Deirdre, Author at JDaniel4s Mom

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Read.Explore.Learn- The Kiss That Missed

February 11, 2011 By Deirdre

Welcome to Read. Explore. Learn! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. the badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment and Stumble your post.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

A very busy king/father tosses a quick kiss good night to his son as he heads to the bath to clean off the grime of the day. The kiss he throws misses his son and heads out across the kingdom. A brave knight is sent to retrieve the kiss and bring it back to the palace. The kiss flies around the kingdom settling bear, wolves, and dragons down for the night as it travels. When it is finally caught and brought home, the king reads all who were touched by the kiss a good night story.

What did we do with the book?
Created Cards to Send to Exchange Partners

We are participating in the Fantastic Five’s Valentine’s Day Card Exchange. I had JDaniel decorate puzzle cards I found at Hobby Lobby. Yes, I took the easy way out having him put these together. I thought the children receiving them would like them better than one covered with our artwork.

Letter Recognition

I attached a magnet to the end of an old fishing pole my sister Michelle gave to JDaniel. He had fun fishing for the letters of the alphabet on hearts with paperclips attached to them.

I Crumbled While Making Cookies

February 10, 2011 By Deirdre

Last Monday I invited my friend Bridget and her daughter over for a play date and to decorate Valentine’s Day cookies. Before they arrived I decided to make the cookies and have them ready to decorate. JDaniel was watching The Cat in the Hat on television this meant I could make them without “help.”

As soon as I had the cookie ingredients mixed in the bowl, a patter of feet headed toward the kitchen. Before I could rush the dough out of the bowl and start rolling it out, I felt a plastic stepstool being knocked against my leg. “Move over Mom! I want to help you,” JDaniel announced. Apparently the Cat in the Hat had lost his attention.

I moved over and showed him what I was doing.

“I am trying to roll this dough out and cut it into hearts,” I explained.

“I need to taste!” he replied. I pinched off some of the dough and gave him a little bit.

“I will need more, please,” he told me. I gave him a little more and then started to roll the dough again.

Giving him little bits seemed like a good idea. It wasn’t a good idea. He kept trying to reach in the bowl and get more as I rolled out the dough and cut out the cookies.

I got more and more frustrated. He got more and more indignant about wanting the dough.

Thankfully my friend Bridget arrived on the scene with her daughter before the battle had really escalated.

When she saw the battle over the dough, she calmly picked up a spoon I had laying on the counter and filled it with dough.

“If you want this, you will need to go sit in your chair at the table,” she told JDaniel.

He walked right over to the table and climbed up in his chair. Once he had taken his seat, she handed JDaniel the spoon. He sat silently he licked the dough off the spoon while I finished getting the next batch of cookies in the oven.

“This happens at my house all the time,” Bridget said. “Really the best thing to do is give him his own ball of dough and let him play with it at the table.”

Why didn’t I think of that?

Why did I turn it into a battle?

Thankfully Bridget bakes often and she has gained experience on how to entertain her daughter while she cooks.

I don’t bake often, but I still should have known better.

I wish I hadn’t made a rookie baking mistake in front of her, but know what I will do next time I bake.

We did have fun decorating the cookies though.

This post is being linked up to Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop.

A Ribbon Dog Made By JDaniel

February 9, 2011 By Deirdre

Sometimes you start on a project and it becomes something totally different than you had planned. I pulled out some ribbon for JDaniel and I to thread through a blueberry container. I thought it would be great for holding cookies we were going to decorate and take to my mom for Valentine’s Day.

Making a Ribbon Dog

After I clipped off some of the ribbons off its spool so that we could weave it, a long strand of ribbon was left hanging off the spool. JDaniel picked up the spool of ribbon and announced that it was a dog. The long ribbon I had left hanging off the spool was his leash I was told.

Pretend Play

JDaniel started to help me weave the ribbon, but soon lost interest and started playing with his new dog Parker. He named his ribbon dog Parker after his friend Jake’s dog.
Parker needed to be walked around the house to get exercise. Then he was very hungry after his walk and needed to eat. JDaniel took the blueberry container off the table and announced it was Parker’s bowl. Ribbon dogs must be on a special diet. JDaniel had to prepare Parker’s meal using a variety of measuring spoons. He couldn’t just dump food into Parker’s bowl.

JDaniel cooking for Parker the ribbon dog

The ribbon dog eating

Pretend Play Continued

When JDaniel went down for his nap, I tucked Parker away with the wrapping paper in an upstairs closet. I didn’t realize JDaniel would want to continue to play with him.

After eating his “I took a good nap snack”, I was asked where his dog was. At first, I didn’t understand and tried giving him one of his stuffed dogs. I was informed the ribbon roll dog Parker was what he wanted. He was dismayed to find Parker had been moved to a closet.

Later in the day, JDaniel’s friend Nathan came over to play. I asked JDaniel to show him his dog, Parker. Nathan wanted to know where the dog was all he saw was some ribbon on cardboard. JDaniel took his comment in stride and informed him Parker was a pretend dog. Nathan shrugged and started pulling Parker around for a walk just as JDaniel had.

All he needed was a little help in seeing this ribbon roll like a dog.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday. It is R week.

Valentine’s Day Empanadas

February 8, 2011 By Deirdre

These empanadas are so easy to make. They have only four ingredients and are wonderful on cold winter days.

Ingredients:

1 can of biscuits (A ten count can)
1/2 a jar of tomato sauce ( We love Ragu Garden Style!)
1/2 pound of ground turkey
1/2 a package of taco seasoning

Directions:

Separate the can of biscuits into individual biscuits.
Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut a heart out of each of the biscuits.
In a saucepan brown ground turkey.
Add tomato sauce and taco seasoning to the drained meat mixture.
Place a spoonful of the mixture on half of the heart shaped biscuits.
Place one of the empty biscuits on top of each of the filled ones.
Press down the edges using a fork to seal the hearts.
Cook according the directions on the biscuit package.

What did I do with the scraps?

I wrapped the scraps from each biscuit into a twist and cooked them with the empanadas. They aren’t pretty, but they tasted great!

What else could I fill these with?

This post is linked to Tots and Me-Valentine’s Activity Link Up

Muffin Tin Monday- Valentine’s Day Party Treats

February 7, 2011 By Deirdre

Before I share my Muffin Tin Monday Meal, I want to let you know I have a guest review up at The Book Chook today. I reviewed the book the Alaska’s Three Pigs. If you get a chance, please stop by and check it out.

To celebrate the second day of the Virtual Valentine’s Day Party I am sharing a muffin tin of yummy lunch treats. We both enjoyed the foods in this tin.

This week JDaniel had a heart-shaped empanada ( I will share the recipe for them tomorrow.), homemade tomato soup, grape tomatoes, a heart-shaped crouton to dip in the soup, red grapes, and strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows.

Here is the recipe for the tomato soup:

Tomato Soup

3 large cans of stewed tomatoes

3 large garlic cloves

2 cups of chopped onion

1/4 cup of minced basil

1 can of chicken broth

1/2 cup of half and half cream

Salt and pepper to taste

2 slices of whole-grain bread

Directions:

In a large saucepan, sauté onion, garlic, and olive oil. Add tomatoes and basil; cook for 5 minutes.
Add broth; bring to a boil.
Puree in a blender until large chunks are removed and return the mixture to the saucepan.
Warm half and a half in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir half and half, salt and pepper into the soup.
Enjoy with croutons cut out of bread with a cookie cutter and sautéed in a pan with olive oil.

This post is linked to the Muffin Tin Mom’s Muffin Tin Monday meme.

What is your favorite Valentine’s Day treat?

Do you have a post on Valentine’s Day treat you would like to link up to the Virtual Valentine’s Day Party?

Welcome Virtual Valentine’s Day Party Guests!

February 6, 2011 By Deirdre

I have been so excited about this Virtual Valentine’s Day Party. Can’t believe it is finally starting today. The last few weeks I have been creating crafts with JDaniel and testing out new recipes to share with you. It has been hard to not share them with you as we did them. Many of you have been anxious to share your ideas with other party guests too. I heard from one of you that you were so excited about one of your projects you couldn’t wait until the party to share it.

The Purpose

This Valentine’s Day gathering is a time to share your party ideas, enter giveaways planned just for the party, and to mingle with other guests. I hope you take the time to share your posts and visit other party guests.

Party Idea Link Up

There is a link below for you to post your Valentine’s Day Party related posts. Each family-friendly or child-related post linked up will need to have a Virtual Valentine’s Day Party badge or a link at the bottom of it pointing back to the Virtual Valentine’s Day Party Link Up. One of the people that links up a post that contains a badge or links back will be randomly selected to receive a $10 Visa Gift Card. You may link up to four posts during the party.

Here is the badge:

What party is any fun without guests mingling and getting to know each other?

I am also going to randomly pick a comment stating the two link up posts a commenter has visited to receive a prize too. You will be able to leave as many comments as you like making the above statement. I will check to make sure that you have really visited the two posts you have said you have. The prize is a $15 Visa Gift Card.

Reminder:

In order to be eligible for the $15 Visa Gift Card, you have to visit two of the links above, leave comments on the posts you select, and leave me a comment telling me which two you visited. You can enter as many times as you like. You will need to visit two posts for each entry.

Examples:

Entry One: I visited links 1 and 35. Each post has a comment from me.

Entry Two: I am still visiting. This time I visited links 25 and 43. Each post has a comment from me.

Entry Nine: I am having such a great time visiting. This time I visited links 50 and 3. Each post has a comment from me.

Just leaving a comment is wonderful, but doesn’t count as an entry.

Red Ted Art: Time on your hands?! Review

February 5, 2011 By Deirdre

I really enjoy reading the Red Ted Art Blog every week and am super grateful that she often links to Read.Explore.Learn on this blog. The craft ideas she comes up with and the book tie-ins she frequently creates to crafts keep me hunting for great books and ways to share the ideas with JDaniel.

I was recently asked to review her new e-book Time on your hands?! 14 Fab ideas to keep you and your little ones busy throughout the whole year….. This book shows fun and creative ways to reuse cardboard tubes. She has selected crafts that would be perfect for key holidays and summer fun.

Each craft page has an overview of the holiday or season that craft was designed to celebrate along with fun tidbits about it. There is also material list, step by step directions on constructing the craft along with color photos that demonstrate how to construct it.

This book is filled with cute crafts. I love cute crafts that have an ahh factor. I don’t often come up with them on my own. This well-done book will leave you excited about crafting and comfortable about creating crafts. The step by step directions helped me to feel more confident that I could successfully complete them and the picture helped me make sure I was on the right track.

The fact that many of the materials used in the crafts are things that are recycled is another plus for me. I love being able to craft with things we already have at home. Being able to reuse in crafts is a great way for me to show JDaniel how to save things and use them again and again.

Here is a link to the e-book section of Red Ted’s Art Blog if you are interested in purchasing the book.

Queries and Questions for Hibernating Mama Quadrapeds

February 2, 2011 By Deirdre

I know there are many of you have sleep issues with your children. I have read your blog posts about them.

Lately I have been wondering if hibernating animal mothers have the same issues with their little ones that we do.

If I could talk with a groundhog, here are some of the questions I would ask:

Do you children call out “Is it spring yet?”

JDaniel asks if it is morning yet through the monitor at least once a week.

Do your little ones sleepwalk through your tunnel? If so, do you find them in odd places underground when spring comes?

I have a friend whose daughter walks up and downstairs at night.

Do they need to get up in the middle of the hibernation cycle to use the bathroom or to get water?

One of my sister’s children does this a lot.

Do they have trouble settling in at the beginning of hibernation?

There are many moms in my playgroup that have children hopping in and out of bed each night.

Do they complain that they aren’t tired yet or that other moms let their children stay out later than you do?

JDaniel has just started commenting he isn’t ready for bed yet. I have let him know while that may be true the bed is ready for him.

Do they need to gather fifty million loveys around them to go to sleep?

JDaniel only gets five loveys to sleep with. He would love every stuffed animal he owns in bed with him at night.

How does your husband get up to check his shadow without waking up your little ones?

If JDaniel is close to waking up and my husband turns on the microwave to make coffee in the morning, it totally wakes him up.

Finally I would want to know this:

Do you hope and pray your husband will see his shadow so you can sleep for six more weeks?

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.

Fortune Cookie Predictions and Groundhog Dreams

February 1, 2011 By Deirdre

If you were a groundhog would you want to have to wake up from a long winter’s nap to check out your shadow?

While Phil has loved to wake up and take part in the spectacle in Punxsutaney, PA for many years. Last summer he started making plans to do something different this year. It took him a little bit of soul searching before ultimately made his decision. He really struggled with whether it would be letting down the people of Punxsutaney if he didn’t show up. He was also concerned about the effect his plan might have on the local economy. Would people return to Punxsutaney if they weren’t sure he would make an appearance?

He continued to wrestle with his decision most of the fall. The other animals in his neighborhood noticed that he was a little distant with them. Phil would walk past them and barely notice they were there. Even when his friends stopped by his burrow to visit he appeared to be distracted.

Phil really wanted to share his plans with his friends. Maybe they could help him work on the clinks in his plan, but if he told anyone what he was thinking of doing would they understand. Some of the traditionalist would say it was important to keep things the same, but they never liked change. A few of his more radical animal pals would cheer him on, but might try to put their two cents in on how the plans should be carried out.

Despite his misgiving in sharing his idea, Phil was dying to tell someone. One afternoon he scurried to his friend porcupine’s house to ask him what he thought about his decision after all it was while flipping through one of porcupine’s old calendars that the he had first noticed that there was a second holiday celebrated during the week on Groundhog’s Day. When he arrived he noticed a small sign hanging from porcupine’s door knob. The sign read Gone to Visit Mom!

Phil took this as sign that he should keep his plans to himself and returned home.

Just before tucking himself in for the winter Phil made the phone call he had been planning to make all fall. He placed his order and let the person on the other end know that he would be placing the money he owed in his mailbox.

When February 2nd arrived, a crowd gathered just outside Phil’s home. Some in the front row closest to the door noticed a note tacked on to the door and a small bag from the local Chinese restaurant.

Dear Groundhog’s Day Followers,

I know that each year you look forward to my telling you whether winter will be ending soon or continuing for a few more weeks. I have decided to enjoy a complete winter’s nap without a break this year.

While I have enjoyed seeing you in the winter year after year, this past summer and fall were extreme exhausting for me. This spring will be super busy too. More rest will be needed so I can gain the strength and stamina I will need to work on all the tasks I will need to complete.

I hope you will find the predictions you seek in the fortune cookies contained in the bag by my door. Happy Groundhog’s Day !

See you next year!
Phil

Muffin Tin Monday- Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox

January 31, 2011 By Deirdre

I found this wonderful book about a groundhog that encounters a fox when he wakes up to see his shadow called Brownie Groundhog and the February Fox. The fox is excited to find lunch while out on a walk. The groundhog invites him to spend time wandering the woods and have a picnic with him. Of course, the groundhog never plans on being lunch his plan to outfox the fox.

Since Groundhog Day is this week, I thought JDaniel would have a groundhog and fox picnic. I wasn’t sure that a fox and groundhog would eat for lunch so; JDaniel and I explored the reference section at the library. We pulled out the F and G encyclopedias and searched for what they would eat. He is way too little to totally understand what an encyclopedia is, but I thought it would be fun to show him a new section of the library. He enjoyed looking in the big books for a few minutes then he wanted to go look for machine movies.

What did we learn? Foxes are omnivores. They will eat meat and plants. They really prefer meat. Groundhogs like to eat plants and tree parts. They like nuts, berries, and grains the best.

JDaniel’s tin contained split pea soup, blueberries, cornbread, pears cut like trees, Cheerios, and a blueberry muffin. Most of the contents were things a groundhog would eat. The ham in the soup was for the fox.