Christmas cookies

Well, it seems that this Christmas vacations have been quite productive in terms of arts and crafts!

Another receipt for making cookies; these ones you can hang as well in your Christmas tree.

What do you need:

• 200 gr flour
• 100 gr butter
• 80 gr sugar
• 1 egg
• some vanilla sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon gist
• 1/4 tablespoon salt
• Coloured sugar (the one it is sold to make cupcakes)

And now?

• Mix all the ingredients together and make a dough.
• Wait for half an hour.
• Make the shapes by rolling a bit of the dough and then bending the end.
• Draw the red lines with the coloured sugar.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven; this really depends on your oven for temperature and time, I needed 200ºC and 15 minutes.

And there you have them! Cute cookies ready for your tree!

Do-it-yourself body scrub

I came across the blog Hey Gorgeous via Pinterest, and I found a great idea for gifts: a body scrub. The most charming thing is the simplicity of it, and actually, the good results.

In the original receipt, they suggest two kinds of sugar, which I substituted by coloured sugar meant to bake cakes. I could not find almond oil here in Kigali, so I used olive oil. And since I could not find any vanilla extract either, I rasped some lemon. You can see the result below!

I downloaded the labels "Scrub Sweet Scrub" from Wedding Chicks, here is the link. The result is quite professional and super-cute!

How to make a Santa Claus with a toilet paper roll

Well, I am bit on the late side to write this post, but hey, you can apply the same technique for almost any figure you want to make.

This is an example on how to make a Santa Claus with a toilet paper roll.

• You have to make two cons with red paper: a big one for the body and a small one for the hat.
• Cut white paper to make the face.
• Glue the cotton as a beard and at the tip of the hat.
• Glue the eyes, or just draw them.

See the result below!

You may find these posts also interesting:

• Christmas decoration: Stars and straws
• Christmas tree decoration
• Rudolf: the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Merry Christmas!

How to make a Christmas manger

In Spain, I have always prepared a Christmas manger at home. I always liked to unpackage the figures, make a river out of aluminium paper, put together the mountains and buildings.

Here is Rwanda, we only have a small set of figures with Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and three shepherds. Very cute, all coming from Argentina. So this year, we have added some scenery to it! We made a small "building" by cutting a paper bag and placing it upside down. And we added as well some trees and animals from the toy farm. To finish it, Paul and Anna drew an angel each, and also a star. We glued all of it on top. You can see the result below!

You may find these posts also interesting:

• Christmas decoration: Stars and straws
• Christmas tree decoration
• Rudolf: the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Merry Christmas!

The Little Fir Tree

This year the children had a very nice little play at school. It went over a little fir tree that was left alone in the forest, and that wanted to grow and become a Christmas tree. It was really cute!

I would recommend this play to other schools, or to play it with your family (given that you have more than one child and maybe some nieces and neighbours). Well, you can find the complete play here.

You may find these posts also interesting:

• Christmas decoration: Stars and straws
• Christmas tree decoration
• Rudolf: the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Merry Christmas!

Christmas decoration: Stars and straws

Here comes another super-easy way to make easy Christmas decoration stuff.

Draw some starts that your children can cut, or let them draw the starts themselves. I used the brown paper from the supermarket paper bags (about the only crafting material available in overflow in Rwanda).

Ask the children to colour the starts and then to glue them around a straw. Then get any pot you may have around the house and place the straws inside; or put them in plant plots. Voila!

Christmas tree decoration

Last week I went to buy a Christmas tree; and since we are in Rwanda, I was already that I could find a pretty decent plastic one. After unfolding it, and getting it ready, we went for the second step: Christmas tree decoration!

Not many fancy things are for sale here, but that only helps to improve our creativity. We baked our usual cookies, but this time we made a hole with a stick before baking them. You can see the result above. And then, we hanged them on the tree.

Well, they did not last long. Honestly, there is not a single cookie hanging on the tree at the moment. But, hey, that is part of the fun; isn't it?

What do you find in Lego Creative?

These days Paul is mainly busy with Lego. He got a couple of boxes while we were in the Netherlands, and that means enough pieces to play around for a while. Since he has done already the vehicles and figures according to the instructions in the packages; he goes on now with building his own creations.

Such as the one below!

I wanted to investigate a bit further into what is online concerning Lego. I have started with Lego Creative website. The website opens in the 'Bricks & More' section. I went to 'Products', and indeed, I could find some of the packages that Paul already has. Let's say the one with the safari car, the elephant and the giraffe (number 4637); quite cool by the way to build those animals with blocks!

Well, you can click on 'Inspirations', and then see pictures of other things you can build with the blocks in that particular box; for example, a rhino. And in 'Building instructions', you can download a pdf with the instructions to build a couple of extra things, like a boat and a jeep. Cool! What I miss is actually the instructions from the package itself, it would be handy in case we loose  the original ones!

Then I went into the 'Fun with Bricks & More' tab, nice! Even more booklets with instructions that can be downloaded. The 'Monthly Builds' tab seems to be the one giving the better overview on possible designs.

And again about the building instructions. After a longer search, I have noticed that it is actually possible to get lost booklets. The correct place is the customer service page, where you only need to enter the code of the package, or a description of it (e.g. airplane, car).

Which one is your favourite Lego product?

How to make a sun with paper

My children seem to draw suns all the time. Most of the time, the sun is smiling, and I remember drawing myself also smiling suns. Was it the same for you and your children?

Paul made this sun short time ago (no need of inspiration or help from my side!). It is just a circle cut in yellow paper, and then he cut stripes in red paper and glue it together. And then, of course, he draw a smily face into the circle.

Actually, we have always at home coloured paper, it is a great and easy way to do quite some crafts. Try is also and send me a message about how it went!

Welcome home!

We are back in Kigali!

We have spent four months in Europe, most of the time in the Netherlands with my parents in law. First days felt really strange, meeting people, opening suitcases and re-arranging the house. Now I am getting used to a our new life; with Nils everything is different! I have less freedom on coming and going because of the breastfeeding schedule; but it is worthwhile. More news to come!

Note: the lovely poster was made by my husband to welcome us at home; isn't it lovely?

Playing with fire

Children + Playing + Fire

I know, I know, and you do not need to convince me that children and fire are not a good combination!
But sometimes, I think it is not bad to stop overprotecting and get my children try things that might be seen as "dangerous". Like helping to make a fire. Why not? As long as they are under supervision, of course!

Paul learned a lot last summer with his grandfather. And he learned he needed to be careful with fire, and he should not come too close, etc. A good experience!

Learning to write

We came to the Netherlands at the beginning of June; so it is quite some time that Paul and Anna are not going to school. So, today I got a sudden mother-guiltiness feeling for not doing something extra all this time. The result was having a nice morning with Paul and Anna practicing to recognise and to write few letters (and thanks to Nils for sleeping all the morning!)

We used some wipe-off cards that I got from my mother as present. They are plastic cards with a glossy surface, and it allows children to write on with a special pen, wipe off and start again. I found particularly that it is possible to wipe off! For example, Anna does not like to see her own mistakes, but it is not a problem with these cards, because you can immediately wipe it off.

By the way, I checked the company producing the cards, it is called FlashKids. The offer free downloads of some of its products, and they seem quite nice! Check them in their website.

Inspiration for mums that want to draw

I love children books. They are so cute and so inspiring! We went to the library to choose some books for Paul, and I felt in love with this one: Kimono, written by Annelore Parot. It describes the 'Kokeshis', traditional Japanese dolls dressed in cute kimonos. In each page you a small assignment, like, can you find me in the classroom? Or, where is my kimono?

Honestly, Paul was not as interested as me; but I used the book as inspiration to draw a bit and relax. You can see what I draw below!

How to clean your Medela breastpump

Nils is already almost 2 months! Time flies... and I thought it is a good moment to check my breastpump. I used for long a double electric breastpump from Medela, called Pump in Style (funny name, don't you think?). I have checked it, and the model no longer exists; it has been replaced for a smaller and fancier looking one.

I would like to focus on explaining how to clean the parts. In the instructions, it mentions you can boil them or put them into the dishwasher. But to be honest, after a while, this is not enough, specially if you use the pump daily. So I did some extra cleaning, as follows:

- Boil water in a pot and put all the elements fully disassembled in the water.
- Add some vinegar
- Boil five minutes
- Start taking one element out of the pot
- Remove all the dirtiness you can with a cotton stick (the ones used to clean the ears)
- Remove the little rests remaining in the corners using a toothpick
- Dry throughly with a soft cotton cloth
- Continue with the next element

I was quite happy with the result. The elements looked as new!

There he is - baby Nils

It is really difficult to take good pictures. In general. But it is specially difficult to take good pictures to babies. Of course, we are taking a lot of pictures to Nils these days, but most of them are not worth printing (even less framing!).

Luckily, I had some friends visiting and they took a good picture of Nils. I guess the result has to do with having a good camera / lens and also knowing how to use it properly!

And of course, I take this opportunity to introduce the new member of our family: Nils!

Welcome Nils!

Pregnancy time is over - baby time has already started.
We are back home already for few weeks!

Paul and Anna made a drawing in the blackboard to welcome us when we came back from the hospital; so cute! Big thanks to their grandparents who were taking care of them while we were away.

And I have to add here some thoughts from my side on the use of a blackboard. It is handy for young children to use since chalks are easy to grab. But the whole process is so dirty! All the floor is immediately full of dust. So unless you are extremely patient, and do not mind to do all the cleaning, I recommend one that you can use outside!

Almost there

The new addition to our family is supposed to be born coming Sunday; or maybe before?

A couple of weekends ago, my uncles in law came to visit and we asked to have some pictures taken.

The photo below is one of those they took! I am really happy with the result.



I had pictures made of my belly by a professional photographer during each pregnancy. I really recommend doing that, or asking a friend/family member with a good "artistic eye" to take some good pictures. You will never believe afterwards how your body changed so much!

Few tips:
- Use a neutral background
- Use black and white clothes, or as neutral as possible
- Spend some time to get your hair in proper condition (this is the last thing you feel like doing during the last weeks of your pregnancy, but make an effort!)

Good luck!

Cupcakes from Dr.Oetker

Yes, it would be wonderful to follow one of those great recipes to make cupcakes that you can find in books or in internet. But the moment I want to make them, I do not have enough eggs or flour, or the end result is simply a disaster.

I started trying Dr. Oetker pre-mix packages for deserts when we moved to Rwanda. Really, it could not be easier. You add the content of the package with some water, and that is it. Paul loves doing the cupcakes, and you do not need much since even the paper for the cupcakes is included in the package. The only problem is that the paper "opens", I just placed them in two oven plates and it worked. The shape is, of course, somewhat irregular, but the children loved them all the same.

To decorate them, I used some chocolate and colored sugar bread spread; you can see the result above!

Fruits - Learning vocabulary

Paul is learning lots of new vocabulary in English since he started school; which is great! I was worried, though, that he is missing learning new vocabulary in Spanish, specially regarding things we do not have here in Rwanda. What about melons? We never eat them here!

I went to look for some pictures in internet to color; I took the resource website from the Catalan government EDU365.cat; there are quite some nice pictures to be downloaded here. I printed them in an A4, and we colored them together. Then I took an A3 and we glued them and put the names. Paul still wanted to re-draw the fruits himself; which made it look a bit nicer. See the result below! 

Now the poster hangs in his playing room, and is a good reminder as well to talk about some basic vocabulary in Spanish. I am planning to do the same with the names of vegetables, winter clothes, etc, I keep you posted!

Shopping in Fladder & Beer

During our last visit to the Netherlands, we went for a short visit to Fladder en Beer, a children clothes shop in Leiden.

People think that shopping for clothes is something for girls, but I think that is just a general statement, since boys can enjoy it all the same. Fladder en Beer has very beautiful handmade and colorful clothes, way out of the general trend of having pink-only for girls and grey/ dark blue for boys. Paul really insisted in having a green sweater with animals, and chose an animals-covered jacket for Anna.

If you have the chance to be in Leiden, do not miss the chance to drop by. And the owner Annelies will make sure as well that your child is entertained, since the shop has a small corner with toys to play with and a table to draw. Enjoy!

Paper flower

Here comes a very easy activity for pre-schoolers, and it can be done very easily at home. Simply draw something simple in a piece of paper, and have your child gluing small pieces of paper (preferably colored) into it.

The only thing you have to take into account is the glue. I tried different kinds of glue, and some of them are really too difficult to be used by 2 or 4 year-olds. Either the glue gets dry and stuck very easily, or you have to be Superman to get some glue out of the bottle. Now we are using Pritt in a liquid version, and that works fine even for Anna.

Enjoy crafting!

Making chocolate cakes

Lately, it is not unusual to see Paul as shown in the picture. With few pots and random tools, he is mixing water with other "ingredients". Luckily, I have managed to convince him that it is better to do whatever he does outside.

When being asked "What are you doing?", he just replied cooly: "I am making chocolate cakes". Of course. So I continued: "Oh, nice, so we can eat chocolate cake after you are finished!". Paul looked at me, probably being concerned about my mental health. "No, mama, these are not for eating, these are just for playing!". Oooohhhh... children are smarter than we think!

What is Nederland?

Will our children remain familiar with the Netherlands if we continue living abroad for long? Are they going to have a clear picture of who-is-who in their family?

My husband had the idea to make a big poster about the Netherlands. We simply used one of our removal carton boxes and opened it flat. Then it is all a matter of drawing together few things (mo matter if they are really beautiful or not), gluing some others and printing some family pictures. Of course, all in an orange background.

The result is not particularly impressive, but it helps the children to talk about their home country. Even if they are only 2 and 4 years old, they talk about it to visitors and friends, like: "Look, this is my opa (grandpa) and he is reading books for me". And that is already worth the effort!

Cooking a traditional "cocido"

I guess the longer you are abroad, the more you feel attached to simple things from your home culture. And one of the things expats seem to miss the most is their home country food. So, having some chorizo left from my mother´s last visit, and since I recently found where to buy chick peas, I decided to give it a try and cook some traditional "cocido".

Here comes the recipe: Ingredients: - 1/2 kg chick peas - Some cabbage - 2 potatoes - 1 carrot - 1 onion - A piece of chorizo - A piece of pork meat - A piece of chicken - 2 big meat balls Really, the quantities and proportions depend on what you want to eat, and for how many people you want to cook this dish. There is no really a golden rule! What to do: - Soak the chick peas the night before in water (if they are dry chick peas) - Boil the chick peas and the meat together until the chick peas are tender. - Add the peeled vegetables. I let it boil for half an hour in a pressure cooker, you will need more time in a normal pot. - When everything is ready, you can use the water for making a soup with small pasta as a starter. - Then serve the rest in a tray (without the cooking water), so that everybody can take the parts they like. - Season with olive oil. The result was delicious! And really, cooking this dish is really easy, it just takes some time.

Picnic in Lake Muhazi

A couple of weeks ago we went to Lake Muhazi to have a picnic in the afternoon. A friend of us wanted to show her plot of land where she plans to build a leisure center, maybe including a camping or bungalows for families to stay over.

The place is beautiful! We just spent few hours in the area, and it is a good place for small children to entertain themselves for a while. At the Muhazi Water Sports, you can buy some drinks and simple food (we ordered roasted chicken and bananas). Of course, it is always good to carry some crayons or small toys! A ball was not a good idea, since it was easily rolling into the water.

For directions, check the website of Muhazi Water Sports, the way is well described. I recommend it for a lazy weekend afternoon!

Children and airports? How to survive

Waiting in an airport is never fun. And it is even less funny if you are traveling with children. I am traveling with Paul and Anna since they were five weeks old; so we are sort of familiar with the whole procedure by now. Paul even removes his shoes immediately and he puts them on the X-ray machine without being asked to do so.

So, which tips can I share with you?

- Have always with you something to drink. If your baby is drinking powder milk, put some powder in a baby bottle, and ask for warm water in any bar after the x-ray control. I never had problems getting warm water in the plane either. Just take into account that it will most likely be boiling water, so you will need to wait a bit until it colds down. So get your bottle ready on time if you suspect you will have a crying hungry baby. When they are a bit older, buy some juice or water in a bottle that can be closed after being opened, so no cans or such a thing. This way you can close it and keep some liquid for later, if your child is thirsty later on.

- Have always with you something to eat. Something suggestions: bread sticks, bananas, small sandwiches, biscuits. Avoid food with chocolate (kids can get incredibly dirty) or too salty (they get thirsty).

- Have always with you some toys or books. Crayons and a notebook are always a success with my children, they get entertained for quite a while. Also bring along a couple of books they love or just a new one they might be interested in; I suggest "Where is Wally?" or "Where is Waldo?" (US version) for a bit older children. Small puzzles and Duplo blocks also work well.

- Children get dirty. A fact of live. So be ready and bring extra clothes. I always take a complete change of clothes for each of them; usually something that can be easily layered. So I can add a sweater or leggings if it is cold, or let them with a T-shirt and no socks if it is warm. Also take a towel or an absorbing cloth, that is useful in case you have to dry some unexpected mess inside the plane.

- Take enough diapers and wet towels. Imagine you loose your connecting flight or your suitcase does not arrive with you (and you are arriving in the middle of the night in an unknown destination). Think about those scenarios and take enough diapers!

- This sounds contradictory, but keep your hand baggage to a minimum. I always check in my winter coat (if I am taking one). And I assume that my children are enough "entertainment" for me, so I do not take any book, magazine or whatsoever for myself.

- Use a small backpack as hand baggage. I take one that I carry myself to put all the clothes for the children, food, etc. Since I carry t on my bag, I still have both hands free for the children. It is much better than the typical "diaper-carrying baby" bag that you carry on one shoulder. It does not work with two children. Now also Paul carries his backpack with his toys, and Anna also has one (she really wants one like Paul) where she carries one diaper and her wet towels.

- If you are breastfeeding, take a light shawl / scarf. It helps to have some privacy, in case you have to breastfeed in the place and you are sitting next to a stranger. You can also use it  to wrap the baby and make a small tent so the baby can easily sleep.

Hope it all helps, and I welcome your tips as well!

In the market in Zanzibar

Our last holidays took place in the beautiful island of Zanzibar. One thing I did not want to miss was a visit to Stone Town, Zanzibar's cultural and historical heart. It is said to resemble the medinas in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, but to me it seemed particularly easy and quiet. Maybe because my point of reference would be the old part of Jerusalem, which is incredibly busy and crowd with people.

Being with the children was quite a challenge, since a walking tour is not really their favorite thing to do. We chose, though, not to go in a group, so we had more time to stop, drink water, etc. Quite interesting for them was the visit to the Central Market, also called Darajani Market. There is a section for meat and fish, no ice or cooling visible, and another one in the outside for vegetables and fruits.

In the vegetables section, it is also possible to buy spices, already pre-packed, and easy to bring home as a gift. Paul and Anna enjoyed sitting on top of some boxes, not sure that the seller was so happy to have them "helping him" around.

If you travel with young children, I do not recommend this trip for more than half a day. It gets very hot at noon, and it is difficult to enjoy the strolling. We finished the visit having lunch at Monsoon Restaurant in the Forodhani Gardens. We chose to be inside to have more shadow; there you have to take out your shoes and you sit on cushions on the floor; great for children! And luckily there were no other guests, so no worries about annoying other people!

You may also want to read the following posts:

• Lupingu Lua Luimpe: What is that?

Lupingu Lua Luimpe: what is that?

Recently I received a gift that intrigued me. It is a wooden figure of a mother with a baby in her arms. Not totally my taste, and not quite sure what to do with it. But still, it seems to be a fine piece of congolese art, and I wanted to know some more about it.

I found a picture on the internet that looks a lot the one I have, in the site of the Brooklyn museum. Quoting from the site: "Lupingu lua luimpe figures such as this were used by a cult among the Lulua, called Bwanga bwa Cibola, which aimed to cure infertility. Women who were having trouble conceiving could be initiated into the cult, after which they would receive a lupingu lua luimpe figure, which was designed to ward off any ill intentions that might be directed her way." Those figures seem to share also some features, such as scarifications in the face, almond eyes, and long straight noses.

Ok, so far, and considering I am pregnant for the third time without making much efforts, I guess I do not need anything to solve my infertility. But it is never bad to have something against any "ill intentions my way!".

Birthday invitations

Paul is 4 years old! Yesterday it was his birthday, and for the first time, I organized a real party for him. First thing to do, of course, was to write the invitation letters for the children in his class.

Since I do not know where to find nice cards and envelops in Rwanda, I decided to make my own. I simply used an orange A4 folded as a square. In the outside part I wrote " Paul will be 4 years old on Wednesday!", and in the inside part I gave further information on the party and my contact details. I closed the "envelop" with a flower sticker from Hema.

All in all, I think they look quite cute!

Are you able to draw?

I don't! Well, or at least I thought I wasn't able to. Thanks again to Flow magazine, I made a small trial today. I have followed their mini-course: how to draw figures?, by Caroline Ellerbeck. These are my first results:

I mean, considering I do not see myself as a very artistic person, aren't they lovely? So, from now on, when my children ask, "mama, draw for me this or that", I will be actually able to draw something cute! Check the Caroline Ellerbeck's blog; really inspiring!

How to cook king prawns

Thanks to my aunt, and her recipe, we were able to celebrate Christmas in Kigali in a pretty Spanish traditional way. First of all, it was the issue to find the prawns (got them at Benalco) and later on, the sherry. But with all the ingredients in my hand, it was not that difficult to follow the recipe. Be patient, and you have a guaranteed success!

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 kg of frozen king prawns
- 2 lemons
- Garlic
- Fresh persil
- 3 ladles of olive oil
- A cup of dry sherry

INSTRUCTIONS:
- Defreeze the prawns You need to defreeze the praws the evening before. Full a big pot with water, salt and lemon slices. Let the prawns in the pot during the whole night.
- Cleaning the prawns In the morning, you need to remove the water and spend some time removing the feelers.
- Preparing the prawns Add salt and pepper to each prawn and place them carefully in a shallow wide pot (for example, 22 or 24 cm diameter). Add crushed garlic and fresh persil, the juice of half a lemon and a cup of dry sherry. In a separate pan, warm up a 3 ladles of olive oil. When it is warm, distribute slowly the hot olive oil in the pot where the prawns are. Let the prawns at least two hours in the fridge marinating.

- Finalizing and serving Do not follow this step until you are sure that your guests are ready to eat the dish! Take the pots from the fridge and cook the prawns just until they change color from grey to pink, around 5 minutes. Do not let them cook further or they will quickly become dry! You can either serve them in the pot, or separate the prawns from the sauce, and serve the sauce in a separate dish.

Enjoy your meal!

You may be interested in the following posts:

• Cooking a traditional cocido
• How to make pepernoten
• Tomato salad with salted cod
• Banana cake (first trial)
• Banana cake (second trial)

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Paul had a Christmas show at school, including singing and dancing, as best as they could, three Christmas songs. I know pretty much all the Spanish Christmas songs, but I was not familiar so far with Rudolph. Paul loves it! So, we cut a small reindeer using hard paper, painted a red nose, and made the sleigh as well. Handy as well, are Rudolph's legs. We used clothespins, and they are very stable, so they whole structure stays in place.

And if you still find yourself in Christmas mood, please, go and sing along!

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeers used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say:
'Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?
 Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down down in history.

More about Rudolph here.

Dowry giving ceremony in Kigali

We were invited to a dowry giving ceremony in Kigali. We have learned that a Rwandan man pays the dowry to the family of the bride. The dowry is the money (or cow) that the man's family pays to the woman's family in the process of marriage. So, quite a different story that in other countries like India! 

In this ceremony, no cow was given (to our disappointment), but money. The bride's family was sitting in one side of the room, (the bride was not present), and the groom's family was sitting on the other side. A lot of speeches and comments were exchanged between the two sides, most seeming an exchange of jokes. Unluckily, our knowledge of the local language is very limited, so we could not follow much!

Anna, of course, did not miss her chance to sit as much as possible with the groom. At a certain point, and when the dowry was accepted, the bride came into the room, and some dancing and singing took place.

I was very happy that we could be present, but I do not recommend it for European children who are not used to sit in a chair for more than half an hour!