The Creative Salad – Crafty fun and homeschool adventures in Sonoma County, California.

And Then Life Got Really Busy and I Forgot to Blog

Well, I haven’t really forgotten. Let’s just say blogging is that item at the top of my to do list that I haven’t gotten to recently.

Since I last blogged BACK IN APRIL, our daughter finished her first year of kindergarten:

We embarked on an epic road trip to New Mexico so our daughter could attend mural camp (where Gramma is the program director) and we could visit family:

Then there’s the awesome everyday stuff: ballet and swim classes, mama-daughter ice skating dates every weekend (since December!), beach trips and pool parties, park outings, bike rides, and daily walks after dinner.

Oh, and we finally got around to night-weaning the toddler. (At 30+ pounds now, we figured mama getting sleep was more important than him continuing to eat every hour, all night long.) I’m feeling soooo much more energized now that he’s just breastfeeding every hour during the day. (Really.)

Hence the blog post.

May this trend continue…

Spring Holidays: Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs and the BEST Chocolate Peanut Butter Egg Treats

We’re in the middle of mega festivities with Passover, Easter, and Earth Day all in the span of a week…

Passover was a hit. With our daughter leading the Seder, I had flashbacks to my childhood. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Ahem.

Now we’re gearing up for a low-key, non-plastic Easter, which entailed dying almost two dozen hardboiled eggs for Sunday morning’s egg hunt.

(Recently I learned that dying eggs is a spring tradition for both Jews and Christians, although the custom predates both religions. (Thanks Ruth for the link!) Pretty fascinating stuff.)

We colored our eggs using this nontoxic kit and got such beautiful, saturated results! We will definitely be using this kit again next year. (Want to make your own dyes with foods from your kitchen? Then this post is for you. We’ve done that before and that’s fun too.)

We also made the most delicious chocolate peanut butter eggs inspired by this post, but made with only (two types of) chocolate and peanut butter — simple, quality ingredients:

The results were incredibly tasty. In fact, I think that was probably the best peanut butter cup of my life! I’m so looking forward to indulging more on Sunday. ;)

By the way, we don’t have plans or resolutions for Earth Day yet, but if we do something fun I’ll try to share a photo via Instagram/Facebook.

Happy spring!

Astronomy Homeschool Activities / Everyday Learning 6

Many of my most treasured childhood memories involve one-on-one time with my father: ice skating, hiking trips, studying astronomy. (Okay, and cuddling on the coach watching the original Star Wars movies too.)

I remember eagerly anticipating each lunar eclipse, comet or meteor shower, knowing that we’d get to see it together.

I have waited many years to share this joyful experience with my kids. After studying the ‘butterfly life cycle‘ and ‘leaves and seeds,’ we turned our focus this winter to astronomy, studying our moon, planets and their satellites in the solar system, and constellations in the night sky.

We stargazed with the help of Google Sky, the fantastic Earth Sky blog and Facebook page, and Skymaps with monthly, free printable sky maps…

… poured over dozens of great astronomy books (our favorites being Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations, Glow-in-the-Dark Constellations, and The Stars):

… observed the moon cycle with the Phases of the Moon app (that allows you to scroll forward and backwards through time to see how the moon changes each day) and this craft project:

… discussed the order, size, and characteristics of the planets and their satellites in our solar system with this craft project, these puzzles by Ravensburger, Melissa & Doug, and Crocodile Creek, and a craft similar to this one:

… explored the Greek and Native American myths explaining the stories behind our constellations…

… practiced identifying, drawing, and embroidering constellations:

… celebrated our daughter’s six birthday with a solar system themed party:

… visited the planetarium at the California Academy of Science and created our own version at home (with this fantastic activity)…

… and watched our daughter write her own astronomy book (from Imagine Childhood with this white gel pen):

Three months of study and we still have so much to learn! I have a whole bunch more astronomy-themed activities on Pinterest to explore in the future.

So many fun projects, so little time!

Easy Baby Meal Cleanup with the Best Bibs Ever

Babies make for such messy eaters, don’t they? Food on the face, in the lap, smashed in the hair, covering sleeves, thrown across the table… all over the place.

Well, I have a tip that will make meal cleanup so much easier.

My secret is using these long sleeved bibs that my friend Dorothee sells in her children’s shop Sofee and Lenee, featuring kinder accessories that she imports directly from her home country of Germany.

I think these particular bibs are ingenious!

(The baby likes them too, despite his serious appearance. Eating takes major concentration!)

The bibs are long, so they extend over the baby’s entire front. No more food in his lap!

The bibs also fully cover the baby’s arms and entire front/shoulder area. No more food splattered across his clothes and covering his arms!

Plus they are lined so food doesn’t soak through, and they’re quick and easy to wash.

Now after meals I just need to wipe his face and hands, and we’re good to go!

(Cause when babies finish eating, they’re done RIGHT THIS MINUTE, “get me out of here, mama!”)

Visit Sofee and Lenee to learn more. I own not one, but three of these bibs. One for every meal of the day!

Hmmm, maybe I should buy a couple more… ;)

His First Birthday

Happy birthday to our sweet, happy boy!

This past year flew by so fast.

Wasn’t he just born?

At one year old he’s an adventurous climber and explorer, yet coordinated and steady on his feet…

Loves music and dancing…

Crazy about carrying, dropping, and throwing (!!!) balls…

He loves playing outside and exploring the natural world (i.e. picking up rocks, trying to eat acorns, and carrying around little sticks or leaves)…

Curious about food preparation and cooking, which means he’s always near our side (and wanting us to hold him) when we’re working in the kitchen…

Loves to eat everything, although he’s particularly partial to braised meats, fresh fruits, and greens sautéed with garlic…

Skilled at drinking from a straw and enjoys blowing bubbles in between sips…

Chats all day long (no surprise there!), though we’re just starting to understand snippets of what he’s saying. He now clearly enunciates the words mom-mom, dad, big sister’s name, up, ba (for, you guessed it, ball), more, and done…

Loving and cuddly, he adores running towards us with his arms outstretched, ready to give us hugs. (He also gets terribly affronted if Daddy doesn’t pick him up the moment he walks in the door after work. How dare Daddy try to put down his bag first!)

His world revolves around observing and playing with big sister, and he wants to do everything she finds interesting…

Happy birthday, sweet boy! We so love you.

Love,
Mama