Hey, Diddle, Diddle...And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

Hey, diddle diddle

The cat and the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon

The little dog laughed to see such sport

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Hazel has fallen in love with Hey, Diddle, Diddle and many versions of the story in different books we have read. In particular she loves the dish and the spoon. In one of the stories (more about the cow than anything) she likes to point out where the dish and spoon are in every picture. So I got to thinking about how easy it would be to make a dish and spoon with her.

Mine

Supplies needed are a paper plate (I used a small one), a plastic spoon, three pipe cleaners, small googly eyes (optional) and larger ones (also optional), glue and/or tape, and crayons, markers, paints, stickers, etc. to decorate.

The Spoon:
Cut one pipe cleaner into two pieces: 4 inches and 8 inches roughly. Use the 4-inch piece to be the arms on the spoon by wrapping it around the spoon a few times. Then use the 8-inch one to be the legs. Wrap it around the bottom of the handle and bend it to look like legs and feet. Glue the small googly eyes on the top of the spoon (or draw eyes) and draw a mouth. Decorate as child wishes.

Hazel's creation

The Dish:
Glue one pipe cleaner across the back of the plate to be the arms. Bend the last pipe cleaner in half and twist the top to be legs and then glue to the bottom of the back of the plate. You may want to tape both of these to secure until the glue dries. On front glue on googly eyes (or draw them) and draw a mouth. Then decorate the plates. I used a cow sticker and drew on a moon for the cow jumping over the moon. Unfortunately I didn't plan so I didn't have dog and cat stickers.

Finally I attached the hands of the dish and spoon since they are running away together.

Books to use besides any Mother Goose book:

• And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens
  
• Moonstruck: The True Story of The Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon by Gennifer Choldenko
• Hey Diddle Diddle by Kin Eagle (I picked this one up at a used bookstore for only $1.29)
• The Adventures of The Dish and The Spoon by Mini Grey

Please note I provide the link to Amazon only so you can see the book and whether it is available new. In no way am I supporting that you buy it there. Also, I listed these in the order of my favorites among them.

Now, we are off to the library for Move and Groove. Enjoy your day and stay safe this weekend especially those of us on the East Coast.

Nightgown versus Pj's

On Monday, I came home to discover water all over our bathroom floor. It ends up to be a problem with our central air conditioner. We haven't been running it too much since the repairman cannot come until next week and luckily it hasn't been too hot or humid, though that may change today. Hazel always seems hot and sweats. Unfortunately I think she gets some of this from me. I notice after sleep that she is covered in sweat. I figured without our full air conditioner it might be cooler for her to have a nightgown.

I looked for a very simple pattern since I didn't have much time to work on it before I left for my tutoring job and since she did not have a nap I knew she would be asleep when I came home. I chose the pattern from Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy. I chose it for its ease. I used the fabric I had left from a dress I made for her earlier this summer. She loves wearing monkeys ever since we went to the bouncehouse place called Monkey Joe's. This nightgown took me at most 90 minutes including tracing the pattern. I did not add the bow to the front yet, more due to time to find which ribbon to use, etc., but she is happy with it and did not wake up this morning sweaty even though we did not have the air conditioner on as high as we usually do.

Well we are off to make the stick house for Hazel's Three Little Pigs in her fairy garden. Look for pictures tomorrow. Have a great day!

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

So after being away, I realized my dear husband did not eat any of the bananas I left him. If he has cereal he wants a banana, but I never know when he will want cereal. Anyone else have a similar problem? So we had four very ripe bananas. Instead of making muffins or bread, I thought I would look for a cookie recipe. Well I did a google search and found several that looked good. I took them and combined, added and adapted to my recipe. Here are links to where I started: Oatmeal Banana Cookies, Old Fashion Banana Cookies, Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies. And here is my recipe:
Banana Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (Mashing is a good job for a little one)
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini since it was what I had) (optional)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional)

1. In electric mixer beat butter, shortening and sugars.
2. Add eggs and mix well. Then add banana and mix well.
3. Combine flours, baking soda, spices, rolled oats and flax seed meal in a separate bowl. Then add to mixer and mix well.
4. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts and/or raisins.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375.6. Drop by the teaspoonful and place an inch apart on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper (for easy clean up). Bake 12-15 minutes watching carefully. Reduce heat if browning too quickly.

I find refrigerating helps to form balls and Hazel can form balls, but cannot drop by the teaspoon, but this dough was too mushy (I used more than a cup of banana since I had so many). The cookies are delicious though!If I make them again, I think I would leave out the chocolate chips. They takeover the taste.

Oh, and hopefully you will not have to clean up the mess I had. Poor Hazel fell off her stool taking with her most of the eggs. Luckily I had already cracked two and was able to save one, but egg is not fun to clean up off the floor.

Enjoy your day!

Baking and Walking and Party Preparing

This will be my last post for a few days. I have to help my mother plan for a big family reunion, so Hazel and I are packing up and going for a visit leaving Steve home to work, take care of the cats and rest. Yesterday was so beautiful out so Hazel and I walked to Bed Bath and Beyond and Kohls to run our errands. It is probably about a mile each way. Hazel of course was in her stroller. Luckily she didn't need a bathroom until we got to a store. Then we went to the library to return some books and pick up some books on fairies. Then we went to run the heavier and further errands. After nap time we made the dough for the cookies from one of my favorite blogs: Creating a Family Home from a post a few days ago. We baked them this morning. Now it is time to pack the car and get ready for seeing family. Have a good rest of the week and weekend!

Nature Walk

After the rain stopped today, Hazel and I went outside. Our mission was to find some sticks for her stick pig house and to jump in the puddles. After a bit of jumping and finding many wet sticks, we changed shoes and went for a walk. Hazel pushing her toy lawn mower around the small loop of our neighborhood. As we walked, Hazel found things to be amazed by, starting with leaves. I explained to her she could bring them back home and put them on her nature table. I started a nature table for her a few months ago (as suggested by many Waldorf readings I have done), but she has shown no interest in it except to take everything off so she can play with the silk scarf on it. As I explained to her again about her nature table, she finally took interest in it. To her collection she added three different types of leaves, a bird feather and a rock and a very wet pinecone which we left in the garage to dry, plus I found a few more sticks which were drier. Of course since she was pushing her lawn mower, I got to carry all of it, but over all it was a great short slow walk (.4 mile) with Hazel finally taken interest in nature again. Of course the wind blew once and she immediately thought we should be home, but besides that one time, she wanted to be out looking, and exploring. I'm hoping tomorrow or Thursday to take her someplace with more trees/woodlike for more exploring and of course to the beach this weekend.

We also added legs, ears and tails to her pigs. I'll post pictures soon.

Have a great day!