Raisins bags as "traktatie"

Children in The Netherlands have to offer little presents to the rest when they have their birthday, the so called "traktaties".
This year I decided to make use of my new sewing machine to prepare the "traktaties" for Anna's birthday.

Materials needed:
- A sewing machine
- Transparent foil
- A bag with raisings
- Tags with cartoons, the ones we used to collect as children
- Scisors



Instructions:
- Cut the transparent foil in an appropriate size to make the little bags.
- Sew the foil using a decorative pattern. Leave one side open.
- Fill in the bag with the raisins.
- Sew the upper side, making sure to add the cartoon tag.
- Write a little message in the back of the tag.



And your traktaties are ready!

Happy birthday Anna!

My daughter Anna is becoming today 1 year old; happy birthday Anna! So oficially, she is not a baby anymore, time flies!



The card above has been drawn by my sister picturing Anna with one of her favourite items: a cookie. If you are interested in having as well handmade personalized cards done by her, write a comment below or drop me an e-mail to mymamaday@gmail.com and I will get you in contact with her.

Next post will be about traktaties!

Top 5 things I like about breakfast

I am not a morning person.
But there are small things in the mornings that make me feel happy!

So, these are my favourite 5 things I like to enjoy during my breakfast:
- Butter melting in a piece of warm toasted bread
- The smell of freshly brewed coffee, with ots of milk and sugar
- Warm croissants from the oven
- Oranje juice made from real oranges, with all the little pieces floating around
- Homemade jam; fixed in my memory is the taste of the jams prepared by my grandma and aunts during the summers (oranges, apricots, peers with lemon and blackberries)



NOTE: Recipe on how to do the apricot jam in the picture to follow soon

And what are your favourite things during breakfast?

Playing in the sand

We are just back from holidays; one full week spent in the sunny Puerto de Santa María. It is the first time that we have gone with both Paul and Anna to the beach. Until now, Anna was too young for that. And usually, it is just too windy, or too sunny, or we are simply too busy to go. But that is what holidays are for!



Tips to go to the beach with small children:

- Go early in the morning or late in the afternoon to prevent them from burning. And honestly, specially early in the morning, the beach tends to be emptier, so it is easier to keep an eye on them

- Do not stay long; specially with very little ones, and bring a beach umbrella, if possible

- Remember to use a lot of sun lotion, with SPF 50. There are special ones for children, some are water and sand resistant. Paul really likes to put the suncream himself, I guess all children would like it if you make a game out of it

- Make use of the sand as a huge playground for the little ones, plenty of space to crawl and to practice how to walk

- Not much toys are required, a bucket and a shovel are more than enough. The sea, the waves and the sand are the most interesting features!

Going to the kindergarden

The Netherlands is the country where you will find any possible bike. It is pretty flat so going around riding a bike is extremely easy.

And this is the bike that my husband uses to bring the children every day to the kindergarden.



We chose it because it is light, foldable (so it does not take a lot of space in the shed) and, above all, I thought I would manage riding it. And the children like to sit together and enjoy the views!

How to grow lentils

This idea came from my primary school times. Why not growing some lentils and see the results?

So, here come the instructions:
- Take a pot and put some dry lentils. Just take the normal ones you can buy in a supermarket. You have to check that they are full and not split into two parts.
- Add some cotton or cloth (below or above) the lentils. The purpose is to have something that keeps the humidity.



- Keep your pot inside and make sure the cloth remains humid. You will see that after two or three days, the lentils have grown some little sprouts. Those are the roots.

- Now, take a pot, fill it with earth and carefully move the lentils in there. Make sure that the white roots are placed under the ground. After few more days, your plants will look like this.



- Let the plants in a place with not too much sun. After three weeks or so, you will get some cute plants.



What is my evaluation of the whole process?
Well, it is fun, you get nice plants for the garden at no cost and I think it is also educative for children to see where does the food they eat come from. However, you get two lentils from each plant, so do not expect to harvest huge amounts of lentils!

Measuring

This is a very simple game you can play with your young children.

Take a measuring tape, like the one you use for sewing, those are very nice because they are flexible and made from an easy material



Now, just ask this kind of questions:
- How long is your arm?
- How long is your leg?
- How long is your nose?

The point is not really that the child gives an answer, but he will probably be busy getting the measuring tape all around and recognizing the parts of the body that you mention.



Note: Anna is equally interested in the measuring tape than in a shoe.

Enjoy!