mama = awesome vol 3.

so a few weeks back,

emma and i were having a conversation about how

much she disliked that i go to work.

suddenly, it was like a light bulb lit up in her

head and she came up with the perfect plan!

e: "mommy!"

me: "what is it?"

e: "i have a great idea! why don't we ask

auntie anna to go to work for you, so you can stay

at home with me?"

me: "but auntie anna doesn't look like me, and

she doesn't know how to do mommy's job"

e: "well you can show her how and show her how to 

talk like you so people think that it's you!"

me: "well what about auntie anna's job? who is

going to do her job?"

-silence-

e: "well we're just gonna have to find 

someone that looks like her to do her job!!"

she's so awesome, the fact that she's trying to figure

out a way to keep me at home is too sweet!

family fun!

seriously, i don't know how all you mamas 

in bloggyland manage your time, but everytime 

i try to sit down and blog..i get interrupted!

for the de paz fam, any time is a GOOD time 

to have family fun..as we typically fly by the seat of our pants.

a few weeks ago we visited science world and 

had a fantastic yet educational time!

here are some snapshots of us

learning about the world around us and having fun doing it :)

look at all the stuff that just gets washed up our shores..sad!

don't look at me!

creating energy!

i secretly think olivia is a toddler mastermind 

with an ingenious plan to take over the world..

i mean she's got the hair for it!

dinosaurs were at science world! by this point my camera was practically

dead, but those of you who follow me on fb and twitter, you got to

see them! lucky you!!

and a lego exhibit too!

gotta love those brain teasers! use 7 triangles to form 

a square..i gave up after 5 mins..my brain hurt!

it's all about momentum baby!

going green! which method of transportation is the greenest?

a visit to science world just isn't complete without a stop

to white spot :)

i'm curious about the seattle science center..has anyone been?

we purchased an annual pass and that grants us free admission

to any other neighboring science centers! heck yeah i'm gonna

get my money's worth!

fast forwards a few weeks to last weekend and here are 

some shots of us enjoying some time at the park:

er, this one was at go bananas, but it was too cute not to share!

my word she's getting tall!

and purrrty ;)

mama and livi having a giggly moment!

yeah i know, we're wacky lol!

hooray for family fun!

classroom quarrels

as kindergarten has completed its second term

and emma is pretty comfortable with the routine

and the people she calls her friends, 

there's always got to be that ONE kid

who goes out of their way to make someone miserable.

emma's circle of friends range in personality 

and interests which i think is great because it exposes her to 

new ideas and interests as well. BUT when someone's personality

is dominating while the other submissive and sensitive it

can prove to be quite the recipe for disaster.

emma has come home from school multiple times

upset because someone was trying to make

her do something she didn't want to do or 

that someone thought her idea was stupid or

that someone's not going to be her friend

if she didn't do what she was told.

i`m getting mad just writing about this!

emma is a fun-loving, enthusiastic,

energetic, theatrical, imaginative little girl,

who can also be bossy and snooty (i can't even believe it starts

this early) as well but mostly: sensitive.

i could probably fill a bathtub with the amount

of tears she sheds on an almost daily basis about things

that are so silly. 

but its so hard as a parent to explain what's worth

crying over and what's not because lets face it:

we all deal with our feelings in different ways.

the hubs and i have done our very best to encourage

her to stand up for herself by speaking out and communicating

with said person that she doesn`t like how she`s being

spoken to and to walk away from it if things are getting too

overwhelming.

not that we`re encouraging her to be a tattle, but we`ve also

told her that if someone is being consistently mean to her

she needs to tell a teacher or supervisor about it as these

situations happen during recess.

i`m hearing so much about this child that i`m convinced

i should get in contact with their parents about it because

i`ve approached the teacher about it with very little

acknowledgement.

parents: help!

if you've been through a similar situation, how did you handle it?

my lenten promise

last year i blogged about my lenten promise and the road that

got me to where i am today, spiritually.

this year, it's even cooler because now emma is learning about the lenten

season at school and her energy about it is just awe-inspiring.

emma's lenten promise is to give up candy for 40 days. since we don't really 

eat that much candy around here, i also suggested we cut down

our tv time to focus on reading and arts and crafts.

(just on the regular, recently, i've been keeping the tv off

and realized that the kids barely notice it's off..but do nothing else when it's on)

emma has also been working really hard on memorizing her 

lenten prayer and well, remembering to say it everyday so she

can put a penny in her mite box. acts of kindness deserves

a donation to the mite box and we're pretty sure it'll fill up quick!

my lenten promise is to give up junk food (sweets, pop, chips) which 

unfortunately can be so difficult!

every time i want to cheat, i think of emma and her

passion to carry out her promise for the next 40 days.

i only pray i can be as strong as her!

recipes i've tried: chocolate quinoa cake

this recipe was given to me by a co-worker of mine

who loves to bake and cook. i was skeptical of the recipe

at first but at the end of the day, a really great product came of it

here's the recipe:

2/3c quinoa

1 1/3c water

1/2 c milk

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 c butter melted, cooled

1 1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

add quinoa and water to a pot with a tight fitting lid.

bring water to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. 

shut off heat and leave to cool, fluff with fork.

preheat oven to 350. f

grease and line with parchment an 8" round pan (i didn't line with parchment,

just greased with baking pam and it turned out perfect)

in a blender, blend eggs, vanilla and milk.

then add cooled quinoa and blend until smooth.

add the butter blend.

in a bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.

pour wet ingredients into the dry, mixing well.

pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.

(no more no less, otherwise you'll end up with a gooey mess)

test with toothpick to ensure baked all the way through.

voila!

tastes just like a regular chocolate cake except more moist,

serve with any kind of icing!

enjoy :)

WW: Share a Whitney Houston Song

gosh, youtube couldn't have picked a better

freeze frame..sheesh!

anyway..enjoy!

thanks to mama kat for this

awesome writing prompt..or video prompt heh,

game me an excuse to sing!

link up :)

and i slipped in the mud.

the sun has come out to play finally!

our lives are incredibly busy (surprise!) and

it seems as though our family spends less and less

"family" time together so even though

i had to work this morning, i wasn't

going to let that stop us from enjoying the sunny afternoon.

we decided we'd make a trip to fort langley

to take a stroll along the river.

its been a while since emma got to ride her

bike, so needless to say, she was a little rusty.

poor girl was so nervous..though put her on a roller

coaster and her arms are up in the air and she's screamin 'whoo hoo!'

anyway a visit to fort langley just can't be complete

without a visit to wendels so i stopped

in, endured the usual loooong line up

to order some hot chocolate for the hubs and emma

a cinnamon vanilla black tea misto for moi

and some delicious organic chocolate chip cookies!

sorry, you'll have to turn your head to the side to see

how delicious my food/drink is..for some reason my computer 

won't let me rotate this image!

the view of the river from the trail

wherever olivia goes, so must baby..

stealing a picture with my little trouble maker!

olivia is like thing 1 and thing 2 from the cat in the hat.

she pretty much does the opposite of whatever it is you're

asking of her.

so instead of following her big sister on her bike and daddy

pushing the stroller, she has to run in the opposite direction,

heading for the river. thankfully, we found a...

playground!

so that kept her excited for a while

until she decided it was no longer fun.

so what did she do?

head for the river trail again..and since i was the closest to her

i had to chase after her.

and i slipped in the mud.

there you have it folks. probably the only time

you'll get this clear of a shot of my butt.

i was wet.

and.

cold.

and the sun was starting to set.

BUT.

the kids had a great time and even i had 

a good laugh about it.

here's to spending quality time as a family!