What Pinterest has Done for Me Lately

When I first checked out pinterest.com, I didn’t really get the draw.  People (ah, primarily women) LOVE this site.  I wasn’t getting it…until I started seeing some recipes on there that I wanted to try and when I went back to find them, it was impossible.  So….I signed up for an account.  I’m still a very casual user and while I have many boards, I really only care about two things:  food and kids. 

The food—so many junk food recipes out there.  But what I have found it how this one site has linked me to so many awesome food blogs.  Through this route, I have found an AWESOME recipe for Daal with Golden Lentils and Coconut Milk.  I love this blog—I’m not a big meat eater and she has all kinds of yummy vegetarian and fish recipes that I want to try at some point.  I will say that I didn’t alter this recipe at all which is unusual for me.  I’ve made it twice—once serving a tomato/cucumber/onion salad with cumin salt, the other time serving it with cumin roasted chicken (recipes to follow).  Next time, I’m making a double batch and freezing half so that I can eat it whenever I want.  Have I mentioned that I love this recipe?  If you are curious, it was her masala chai recipe that I found on pinterest.  I haven’t tried it yet but will once my allowable caffeine intake is a little more relaxed. 

Kids’ activities are big on pinterest.  I’m always looking for manageable activities that I can do with toddlers.  Honestly, a lot of what I find wears me out just reading about it so I know that there is no way that I will actually do them.  But, I did find this activity—it is a giant water sensory bag.  (Link here)  Tarp, duct tape, water hose, done.  It was a super popular pin and thought, “now this is something that I can handle that I think my kids will actually enjoy and requires little facilitation on my part.  Perfect.”  The girls loved it, specifically Cecilia.  My only mistake was not getting a thick enough tarp.  Once I looked back on her site, I realized that she used 3.5 mil which would have been perfect.  I ended up with only 1 mil, but doubled it up—worked but we did end up putting some holes in it before it was all over. 

Cecilia loved hopping from one end to the next.....



And then flopping down on her belly or back.





Anna took a bit more convincing but played for a little bit, enjoying the cool water.

Overall, a success and a great way to burn some afternoon time on a warm day.  

Anna the Jumping Banana

Anna never ceases to amaze me with the rapid development of her gross and fine motor skills.  She also scares me because she has NO FEAR.  So much so that I actually get comments from other moms at the park.  I guess they are a little surprised to see an 18 month old swinging from a bar like a monkey, laughing her head off or trying to climb the horizontal ladder that she has no business trying to tackle.  (Seriously, this girl keeps me busy trying to keep her in one piece.)  Recently, she has been working on her trampoline jumping.  I was impressed one week so I took this video:

But….here she is only a week later (give it a few seconds—she was distracted by Cecilia in the beginning). 

Love this girl!