Sing Me A Lullaby Mama

I love singing and rocking my little rascals to sleep. Unfortunately, I found myself doing it less and less as my eldest rascal got older. But one special moment that Noah-the-Pooh and I shared last year reminded me that my rascals are never too old to hear their mama sing them a sweet lullaby.

Last year Noah-the-Pooh and I dove into out first year of homeschool. Rather than overwhelming ourselves with all sorts of subjects, we simply started with literature, a subject that we were both comfortable with. To our delight, our first lessons in literature would consist of learning new lullabies. We sang "Over The Rainbow", "Away In A Manger", and "Brahms Lullaby".

But the most precious moment came when we were learning "Baby Of Mine". He sat on my lap and I rocked him as I sang the lullaby to him. By the time I was done, Noah-the-Pooh was fast asleep! My 6 year old baby, rocked to sleep with a gentle lullaby.

Here are some lullaby collections that my little rascals enjoy :

Traditional Lullabies - classic lullabies

Rock Music Renditions of Lullabies - we love U2 from this collection.

Country and Folk Music Renditions of Lullabies - check out Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline!

Jazz Lullabies - with Judy Garland, Nat King Cole and June Christy!

Lullabies & Peaceful Worship - has beautiful prayers too!

Daddy's Lullabies- Now daddy can have sweet lullaby memories too!

This clip makes me cry whenever I see it *sniffle*.

Noah-The-Pooh Discovers "Dick and Jane"

Last year Noah-the-Pooh and I started our homeschooling adventure. Of course one of the measures of my success was teaching my little guy to read. We're doing it the old fashion way with phonograms and such, but it was still a slow go. He's quick in science and math, but struggles with reading.

I promised him that I would find the book that I learned to read from "Fun With Dick & Jane". I asked around at teacher stores and at the the library. Everyone gave me blank stares. Has the world forgotten Dick & Jane?

Well my sweet mama remembered. She gave Noah-the-Pooh a whole collection of Dick & Jane stories called The Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends for Christmas and he can't stop reading it!

He is just so thrilled that he can read this big book all by himself that he actually told me "mama, you should write about this book on your blog. Everyone should have this book!". How sweet is that?

Now I know your probably wondering why I didn't search on Amazon. The truth is I don't know why. If I did I would've found a slew of Dick & Jane books at killer prices!

Here are some more Dick & Jane books you may like:

The World of Dick and Jane and Friends

Dick and Jane Fun with Our Family

Dick and Jane: We Play and Pretend

Dick and Jane: We Play Outside

All Aboard Reading Dick and Jane

Oh how wonderful it is that Noah-the-Pooh and I can share the memory of learning to read with Dick & Jane.

Do you have memories of having fun with Dick & Jane?

Food That Sticks To Your Ribs

On my last post I kinda' teased you about my yummy Sweet Bourbon Ham, Green Beans With Hickory Smoked Bacon and my newest edition, Fantasia Cheesecake. The first 2 dishes have been a holiday tradition for several years while the Fantasia Cheesecake was new this year and has been a HUGE hit. My family has already requested this for New Years!

I prefer to save some dishes, like the ham, for special occasions. I think it adds to specialness of the dish, plus it helps to solidify the connection between happy memories and family holidays.

Here's a little background on the dishes. My Sweet Bourbon Ham was inspired by a recipe by Chef Alton Brown (well technically his aunt), to which I tweaked just a bit to give it an extra sweetness and tang. My Green Beans With Hickory Smoked Bacon was inspired by my sisters recipe, which again, I fudged a little to take it to the next level of heavenly.

The Fantasia Cheesecake comes from a cookbook full of recipes from the makers of happy memories, Disneyland And Disney World! This perfect cheesecake is served at the Plaza Inn on Main Street, USA in Disneyland (I can actually hear the fireworks from Disneyland as I write this post!) I love it for it's ease and my family loves it because it's SO DELICIOUS!

So next time you want to make some yummy comfort food that really sticks to the ribs, try these 3 winning recipes!

Cherished Childhood Memories {12/24/09} plus 1 more

Hooray for Christmas! Usually I'm running around like a mad woman trying to get everything baked, kids ready and myself ready to rush over to my mother-in-laws house. My Hunny usually works Christmas eve in the morning so i have to do this all myself. But this year...aaahhh, my Hunny is home, the kids are clean and dressed, my in-laws will be coming over to our place this year and I've cut down on the cookin' and bakin'. I'm making my famous Sweet Bourbon Ham, Fantasia Cheese Cake and Green Beans with Hickory Smoked Bacon. I usually only make these dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas so my family is very excited. I'm taking pictures to share the recipes with you next week!

Now on with this weeks Cherished Childhood Memory...

When I was 10yrs old, my family had fallen into hard times. Being that I was just a child, I didn't really know what was going on. I just saw that our home seem to have some furniture missing and the Christmas tree wasn't put up that year. My mom then told my sisters and I that we could not afford any presents that year. We were heartbroken, but we understood the hardship.

We weren't completely empty handed, we did get some gifts from my extended family and from my dad and step-mom.

The morning after Christmas, my mom was mysteriously missing. When she came home she called us to the nearly empty living room and handed us each a large plastic bag. She had managed to scrape up some money and went shopping in the wee hours of the morning. She had no time to wrap, so she just had the bags stapled on top.

In my mind I remember the bag full of clothes, but it probably had just few garments that my mom lovingly chose for me. My most favorite item was a beautiful, silky, pink bra. It looked much to delicate and fancy to give to a girl that just started wearing bra's, but she gave it to me anyway.

My sisters and I were so grateful for the sacrifice my mom and step-dad made to bring a Christmas smile to our faces. I know I'll cherish that memory forever.

Have a Merry Christmas Vintage Mama's!

Take lots of pictures and journal those memories!

Remember last week when I told you about my cousins and I doing the Sound of Music? Well here's a pic! My cousin on the right is Captain Von Trapp, greeting "Froline Maria" in the middle and "Baroness Schrader" looking lavish at the far right. And whose that cute-as-a-button little girl in the middle? Why that's me playing Gretl!

50 Fun Things To Do On Rainy (or Snowy) Days

Believe it or not, southern California is not always a sunny 76 degree. We've been having quite a few rainy, chilly days this past week, which means no park days and not much visiting with family. But I have to keep my 3 rascally boys busy with something or else they will find something to stay busy with (last time it was breaking crayons). Here's your idea's list to make beautiful rainy day memories! Download a printable pdf here. Don't forget to keep your camera handy!

1. Build a fort or clubhouse out of sheets
2. Play with play dough (you can make the play dough from scratch for an additional activity)
3. Make rice crispy treats
4. Watch a movie. Don't forget hot chocolate with giant marshmallows
5. Play freeze dance
6. Cut out snow flakes and hang them from the ceiling
7. Do a fashion show
8. Have a tea party
9. Play dress up with vintage mama and daddy's Sunday best
10. Spread your fluffiest blankets and pillows on the floor to roll around in and snuggle (and perhaps the kiddies will nap!)
11. Write a book of poetry (yes I actually did this as a child! If you're nice I may even share one of my poems...)
12. Write a book or a play
13. Do origami
14. Play Olympics (trust me, it's a lot more fun then it sounds)
15. Sew clothes for dolls
16. Do a photo shoot (I'll have to scan pictures of the photo shoots my sister and I did as kids)
17. Puzzles
18. Hide n' seek
19. Bible study
20. Make a map and play treasure hunt
21. Look at photo albums
22. Take a bubble bath
23. Try to break a Guinness world record
24. Play beauty salon
25. Play fitness trainer or boot camp
26. Do a parade
27. Make tin can telephones
28. Work on a model car, plane, ship, etc.
29. Roast marshmallows
30. Karaoke
31. Paint a picture
32. Make macaroni jewelry
33. Color a coloring book
34. Play with Lego's
35. Make s'mores
36. Read a favorite book
37. Do a puppet show
38. Do a pots and pans rock band
39. Do a magic show
40. Create a dance routine
41. Play board games
42. Make a rocket or car out of a large cardboard box
43. "Make" clothes out of rolls of fabric (It's really more like wrap yourself in the fabric, but it's so much fun!)
44. Play restaurant. Don't forget to make a menu!
45. Make paper dolls
46. Bake cookies and decorate them
47. Camp out indoors
48. Play charades
49. Give each other facials
50. Recreate favorite movie scene's and post them on youtube

Our Christmas Scrapbook 2009

Like my scrapbook? Make your own by clicking the link below!

What I Learned From A Rat; The Power Of Comfort Food

I was wrapping Christmas presents watching one of my favorite Disney movies Ratatouille
which of course got me to thinking about food, specifically comfort food for children. In today's overweight population (ahem, finger pointing at myself), we tend to want to steer away from using food for comfort. To this I say nonsense! There's no fighting it, delicious food combined with happy memories brings comfort and that's the way the good Lord meant it to be.

Check out this clip from the movie that captures that lovely, joyous feeling that only comfort food can inspire. If you haven't seen the movie, the grim, lanky looking man is a hard to please food critic, Ego, who is about to taste a dish prepared by Remy, a chef and rat.

*turn down the music at the bottom of the page before playing clip

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Wow! Powerful isn't it? Food, just like scents and music, is so powerfully connected to our memory that just one bite can bring joy, delight, euphoria and peace.

Some of my favorite childhood comfort foods are my mama's broccoli casserole, my abuelita's Mexican rice, my step mom's lasagna.

I asked my Hunny and Noah-the-Pooh what their favorite comfort foods that I make for them are and they chose meatloaf, sweet onion chicken, coconut chicken soup and split pea soup. Did you notice that sweets are missing from the list of comfort food. I was just as surprised. Oh yes sweets do bring plenty of comfort (the pooch on my belly is proof of that), is seems that any dish, including vegetable dishes, can be a comfort food.

On that note, I want to introduce a new category dedicated to bringing you recipes and inspiration to create wholesome, delicious comfort food for your family.

What are some of your favorite childhood comfort foods?

How about your family's favorite comfort foods?