Topponcino/Security Pillow…

 
 
 
 I wanted to write this article in order to give some information about this wonderful must have item for a baby nursery. When you are assembling the layette for your newborn we go through so many resources. I remember I personally went through so many and did research and read many parent magazines from doctors office, consulted friends and family, read all the books.

Only few books offer the Montessori approach designing a nursery for an infant. Having the A to I training and all the resources I was one of the lucky person to offer this environment for my daughter. I do sell this item through my etsy shop people who are seeking for Montessori education as well as build the trust for their newborn.

Some of the common questions using a topponcino were

How long is the Topponcino useful? This is a good question ideally you need to use this during first 2-3 months. (as the infant gain muscle control to hold his/her head topponcino offers an ideal support to the infant)) The reason behind is topponcino act like a security blanket for the newborn. It carries the smell and the familiarity so the infant feels secure with direct and non- direct family members.

During the first few weeks we were traveling with our baby and I used it very much she was happy and secure. I also used this when I was aiding my daughter to wean off the bassinet to her sleeping mattress.
Older siblings feel insecure to hold the infant how can I address this issue? This is the best way to help the older siblings to hold the infant. They do feel secure with proper guidance and help to hold the baby with the topponcino.

Do parents need to use the topponcino to hold the baby? I am a big advocate when it comes to this question that it is very important that parents hold the baby without the topponcino. Your newborn/infant needs to have the experience held by you. Parent’s direct touch is very important in the early stage development. Additionally it plays a key role in bonding. There have been numerous researches done on this topic. This memory of bonding and touching registers in the infant’s kinesthetic memory. As the newborn grows and develop he/she revisit this memory.

Quote of the day “nurture your kids”

Enjoy!

Healthy - Quick Dinner

This is the season for asparagus… this is one of my favorite vegetables. I was at home last week with my little one as the guys decides to go for a guy movie and dinner out. I was not in a mood for a big meal and wanted something simple and quick.

Of course whenever I have fresh asparagus I have this urge to make something out of it before it hits the 5th day of refrigerator life which is good in way to eat your vegetables fresh!

My quick recipe was to marinate fresh asparagus with sea salt, garlic and 1 tbs of olive oil and grill it. Half boil an egg, and 1 slice of toast. I arrange the grilled asparagus on a plate broke the egg and make sure the egg yolk is runny.

Sprinkle some black pepper and drizzled some olive oil yummy and simple week night dinner!

Quote of the day “play first and work later”

Enjoy!





SPRING in to SPRING with GOALS…

• Learn how to cook and eat Fiddleheads with my family
• Take a machine quilting class.
• Organize yarn and needles for knitting.
• Start writing a children story book.

This is not a long list because I wanted it to be achievable. Officially spring starts in March 20th and ends in June 20th this gives me 73 days work on the above tasks. If I do the math correctly I get 18.25 days to work on one project. I am planning to update these tasks accordingly on April 20th 2011 and on May 20th 2011.

Please do check on my progress as I sometimes like comments and motivation. I guess we all know this as a fact. Have you set any goals for yourself this Spring I would love to know what you are up to.

Quote of the day “Do something to put a smile on your face”

Enjoy!

BSU’S Future…

 
When I see the glimpse of the future construction boards next to the existing buildings I do wonder what the future look like at BSU. It is going to be definitely huge change.

I have been part of the BSU community for a very short period however I do remember during open house one of the professors introduced her with three generations going to BSU including herself, parents, and her kids. I cannot imagine the change she has seen throuout the years.

I know I am late posting this since I had a very… very… busy day yesterday…

Some of you who had no idea what were going on. I participated in the BSU Blogfest and was asked to write on prompts. Apart from raising my kids and taking care of my family I go to school. I did enjoy this very much… thanks for reading… Hope all of you a great weekend.

Quote of the day “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” John C. Maxwell

Enjoy!

Community

 

Even though I am a part time student I have had always positive experience and interaction with the BSU students and staff. Going back to school after a long time was a big decision for me to fight boredom, and earning a college degree. They were important and essential to me very much. In my Montessori career I have always wanted be an Elementary teacher it was important for me to earn my college degree in order accomplish this task. Having a strong Montessori background I wanted to do Special Ed I do remember my first day at orientation and walking to school was kind of filled with mixed feelings. My first class was public speaking and I was pretty nervous however my companion student made me very comfortable. Even though it was a public speaking class we had a great time all the students helped each other in order to achieve what was necessary. Professor Susan MS. Kelly was one of the greatest and the most helpful professors I have met in my lifetime. She works outside her hours to help and prepare students for completions. I was very grateful to start my first course with her.

Recently I have been a member at the BSU Business Entrepreneurship Center. I have to say the Professors and the Staff have been reaching out to students to help plan their Business Plans. Professor Norman Brust and Diana Jennings have been a great help. They both work hard to expand and help the Business community at BSU. I was amazed watch them work very closely with student to get the appropriate help.

Diana Jennings does a great job by inviting people to the center in order to hold workshops for the students. For the past few weeks I have been to at least 3 workshops and more to come. I personally think it is the individual’s contribution that makes this community a huge success and I am happy to be part of this community.

Quote of the day “flexibility is freedom”

Enjoy!

What does the phrase “effective leadership” mean to you?

 
Lisa is works super hard on cleaning the bathroom by scrubbing the toilet, sink, tub and the floor using tools. You can say, wow that person did awesome job by cleaning the bathroom and she keeps her room and the bathroom clean and tidy.

While Mary spends most of her time working on her projects she also manages to keep her room and the bathroom cleaned and organized. She cleanse while taking a shower her tub, she pours the cleaning liquids before she goes to bed in the toilet. And give a short scrub and a rinse it’s cleaned.

Now you may ask who washes the bathroom most efficient way of course the answer is Mary.

Way back when I was working I learned a hard lesson on time management. I was a teacher in a Montessori class. For those who don’t know what is Montessori it is a hands on education method for young children. My point here is I get so involved in teaching and working with children I will get my group late to go outside. I wanted to change this in other words I wanted to be effective getting my group outside. How did I started change was took control over the situation with help from assistant teacher by asking her to give me reminders. This definitely took a while just getting use to giving reminders then wrapping up the work cycle. The goal was achieved with communication skills and being aware and taking control over the situation.

Where have I apply this… almost on any situation at home, school and work. It does go a long way. For me effective leadership involves a lot but making the right decision at the right time makes a huge impact.

Quote of the day “Challenge your basic mind-set”

Enjoy!

Social Networking and Relationships

Today’s technology development has added a whole new dimension to relationships. It is almost like a two edged sword; the benefits are equally balanced by the downsides. The internet is an amazing tool. It has definitely shrunk the world and brought us closer together but its outcome has pushed us psychologically further and further apart. A tsunami has been formed in relationships due to technology development. Social networking has added a whole new dimension to relationships.

One reason is it serves as escapism, convenient, and anonymous. Internet has evolved through the years from chat rooms, to social networking. The common reason in social networking is to connect people together who are friends or have common interest and bonds. Since meeting people online has become so easy it has become a breeding place for infidelity.

People engage in this type of activities easily justify and rationalize what there are doing is not “cheating” According to the article ‘the new infidelity” published by the Dateline, New Delhi 2010 November issue it sheds light on this, If technologies are making distances irrelevant, they are also creating fractures in relationships. Dr Marlene Maheu, US-based psychologist and co-author of Infidelity on the Internet, writes in an email interview, "Technologies are tools, like hammers. They are neutral. The hands that use hammers can build things or break them. Can dishonest people use technological tools for new and creative ways to sneak around and betray those they claim to love? Yes."

People are constantly looking to make their life’ exciting or simply for the excitement of doing something taboo. According to the New York post a recent survey from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers said 81 % of lawyers have used evidence from social networking more and more often during the past 5 years. Andrew Noyes; Facebook spokesman, denied the site breaks up marriages. ``It's ludicrous to suggest that Facebook leads to divorce . . . ask respondents about other popular communication channels, such as text messaging, chat sites and email, before jumping to conclusions,'' Noyes said. But relationship expert Stacey Kaiser told CNN: ``When it comes to Facebook you are reconnecting with a long-lost love. All those teenage feelings, those college feelings come back again . . . and it drives you to do something you don't normally do.''

People seek new ways to find stimulation and pleasure. Ken Savage 38, Lowell, Massachusetts; Told CNN facebook is “a tool for an affair” and “makes it much easier” His story -his wife was battling through depression so he welcomed facebook. After her wife’s activity got suspicious he started to question. She simply explained I was just chatting with my old boy friend. This leads to end of their 10 year marriage and the birth of the www.facebookcheating.com.

Below are some suggestions from the experts to do to protect your relationships and also to keep an eye on to strengthen your relationship.
Secretive Internet and Secret e-mail accounts If your partner is using internet when you are not around, waiting for you to engage in activities that you won’t be able to free yourself for a while writing a paper, taking care of meals. You might want to check. If your partner is having a secret e-mail account that is something you have to check.

Erasing their path If your partner is constantly erasing the path that is something to question to find out what’s reason behind it.

Password protected PC If you the personnel computer is at home and if its only you and your partner is sharing it. You need to find out why your partner feels to add a password protection.

Excessive Internet Use If you notice your partner is using the internet excessively find what the reason behind it. Is it chatting, reading news?
At the end of the day what matters is what you can do to protect our relationship and use the technology to strengthen your relationships it actually at your finger tips…

Quote of the day “Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have. Spend it wisely” – Anonymous

Enjoy!

Corner Stone’s that Helps Builds the House of Learning.

 
 
This is a topic that you can rattle on forever because you learn something new every day. This is universal, ageless, ever evolving and yet to be discovered concept. I hope I make sense here. When I decided to go back to school was challenging. While having the titles of a mom, wife, crafter, and business woman needed more learning skills than the regular learning at school. Time Management is the key to success unfortunately I have not mastered. This is yet to be discovered but definitely a learning curve at least for me right now I am exploring every day. One thing I have learned from this is don’t over schedule and let go some tasks. Aren’t we lucky to have Martha Stewart to look up to? I mean this seriously…

Learning to cope with STRESS could definitely make this learning experience a well worth pathway towards a healthy life style and respect to the individuals around you. Sometimes I find solace with my inner feelings or in- tuning with my own faith. This is not a new path to me as I was raised in religious background when I was a little kid. However revisiting these thoughts and experiences gives me a calming wave when I feel like everything is falling apart. I am hoping to take this new learning experience to my heart to look at life in a different prospective. This also helps me to keep a united upfront in front of my own children.

Learning to be prepared in advance takes so much planning and a huge thought process that gives abundance of joy in return. Having a paper or an assignment complete few days’ early gives me so much control over the assignment. Not only that it gives me some time to catch up what’s coming next or at least prompt me to take look at the next chapter. This is new learning experience I am enjoying being responsible and showing I can be accountable takes a lot of planning and I am being a role model for my 13 year old. At least I would like to think that way.

At present these are the three corner stone’s in my new learning experience of going back to school. I do embrace this with open arms… this new learning experience I have chosen has definitely sharpen and changed my life. I am thankful to the BSU staff that I have worked so far have been really nice to me.

Quote of the day “Obstacles are those things we see when we take our eyes off our goals”- Henry Ford

Enjoy!

Knitting Hats…

 
I get great joy by watching how my daughter wears her hats. Now that it has become a part of her routine. When she takes night baths I let wear on particular hat because I knitted her a blanket to go with it. Lately she has been wearing it inside the house. This happens has happen only couple of times but I enjoy it very much.

I love how this hat looks from the top. It almost looks like the bulls eye but with so many circles from top. Now that we are into spring we will not need much of our winter gear. I hope to knit some blankets for her next winter and more scarves for the older one.

I need to get organized for next winter with my projects so I can work on them as soon as FALL sets in I know that a long thought. But that’s my favorite season of the year besides SPRING.

Quote of the day “Tell someone how great they look”

Enjoy!

My productive week…

I made a bunch of bibs I initially wanted to make some bibs for my friends little toddler who is just beginning to eat solids… I really love the prints they were simple. The colors were great as well as. I did make some for my daughter when she was a toddler and it was very handy when she was just beginning to eat. I would love to make some more. If you like these cute bibs you can find them in my etsy store. They are great gifts for someone very special and sure to get some ravings at the baby shower because that’s what happened to me. For my friend I ended up making some burp clothes as well. It was a really a cute gift and she likes it very much.

I wish I saved some fabric from bib collection I made for my daughter but I used all that to make a quilt for her which was really cute.
What have you been making lately…? Are you sewing, baking, or enjoying the time I would love to hear from you…

Quote of the day “Thank those who have given to you”

Enjoy!

Meals that close to your heart...

This week after having light snack for breakfast and lunch I decided to make dinner for us… This was not the regular dinner at least for me. I made dinner out of scratch. This actually made me to think the graceful dinner’s our ancestors had. The work that goes into it how it has evolved during years to fit into our busy lives and the modern machinery has helped us to keep some task to be accomplished in shorter times are amazing.

I made bread without a bread a machine and a soup (Broccoli Cheddar Soup)that took almost an hour I am not complaining we enjoyed every bit of our dinner.

Quote of the day “Your power to choose the direction of your life allows you to reinvent yourself, to change your future, and to powerfully influence the rest of creation.”
Stephan R. Convey

“Enjoy”

Dutch Babies & Breakfast…

I recently tumble upon on this recipe on thesleepytimegal.com. I have not tried or made this kind of a recipe. Pictures of food can really motivate you to find the roots. That is what exactly what happened to me. I wanted to give it a try after Google I found out so many versions of Dutch babies. I was amazed with its simplicity and the taste. I have made this couple of times already. I can’t wait to give this a try during summer with fresh fruits…

That’s remind me of that I still have blueberries to make muffins… I will get to it eventually. Dutch babies are very simple and a yummy breakfast if you don’t have much ingredients in hand to make breakfast. Sometimes this could be a nice gateway from mundane breakfast like oatmeal which I do like it very much.

So far I have tried this for breakfast with kids and hubby and for lunch Hugh …yes, we tried this for lunch. Kids enjoyed it very much so did I… thanks for the pictures thesleepytimegal.com
I do enjoy the concept of having breakfast for lunch and dinner it is fun… I actually remember when I was away for school some of my girl friends di this and drank OJ for dinner and said we can stay up all night since we had breakfast for dinner it was fun... we did stayed up to finish our projects… I was a slow writer back then.

What are you making new to introduce the young growing taste buds… recently I read an article about international food at the dinner table… I am planning to write about this on another occasion. But I was happy to introduced German pancakes /Dutch babies to my kids…

Quote of the day “when you are with kids, respect what they say and do”

Enjoy!

Coloring with oil pastels

I have been tugging my kids with me to all the museums and so far we have been enjoying it. I decided to offer some oil pastels for my daughter and sit back with my camera… she loved it. After some lessons with her to museum she does a great job watching and admiring the pieces. I sometimes wonder what goes in her mind. I know children’s minds are like sponges constantly absorbing the environment around them. I am pleased to take her to these museums I know later it is going to help her.

Nicolette loves to color lately she has been using a circular movement in coloring I am simply fascinated to watch her color and making pictures…

I am not a very big advocate in giving coloring books I would rather give her blank piece of paper to make her own creation… this has helped me to see how she has evolved from scribbling aimlessly to scribble with a purpose colors are in one corner or middle of the paper lines are joined with other coloring places and makes a continues piece of art. She is contended after coloring…

I enjoy her coloring lately a lot and I always give her coloring on a mat or on the floor. This allows her to relax and make her work enjoyable rather than working on a table… can’t wait spring to come so she can color outside…

Lately Nicolette have been asking me to color with her sometime I love this little invitation but mostly I enjoy the time sitting beside her to watch her coordination coming together to make simple lines or scribbles. Most fascinating component in this activity is she does not take time to think (all young children) act this way when it comes to coloring it is universal but as they become older their intellect takes over this spontaneous plunge in coloring to create… does this happen to us as adults when we become older. Is it going to hinder us in creating or expressing ourselves…?

Quote of the day” make sponge or color blot paintings with your kids”

Enjoy!

What's for Dinner?

 
 I attended the William & Sonoma cooking class. Actually I drop by it on one Sunday… I love going to the store to see the business and cooking. The in -store chef does a great job. She was friendly, warm and not only that she was sharing cool tricks that have been passed down to her by her mom and aunts I thought that was very neat. I wanted fluted tart pans I got some… while I was there I did tried the meat balls it was yummy wish I had kids with me… store might not be able to keep up with them eating meat balls… but after couple of weeks having minced meat in the refrigerator made us hungry for meatballs one night after describing her lovely meat balls demo at the store to my son… we ended up having meat balls for dinner

This was my version of the meat balls we love some kick in our food I am very generous when it comes to adding crushed pepper flakes… you are the judge of your limits so please feel free to completely omit it if you want to… add some plain tomato sauce to this or your choice of tomato sauce over pasta you are going to love it…

1lb minced meat (beef)
1 small onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 table spoons of minced flat leaf Italian parsley
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Dash of black pepper
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 egg
¼ cup of plain bread crumbs
2 tbs of milk

Method
Mix all the ingredients together until moist. I used a fork instead of hands. The trick of the trade is to keep meat balls moist is to- less handling. I know this sounds crazy because all of us use our hands to make them. However according the experts culinary artist the best results comes when you handle them less. I did try it… you can mix them using forks and works well.

Mix meat and other condiments and then add the liquids (milk and egg) last. Also if you have a ice cream or a melon scooper use them to scoop meat balls to already floured tray and gently use your fingers to form them to a ball shape if they are sticky immerse your finger tips in a bowl of cold water after few rolling.
I have been making meat balls lately they are have been delicious my kid’s love them can’t get enough of it…

What are you up to lately for your dinner plans...?

Quote of the day “say grace before each meal”

Enjoy!

Changing Waters

 
 
 
 
This was one of the interesting, and complicated, exhibitions on display. The artist Nathalie Miebach has done a great job in incorporating so many aspects into her pieces such as marine life, weather pattern. Additionally the artist uses complicated basket weaving methods such as twined, coiled, woven and plaited. Show the intricate and complicated data in her work. It was fascinating to watch how the artist uses art as medium or language to think some ideas or concepts through.

At one point when I was looking through this piece all I wanted to do was is to know the numbers on these pieces and its relations. It almost look like the storm starts from the bottom and spiral its’ way up and can observe the collateral damage it does to the marine life.

In her own words Nathalie Miebach says that the basket weaving is a very slow process and it allows her t think trough some of the concepts and finds answers to the questions that come to her head. I personally agree with this since I am knitter I can think through some of the problems and work my way through complicated patterns. Not only that according to experts in neurological studies there have been tests conducted that repeating the same activity allows you to produce more endorphins. According to Nathalie it looks like she has found the perfect harmony in this medium to show the intricate detailing in the marine life in ME.

I was fascinated with all the details in her work, how she choose to displaying her work was amazing. According to the artist with a proper key you can read the data in her work like as a chart or graph. According to the artist the shape and the composition of the work is determined by the trends and the changers in the interpreted environmental information. This is more like an abstract visual interpretation or representation of the landscape. I thought it was interesting how the artist was trying to understand her astronomy class through the 3d work. It shows that she has a great interest in all of this work and how she was able to find UNITY in these two subjects together and yet to show art through her work. With a political science degree she later finds and incorporate ART I her work to convey her message was phenomenal work of art.
I choose the above creation because it reminds me of the tsunami which occurred in Sri Lanka.

At the bottom of the piece it shows a tail end of the fish and on the top it shows the head of the fish. It makes me think the velocity of the storm and its impact on the marine life. I thought this was very interesting and how the artist has maneuver the materials and her weaving abilities to illustrate this information in to 3d formation was very intricate. Not only that the lighting plays around this piece adds some depth to this work as well. Artist has done a wonderful and job in creating this in to a piece finding and giving the piece completeness was great and I personally think she has accomplish the goal of giving completeness to her work of art. As of the materials she has incorporated into these works are amazing from paper, plastic, wooden and the list goes on.

Quote of the day " walk softly,live gently"

Enjoy!

Play Dough and Organizing...

 
 
I had the opportunity to help Nicolette to organized her play dough activity. Yes, It was a lot of fun we are working on opening and closing without help. She still needs a little help but loves to play with play dough.
I have collected a bunch from B'day parties so I had tiny tubs with different colors and I received a small heart shape cookie cutter from a wedding party. we do play with play dough for hours so I decided to make a little bag out of cloth so when she is done with playing she can put those away all by herself nurturing independence. Actually she does a great job on this activity with some help.
She can roll them out and cut the shapes out I love to watch her play on this. So I decided to add a mat for this activity which involves rolling using her hands and making sure to to roll properly. the best part is she is engage with this for a long period of time. she takes the activity out lays it out unroll the mat and take objects out of the bag which involves following a sequence and that's exactly what I wanted to learn. I love our play dough activity.

Quote of the day "share your professional know-how"

Enjoy!

Portland Museum of Art...

 
 
 
 
This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Maine. My first time to Mane. A beautiful city I guess in summer still the winter chills are wicked. However this weekend was not that cold. I wish my older son was with us he was in ski trip to NH while we were visiting Maine.

We had a great dinner at Dimillo's Floating Restaurant. According to locals one of the best and to my friend (thanks Kathy for recommending it). I had baked stuffed lobster and a steam lobster didn't finish it it was the twin deal but the food was GREAT and the service too! We enjoyed it very much so did the little one.

Next day morning we decided to got to the Portland Museum of Arts for many reasons... I am working really hard on my 3D Art class and wanted to expose my self more to art. It was a great opportunity for my little one to participate. This was all new to little Nicolette but she did a great job. I think she did enjoy the sculpture room a lot and it was truly amazing...

They had the Greek Gods sculpted in marble and it was breath taking. I cannot imagine the work that goes to it. Recently I have been reading more about art and getting my self familiarized with so many concepts.

If you ever to visit Portland Maine I would highly recommend you to visit the Museum of Art. if you have the time... The Children's Museum is right next to it. I couldn't take Nicolette to it I was exhausted by the time finish viewing all three floors. Loved the paintings and the photographs.

There was so much history in to the building. This museum was originally a house that they have tun to a museum I thought was very interesting itself. I have posted some pictures for you to view and in some areas you cannot use the camera to take pictures and flash cannot be use when taking pictures.

I would be definitely re-visiting Portland, Maine soon may be this summer for sure...

Keep visiting those who are out in the west coast. More museum pictures to come soon since the vacations are around the corner. Why not capture Boston... a great city to live. I can't wait for this summer, to take kids to Boston my son is all gang up to hit the Museums with projects... I am planning to take summer classes... I know isn't it too much... yes... but the key to this is balance... which is always a leaning experience...

Quote of the day "look for containment from within"

Enjoy!