Adventures in Spanish

Dora the Explorer and I have been teaching Cailey Spanish the past couple of months, and while we are still working on the pronunciation on several phrases I am quite pleased with how much she remembers. Also I think it's hilarious when Spanish phrases come out at the supermarket at an almost shouting volume. If anything, we are entertainment for our fellow shoppers right?
Some phrases that she says on a fairly regular basis are:
Grapido instead of rapido
Pecado instead of cuidado- be careful
Espera-command to wait
Largo- long
Corto-short
Santa instead of salta-command to jump
Amadillo instead of Amarillo- yellow

There's more, but I have one's she says most often down.  It is especially funny when she says grapido to have me push the shopping cart fast. We have gotten quite a few odd looks with that one lol.  She is getting better with her pronunciation and she is picking up more words all the time. I don't have any plans to teach her Russian right now. I don't want to confuse her, that's why I waited so long to start teaching Spanish. I wanted her to get English down well before we start adding Spanish to the mix. I just feel like trying to keep multiple foreign languages straight is difficult, well it is for me anyway. I know it is pretty standard to speak at least four languages in Europe. On a good a day I am barely able to do three. To my European friends, you have my respect and admiration.  When I was in college I had a Russian class right after a Spanish class, oh boy that was confusing! Part of the class assignments was to get up and teach for a few minutes in the foreign language. I often accidentally used Russian words in my Spanish class and vice-a-versa. I feel like trying to study multiple languages is like doing brain push-ups!
In fact those that speak a foreign language have a delay of the onset of Alzheimer's by an average of 5 years. Also, according to the New York Times, speaking a foreign language forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles. Bilinguals, for instance, seem to be more adept than monolinguals at solving certain kinds of mental puzzles. Here is the link to the article if you would like to read more on the subject.  There is also the added benefit of being better at your native language as well. So here's hoping that teaching her (and Jason when he is ready) Spanish will not only give her the advantage of knowing a second language, but it will help math and English come easier to her as well. Drop and give me 20 brain push-ups Cailey. :) 

Jason's First Haircut

This past week a number of people commented, "wow Jason's hair is getting so long!" It kind of made me smile because his long hair sort of snuck up on me. Since his hair was so long, we gave him his first haircut yesterday.


Here is the before picture, now that I look at I definitely see that it was pretty long :)

Here a video of getting his haircut. Ben did the honors, and he did a great job! He liked the razor at first, or at least he didn't mind it. I don't know why he is sticking his leg up but it is pretty cute. But he quickly started crying.

Here is the youtube link for those that are unable to view the video.


Here is what I was talking about earlier. It took about a minute before he decided that he didn't like the haircut one bit, but it was worth it. He is such a stud.

Here is the after picture. Now the boys have the same haircut. :)

Here he is coming home from church looking like a stud. 

Inchworm Song

Cailey's favorite song has always been "Twinkle Little Star," every night before bed we sing her Twinkle Little Star." In fact it is quickly becoming Jason's favorite song too because if ever he is fussing Cailey quickly runs to his side to sing him "Twinkle Little Star."  She is such a sweetie :) but I think I need a little variety in my life. So when I came upon the "Inchworm" song I quickly memorized it so I could start adding it into our routine as soon as possible.

I think the "Inchworm" song is fantastic because it has a nice soothing tune, but I especially like it because I think it has a nice moral too. Here is the link to the song if you would like to listen to it. The phrase "measuring the marigolds" means to me the things we have to do in our everyday life. I am a stay-at-mom so I am going to apply it to myself but this song could easily be applied to anyone. It is so easy for me to think of all the things that I have to do in a day i.e. potty breaks, diaper changes, meals to be made, physical therepy excercises, dishes, getting kids dressed, doctor's appointments-the list goes on and on. That is me going about just "measuring the marigolds," but as the song suggests, I need "to stop and see how beautiful they are." They truly are beautiful and I am so blessed to have them. Of course the day-to-day tasks still need to be done but it is still very important to stop and reflect and count your blessings. I know you all still need to "measure your marigolds" but don't forget to "stop and see how beautiful they are."

Amazing Ham and Potato Soup

I have the most amazing ham and potato soup for you all. I found this recipe looking for a way to use up leftover ham and I am in love! It is so creamy, the first time we ate this soup I grabbed the cheese expecting to need it, but I never added it, because this soup is amazing on it's own.

Ingredients

•  3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
•  1/3 cup diced celery
•  1/3 cup finely chopped onion
•  3/4 cup diced cooked ham
•  3 1/4 cups water
•  2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
•  1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
•  1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
•  5 tablespoons butter
•  5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•  2 cups milk

Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Use the directions from my previous post to chop the onion. Bring it to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and boil 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender (break easily with a fork). Stir in chicken bouillon and salt.

In a separate saucepan melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour. This makes what is called a roux. Then add the milk slowly, stir until smooth.  Continue to stir for 4 or 5 minutes until it thickens. You will know when it is ready when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Stir milk mixture into the soup. Add the pepper last, I definitely recommend adding a quarter teaspoon at a time and then tasting it until you reach the perfect amount of pepper for you. I did a full teaspoon the first time and thought it was a bit much, you know your family best so just do what works for you.

Dinner is served!

How to Chop an Onion

Chopping onions can be a bit tricky but done right it is really quite easy. In college I worked as a student chef in the cafeteria. Which basically meant that I would chop vegetables for my entire shift every day. Since onions are in everything, I had the opportunity to chop a ton of onions! Here is the way I was taught to chop onions.

1. Put a towel under your cutting board, this will keep you cutting board from moving around
2. Chop the top off the onion, not the root, keep the root attached it will help hold the onion together 
   
   
   
   
   
3. Remove the skin from the onion-make a slit in the skin to help remove the skin
   
   
   
   
   
4. Cut the onion in half
5. Place the onion flat side down on the cutting board.
6. Cut in horizontal direction toward the root, stop before you get to the root
   
   
   
   
   
7. Make several cuts down the onion toward the root, stop before you get to the root
   
   
   
   
   
8. Turn the onion and cut the onion again, as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. Ta da! The onion is chopped, if you need smaller pieces put the slices closer together

The Kiddos Playing

For those thinking to themselves, "boy I would really like to see some more pictures of the cute Accinelli kiddos," this post is for you! Jason has been seeming so grown up recently, so it has been a lot easier to to find activities that interest both kids. Here is my little honey painting.

Jason joined in the painting too. He really enjoyed himself. We had to call it quits when he decided to switch from painting to eating the paper. :) 

Here the kiddos are playing dress up

This car moves when you push buttons, so Cailey would push the button and then turn it over so they could play with the tires. It worked great for Jason's tummy time.

Do you all get a ridiculous amount of ads? We certainly do, my kids love to play with them. Cailey likes to look through them and tell me what food to buy and Jason likes to play with the paper. Anyway our living room always turn into a big mess. Sorry the paper is a blur it was only decent picture I could get of them.