Traveling Tales

      As I've mentioned before, we love the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. It is my go to location when we want to kill a few hours, and the kids request going there all the time. I'm only too happy to oblige seeing as we are members (thanks GG for the amazing Christmas gift!) which means our admission is covered. I HIGHLY recommend membership! A family membership is $95 for the year for unlimited admission, access on member only days, and discounts on events and shows. The exhibits focus on local communities and business. In addition they put up a handful of theatre productions each season and offer countless other activities throughout the year (like the Egg Hunt).

 

     We have also recently discovered their "Traveling Tales" program. This program allows you to "borrow" an activity back pack for 10 days. Each pack (there were 8 to choose from I believe, though some were already "checked out") has a specified theme, identified by a laminated card on the pack. Some recent themes included current Muslim holidays, dinosaurs, local food discovery, etc.

 

 

     For us the dinosaur back pack was a clear choice!

 

 

     The pack contained a fun new book to read, 12 plastic dinos, 6 stuffed "puppet" dinos, and a set of activity instructions. All of the activities involved an element of imagination and play.

 

 

     Some were more challenging than others. We didn't even attempt the homemade plaster and "Dino Dig" activity for our age group...but believe me, we will do that in the future on our own! 

 

 

     We did most of the other activities, including our own puppet show spun off from the book included, dino rhyming games, and ice cream dino eggs, to name a few! Of course there was a ton time spent just playing with the dinos - a toy I've come to realize is lacking in our house.

 

 

     Those ice cream dino eggs were a big hit though! We shaped ice cream into rough eggs and let them re-freeze. Then we rolled them in sprinkles and let them re-freeze again. Voila! Delicious dino eggs!! 

 

 

     The girls were so excited! This desert treat lasted several days and was all they could talk about for as long too!

 

Another successful adventure from the Children's Museum!

 

Simple City Sam

Easter Weekend

     We had an amazing weekend! Fun was had by all. We celebrated with friends and family, ate a ton of food, and I didn't buy a single gift. I know, the nerve of me! Again trying to teach my kids through action that spending time is better than spending money.

 

 

     Friday night Grammy came over for a sleep over. This is easily one of the girls' favorite things. There's no way to stop a Grammy from buying gift, but Mom is great and sticks to new clothes and maybe a movie! Of course the rest of the night is dinner and watching said movie. The girls got to stay up late and Grammy camped out in their room. They couldn't have been happier.

 

 

     Saturday was the Egg Hunt at the Children's Museum and Theater of Maine. They opened the door an hour early and hid 750 eggs! We asked the girls to find as many as they could but to only keep 10. That way they shared with their friends, spent time really looking for eggs, and didn't come home with a ridiculous amount of junk and candy.

 

 

     Playing was more fun than finding eggs most of the time!

 

 

 

 

     They still came away with a  satisfying haul. Because we're members of the Museum (a gift we received at Christmas) the whole thing cost us $12.

 

 

 

     Sunday morning was full of smiles and giggles and "Mommy, take our picture!" requests.

 

 

     I saved egg decorating for Sunday morning to have something to buy time before heading to our Auntie's for brunch.

 

 

We went for "crackled" eggs. Crack the shells of the hard boiled eggs, soak them in water and food coloring and then peel the shell off.

  

 

     We brought them to Auntie's house to have something to occupy their time while the grown ups visited.

 

 

     They were cool, and would have definitely been darker if we'd let them soak longer, but that wasn't the point.

 

 

     Of course they were spoiled there as well. Mimi treated them with presents too, also thankfully sticking to new outfits.

 

 

     All in all the weekend was, "super awesome". I'll take that!

 

It was also a simple weekend of celebration and happiness, which is what I'm always looking for!

 

Simple City Sam

Let Them Help

      I'm a firm believer in learning on the job as well as learning to take care of yourself. The girls have always helped around the house and the kitchen. My oldest especially loves to cook.

 

 

     It helps with her focus and patience. Both of which are difficult for her (passed down from her parents...sorry kiddo).

 

 

     It helps with sequencing and planning.

 

 

     Obviously it makes a wonderful, hands on tool for size, measure, and identifying numbers.

 

 

     The use of cookbooks is also a big help with basic reading and instruction following.

 

 

     And most importantly it is a huge confidence and self esteem booster. She always feels like she's on cloud nine, you can see it on her face when she's done. She's always most proud when she eats something she made. It truly is beautiful.

 

     I really try to live by the motto: "Don't forget you're raising adults, they will act like children all on their own". This is so true. They need us as parents to impart upon them major life skills. I believe this is a perfect and simple way to do that. Give them a job, responsibility and pride in their work. Maybe even instill a bit of work ethic. What?!

 

Allowing them to participate in life when they're are so desperate to, will make them ready to participate in life at those time they may not want to later down the road.

 

Simple City Sam

(And yeah, that's a vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt she's wearing. Sometimes I passed down good stuff too baby girl, sometimes.)

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

      Ok, I'm going to let you in on a huge secret. Teriyaki sauce is just sweet soy sauce. Mind blowing, right? Not really. My problem with it is usually that it is way too sweet! So I make my own. That way I get just the flavor I like and I'm not pumping tons of sweet preservatives into the kids. Yes, I realize soy sauce is basically salt (and sometimes preservatives) bottled in liquid form, but if you're going to splurge or "cheat" a little, I say do it right!

 

 

     Take one bottle of your preferred of soy sauce (for small batches) and pour it into a sauce pot. Don't waste your time shaking it into the pot...rip that annoying little plastic pour spout right out of the bottle! Turn the stove on to a medium simmer.

 

      Next add 1-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic. Amount is dependent on how much you like garlic and how big your cloves are.

 

     Then sweeten it. I add about 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup of local honey. We like the flavor of honey better than sugar and it's better for you too!

 

     Then I add fresh ginger. Again, fresh ginger is really good for you and it gives such a clean, fresh, brightness to the sauce.

 

 

      Break off a small chunk of the fresh ginger and peel off the skin. So we don't dirty extra utensils, we then use the peeler to carefully shave thin slices of the ginger.

 



 

     Toss the ginger into the pot and let it simmer with everything else. Periodically give everything a stir so that the sugar and honey don't settle to the bottle.

 

 

     You want the soy to reduce down so that it can have the thickness of traditional teriyaki as well as letting the beautiful umami flavors of the soy to become more pronounced.

 

     Don't forget to taste it FREQUENTLY. If you're not tasting as you go there really isn't any point to making it. That goes for all your cooking. Why leave it to chance. Taste it! Taste it! Taste it! If it's too salty add some more sweetener. If the garlic didn't come through as much as you wanted, add some more. If the ginger flavor is perfect but you've got more reducing to do, spoon out the remaining chunks. It's all so easy, as long as you taste it.

 

 

     When it's done it will be just the flavor you're looking for and will have a beautiful thick consistency (the consistency will thicken more in the refrigerator too). We let ours reduce for about an hour to an hour and a half.

 

     Then we funnel it back into the original bottle (rinsed) and put it back in the refrigerator. It will obviously not fill the whole bottle because it will have reduced. I also pull out the chunks of ginger because the girls don't like it if they get a chunk and there's no point in throwing off an entire meal just because of some cooked ginger chunks!

 

 

     This week we used our homemade teriyaki sauce for crock pot chicken. Chicken Teriyaki is one of my girls' favorite meals ever. Making it at home is easier and cheaper than heading to the Chinese food place, and way more fun! The girls help with weekly meal prep so they get to help with this too.

 

     The chicken is moist, easy to cut with a fork and so delicious! Even better, crock pot meals are super easy as we all know, so it's a complete win! We serve it over brown rice and almost always have a quiet dinning table when this meal is served.

 

All moms know, quiet tables mean the food is good AND being consumed. And that's the whole battle right there!

 

Simple City Sam

Potty Training

      We are in full potty training mode over here. There is only one little girl still in training pants and she is making some real headway. Besides, let's be real, a lot of potty training is really about the parent being relentless and focused and proactive. All of which are hard to do with our very busy schedules! So here is what keeps her and I on track.

 

     I ask her every half hour if she "needs to use the bathroom?". Every hour I bring her in, sit her down and have her try. Sometimes we read stories or sing songs, more often than not, now, she just goes and is done quickly. No we are working on her cuing me when she needs to go.

 

    

     Every time she goes #1 she gets 1 sticker. For #2 she gets 2 stickers. If she shoots a combo she get 3 stickers!

 

     Each time she reaches the word "book" she gets to go pick out her new very own book, completely of her own choosing. I usually hit up the Goodwill or the local children's consignment shop to do this...we still don't need to spend a lot.

 

     Achieving the book becomes more difficult each time. She has earned one book so far and is moving right along. Today is the first day with NO ACCIDENTS at all! A few days ago we even reached the point of wearing "big girl undies" in public...still no accidents! Yay! She should be fully trained (ok maybe not overnight...little bladders can only do so much!) by the time we reach the end of the chart.

 

     This system worked like a charm for her older sister. And after about of month of only wearing training pants at night she had trained herself fully! I'm hoping the pattern repeats itself.

 

     I've already got our household waste down to one trash bag a week, which is good because we have to buy special "city bags" which cost an arm and a leg. Of course that is still mostly training pants! I realize cloth would already alleviate this problem but I never started that and jumped on the bandwagon too late, and as I've said before, it's about simplifying YOUR life not trying to fit to some other's mold. So now we are potty training and she is really almost there! Oh yeah, and she's only 28 months old. Her sister was trained much sooner than this, but I've notice she is actually ahead of her peer curve.

 

The end is in sight, and it is filled with clean sheets, no living room puddles and trash bags that last 2 weeks! I can't wait, I must stay the course!

 

Simple City Sam

Maine Maple Sunday

      Every year on the fourth Sunday in March is Maine Maple Sunday. The day where we Mainers celebrate Maple trees and all the deliciousness we can create from them.

 

 

     Farms across the state open their doors a little wider to allow us the chance to see the magic in action. Sugar houses boil sap, form maple candies, spin maple cotton candy, drizzle fresh maple syrup on ice cream and almost always host a wicked awesome pancake breakfast. Oh, and lets not forget all that amazing syrup!

 

 

     This year we visited Coopers Royal Heritage Farm in Windham and had a blast. I think if you asked them they would tell you they definitely needed a bit more space for the droves of people who came out today. But all in all, everyone was in a great mood. 

 

 

     How could we not be? There were peacocks! The girls even got their own peacock feathers.

 

 

     We thoroughly "enjoyed" the mud, of which there was an abundance. 

 

 

     And held Daddy's hand almost the whole way. That in itself was a treat!

 

 

 

     Careful, Clyde the ostrich bites!

 

 

     And gives the hairy eyeball as good as any Italian grandmother...

 

     There wasn't even time when the girls stood still long enough to get a shot of the mini horses, cows and 5 calves, bee hives, or pheasants, really. Those are just memories we get to keep to ourselves! We met great friends while there so the girls' had partners in crime, and enjoyed a beautiful group pancake lunch! Much to the happiness of the littlest patrons!

    

     I stocked up on local honey (so good for seasonal allergies and building antibodies) and local syrup, indulged in maple cotton candy for a surprise treat for when we got home, had a filling pancake breakfast (with sausage, coffee, and milk) for four, got 2 real, giant peacock feathers, and saw countless animals- some quite exotic- all for less than $50. That's not a bad splurge in my eyes, especially because it comes around only once a year and helps drive local business and local economy!

 

Yet anothah wicked good Maple Sundee!

 

Simple City Sam

We Are Mobile...And Ready

 

     Well, it's official. We can take your money anywhere, anytime! Ha ha. My free credit card reader showed up a couple days ago. All I did was download the SquareUp app to my Android (works for iPhone too) and request the free reader. The usage charge is less than any of the other card reader programs out there- like PayPal Here- and there are no additional fees. Honestly it's been one of the easiest things I've done. So far our trial runs have worked very smoothly. I'm a little nervous it's too good to be true, but I'll keep you posted.

 

     But this is great news! Now at craft fairs, Farmer's Markets, and street markets we will be able to satisfy all of our customers payment needs!  Plus the little reader is so cute!

 

The sky is the limit now my friends!

 

Simple City Sam