has stood where I stood and is sharing the lessons she has learned/is learning. One of my top takeaways from this book is the tradition of baking with your children on Sundays. Dean and I made the above Zucchini bread recipe I found via Pinterest a few weeks ago and it was a major hit with the whole family, not to mention the benefit of Dean absolutely loving the process. We made double the recipe and baked half the batter as muffins and the other half as a loaf. Within the week both were devoured. Our favorite way to eat this amazing bread was slightly warm and slathered with cream cheese.

Read This: The Happiness Project

Saturday I finished reading the book "The Happiness Project," by Gretchen Rubin and although at times I found it a bit on the dry side I loved the idea of Gretchen's Happiness Project- why not assess what we do everyday and work towards making ourselves and those around us happier?

I loved her concept of taking responsibility for documenting the family's happy memories and I recently discovered a website called mixbook.com which is similar to My Publisher (which I love) for those who are familiar, the advantage I found with Mixbook is a greater level of customization with stickers, layouts and background colors, which works well for my purpose- documenting our family's year a month at a time.

A few photos from the weekend:

Dean with an abandoned Quail egg we found in the backyard.

Ginger's naptime on Sunday

We had 3 very ripe lemons sitting in our fruit bowl on the counter so I started searching for lemon bread recipes. I made the below this morning and it turned out very lemony- I used Trader Joe's lemon yogart in place of plain as the recipe called for- I may not the next time it is most likely the reason why the lemon flavor is so overwhelming.

Source: foodnetwork.com via Audrey on Pinterest

Do This: 20 Questions

My son, Dean is turning 3 tomorrow and as luck would have it I stumbled across this wonderful blog, reavespartyofthree.blogspot.com via pinterest.com, with the idea to ask my three-year-old 20 questions on his birthday and subsequent birthday's to see how his answers change as he grows older. I modified my questions to suit Dean's personality. 

1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Blocks
3. What is your favorite fruit? Oranges
4. Do you like day or night better? Daytime
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Oranges
6. What is your favorite movie? Cars
7. What is your favorite outfit? Cars t-shirt
8. Do you like the beach of the mountains better? The Beach
9. What is your favorite snack? Graham Crackers
10. What is your favorite animal? Elephant
11. What is your favorite song? Sing-a-long (Sesame Street)
12. What do you like best about school? Playing
13. What is your favorite book? Green Eggs and Ham
14. Who is your best friend? Jackson
15. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play with "poppers" at school
16. What is your favorite drink? Juice
17. What is your favorite thing to do with mom and dad? rough house
18. Do you like to color or paint better? Paint
19. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Work in a Zoo