The Boys Screen Printing Vroom Shirts

There are some things about screen printing that I don't like doing. The whole emulsion, burning of the screen, and overall setup aspect of it is not something I feel comfortable doing. But, there IS something about pressing that ink onto the screen, lifting up that screen to see that fresh ink shinning on the paper that just simply feels GOOD!

Last weekend we went over to Hobo Press to get some new Vroom tees printed for Tembo®. After Adam – the professional – printed all the shirts for the shop, the boys got to do some screen printing themselves. I had packed some blank shirts from their closet, so that they would have a choice. Little did I know, Owen was going to end up printing everyone of them with 'Vroom' "Can I just do one more?" He was hooked on the feeling of screen printing.
I should've known.

From our Shelf: Sad Santa

I just ordered this cute book, Sad Santa by Tad Carpenter for my boys. The little video totally sold me on it. (My boys made me play it about 10 times each - beware!)

Images and video via here

From our shelf: Henri's Walk to Paris

I came across this book a few months ago while browsing the Grain Edit. When the designer in me saw the beautiful illustrations by Saul Bass I knew I had to have it. I mean, I knew the kids had to have it. oops. Anyway, I'm glad I bought it. Every page is of course perfect, and the story is really cute too. If you're interested in purchasing a copy it is available on Amazon.

Images via Grain Edit

St. Patrick's Pasta

This is a dish I learned from my mom and I make quite often. Owen loves it, it's healthy, and it's the easiest thing to make. It's green, so I thought it'd be appropriate for St. Patrick's Day.

How to make it:
Cook some pasta and add some extra virgin olive oil. Fill up your blender with spinach (Yes, don't be scared — raw spinach barely tastes like anything) Add about 10 fresh basil leaves, about 3/4 of a cup of milk, and a touch of salt. Mix and toss over pasta. Sprinkle some Feta cheese on top and you're done!

* You could use butter instead of olive oil, and you could also toss shredded Gouda or Fontina cheese into the pot and let it melt with the pasta.

Poisoned Apples?!

When I was pregnant with my first child I ate an apple almost every single day. I would also throw spinach on anything I could in an effort to increase my folic acid intake. Chicken and milk were also high in my diet for their protein and calcium content. I did all this of course to benefit my future child. None of the things I consumed were organic though. I just wasn't aware then of what I'm aware of now. Now it seems like I'm constantly hearing alarming news about all food.

First there are all the preservatives, sugars, high fructose corn syrup, flavors, colors, fast food loaded in saturated fat, etc. All bad, right? I can say we do pretty good staying away from these. Even though I've decided not to turn into a freak about it. As of now, the consumption of these culprits every once in a while is ok per my standards.

Then there's the milk and all the meats; full of hormones, antibiotics, etc. Now, these are things we consume often, so I switched my family to organic in this area, or at least hormone and antibiotic free in some cases. 

And last there are our fruits and veggies. The ones that are supposed to be the greatest for us. Apparently not true unless you buy organic. I recently came across all these articles referring to studies that show how all the pesticides found in this group can affect children and pregnant women. They are linked to ADHD, low IQs, and worse of all cancer. It's really upsetting to me that our food industry is poisoning everything we eat. The solution seems to be to "just buy organic". Unfortunately organic is not only a lot pricier, but also, often unavailable (at least in our area). Take strawberries for example. We go through a pack of these every two days. Last I looked, organic strawberries were $7.99 at Publix and they were WAY past their prime, making them not even an option.

Here's the list of the fruit and veggies most contaminated with pesticides. The "Dirty Dozen" list: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, domestic blueberries, nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale and collard greens, cherries, potatoes, imported grapes, and lettuce. 

I obtained the list from here.

And here are some of the other articles I'm referring to:

Prenatal Pesticide Exposure Can Lower Kids’ IQ

Could pesticides cause ADHD? 

Orlando Science Center

If you haven't taken your kids to the Orlando Science Center yet, I highly recommend you do. I have yet to hear of any child not liking this place. It opens at 10 a.m. and, with our determination to always avoid crowds, that's usually when we get there. Here are some of O's favorites:

1. Kid's Town (Level 1): Playing with boats, kitchen area, and picking oranges.

2. Science Park (Level 2): The favorite activity here is the race car ramp. (Even though he can't reach yet and I have to pick him up to participate)

3. All Aboard (Level 2): He loves this whole area!

4. DinoDigs (Level 4): Not into the giant dinosaurs so much, but he does enjoy digging for bones in the sand boxes.

They also have fish, turtles, alligators, and the likes on Level 1. And, if hunger strikes there's a Subway also on Level 1 for a quick fix.

The temporary exhibits are worth checking out too. The last one we saw was Curious George and it was really great.

Tip: Parking is $5, and admission isn't cheap. However, if you become a member after you spend a day there, what you paid for parking and admission will be taken off of the membership price.