Thinking about Christmas

It's hard to believe Christmas is only 46 days away. Last year we started a new tradition; rather than buying gifts for each other, we made them. Our girls had the enjoyable experience of making gifts for each other, and Mommy and Daddy. And my husband and I had fun planning and making gifts for the girls.

Yesterday I ran across a blog with wonderful directions on how to make doll pajamas out of old baby clothes. My older daughter bought an 18 inch doll from Vision Forum earlier this year, so I've been looking for ideas of how to make pajamas for dolls. I made nightgowns for each of the girls' dolls last Christmas, but my stitching didn't hold up very well. This year, thanks to this tutorial, I will be making nightgowns for the girls' dolls again, but this time I anticipate them turning out much better! Unfortunately I don't have a working sewing machine, so I'm doing all my stitching by hand. Yesterday I made a quick nightgown using these basic instructions, and it turned out very well! I've found my younger daughter's old 4T t-shirts are the perfect size to make nightgowns for an 18-inch doll. The length of the shirt is the perfect length, and the short sleeves are perfect for the doll's long sleeves, no hemming required! Yesterday's project was just a quick trial to see if I could do it, but when I have a final product ready for Christmas, I will post pictures. Now if only I could think of what to make for my wonderful husband...

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Picky Eater

My youngest daughter is a very picky eater. For a while she would eat nothing but bean burritos, bananas, and raspberry yogurt. At least those three are healthy choices. Her doctor said not to worry about it, eventually she'll get tired of the burritos and will try something else. I don't think that will happen. Ever. :-) The other day I was searching the internet, trying to find recipes for picky eaters. One blog I ran across suggested Mac & Cheese, as the author of that blog had never known a kid who didn't like Mac & Cheese. She has never met my 5-year old. She will not eat Mac & Cheese. Or PB&J. All the normal kid foods, she won't touch. Unless it's loaded with sugar. But I try to avoid too much sugar with the girls.

Tonight I tried something new, thinking I had finally found something healthy she would love. It was healthy, disguised as junk food. I made "healthy donuts." But she wasn't fooled. She knew right away these were not "real" donuts. On the other hand, my 8-year old, who is not very picky, loved them! First I cored and sliced two apples into rings. I sliced the rings thick, as I discovered when I made them too thin they broke. So each apple made 3-4 "donut" rings. Then I spread peanut butter on each of the rings, and generously sprinkled home made granola over the peanut butter "frosting" for the sprinkles. I thought they were wonderful! My 8-year old really enjoyed them. My 5-year old thought they tasted too much like apples. :-) So the search for healthy food she will eat continues.

There is one benefit to her pickiness. She's even picky when it comes to candy. Both girls got quite a bit of candy this past week; they each have a sandwich sized ziplock bag filled. That might not be a lot of candy to most people, but since I'm trying to keep it out of the house as much as possible, that's a lot for us. Anyway, thankfully her pickiness also falls into the candy category. So when she takes a bite of something and decides she doesn't like it, Mommy gets to eat it! Which only seems fair, seeing as how I didn't get any candy last week.

I admire Moms who can get their kids to eat anything. Last week when we were eating supper at the church before AWANA, one of the girls at our table didn't really like what was served, but she followed her Mom's instructions and ate it, anyway. She didn't eat all of it, but each time her Mom told her to take a bite, she did. And it wasn't a little lick either, which is what my daughter would do. I think I'm going to try to teach her to just eat what she is served, whether or not she likes it. I'm getting tired of fixing burritos. :-) If anyone who reads this blog has a suggestion, either on healthy foods to try, or creative ways to get her to eat what we serve, I'd love to hear them!

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