"The Story of Stuff" - http://www.storyofstuff.com/

I received this update from twitter and this video is absolutely mind numbing, but as I watched it made me feel better about many of the choices I make in my life and gave me more incentive to continue the battle to become more green.
When I was younger I was involved in the activist community, but as I settled into parenthood I had less time to be active in the community. I would have thought the opposite would have happened. Then again, perhaps I have turned it into an internal battle.
I have many discussions with my daughter about many of the decisions we make as a family. She understands why we do not allow certain toys into the house and that we avoid any character laden items. She knows about working conditions in China and how much effort it to takes to get an item to Canada. I cannot say on what level she understands, but she doesn't fight me on the purchasing of toys and gifts.
She is only 4, but this is all she knows.
I am thwarted at some birthday parties when she attends as a guest and I see the longing in her eyes and in her whine to keep the crap that is given out.
Yet, I think one day she will come to respect and understand these decisions and I hope contribute to making our community stronger.
Oh, I could go on a lot on this subject. This post is about "The Story of Stuff" and I am all about keeping it local and keeping it green.
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Child Friendly mini Banana muffins

I have lost the link to the easiest banana muffins, but my search has turned up a general consensus of what ingredients make a very good banana muffin. We have made it so often lately that I have it stuck in my head. I just patiently wait for a few days when my children are not gorging themselves on bananas and then have them whip this up.

I think this is the original, from 'All Recipes', but I have altered it a little. See below for changes.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use wholewheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed (3-4 bananas)
3/4 cup white sugar ( I use 1/2c.)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour **crumbly top (I don't use)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon **crumbly top
1 tablespoon butter ** crumbly top

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. (We do not need muffin cups as they are so small.)
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

This recipe includes a crumbly top which I do not think is necessary. I also use less sugar and wholewheat flour and go a little heavy on the bananas.

My four year old can almost make this herself. Even my two year contributes. They spoon out the batter into a mini muffin tray and I think they love this part the best. I have decided to let go of any concerns in terms of the appearance of the little muffins and the mess this creates as the joy on their faces is very rewarding.

Once done, which only takes about 10 minutes in my old oven, the kids just pop them out and gobble them up. They are so much easier to eat than big muffins and so fast to make. As we make so many of them at a time I usually feel pretty generous and others are, more often than not, rewarded by our efforts.

Can we make it through the whole rainbow?

I couldn't help but post our special meal tonight. We went with a colour theme and the whole meal was eaten by the four year old with extra helpings. She had carrots, veggie burger with cheddar cheese (non-dairy) and barbequed yams . We had fun chatting about what other meals we could have that would only involve one colour and decided perhaps we could stretch it a little and have a red 'shade' night and include a few pink tones. If it is successful I will definitely update with pictures.

Happy Mother's Day

Just a quick note to all the fellow Moms out there. Happy Mother's Day to all. I feel like poo today as I am down with the flu, but my kids gave me the best hugs this morning and I have spent the last half hour watching them perform dances in the kitchen. What could be a better mother's day present than that. I would like to get out to EPIC this afternoon so perhaps a quick power nap will help restore my energy. A walk along the seawall with my family is something to look forward to and I can receive a good dose of sunshine before the rains return.

We did manage to get out. I really enjoyed EP!C and met a lot of very cool businesses. Having the kids play area was perfect and the amount of bikes present kept my husband very happy. The area around the Convention Centre is quite lovely. I will be shooting a wedding around there next weekend and if it rains I definitely be visiting that corner of the waterfront.

Now I just need to get myself to bed early. It seems so easy, but I am a glutton for self punishment and enjoy my quiet nights too much.

Mother's Day Special...well for the whole month of May!

For the month of May I am running a special. Sometimes people do not have the funds to purchase a whole portrait session, but who cannot afford to not have amazing portraits of the ones they love!
I have designed a mini session that will comprise a one hour session with a CD of 10 hi-res images and mini album all for $150.00.
This is a great Mother's Day Gift and can act as a gift certificate for anyone in the family. The sessions do not have to be booked within the month of May and the purchaser will have a year to use the 'gift certificate'.
I am also running a contest trhough www.yoyobelly.ca and the winner will receive a full 2 hour session. Check out the website and enter!

Mother's Day Tea

It was a very serious affair today at my daughter's preschool. She wore her prettiest dress so she could serve tea to me for mother's day. She was so proud carrying the cup and saucer and revelled in the fact that I was in her space. She was so cute. All the moms had a fabulous time.

Her efforts of putting on such a lovely tea are rewarded with a hand decorated cookie. The antics of the afternoon were just perfect and this weekend we now have seeds to plant that were inside the lovely card she gave me.

Watching a butterfly come to life.

One of my best friends who home schools her lovely children brought over a chrysalis for our family to observe morph into a butterfly. Her family has studied the life cycle in detail and we were blessed to catch some of that process.
Our butterfly, 'Flower', as she was quickly named, emerged after a week of waiting patiently for the magic to begin. On the day she emerged from her cocoon I had the camera there waiting to record the moment. Unfortunately I missed it by mere minutes but we were all jubilant none the less.
We knew the rain was coming so after a day we had to let her go and this was not an easy affair with a 4 year old. We talked it out and after many tears we said our goodbyes and were all left with a greater appreciation for life.