momstory

Meet American dad Joel living in Portland, Oregon

My name is Joel Henriques.  I'm an at home dad, and live in Portland, Oregon with my wife and my 3 year old twins.  Along with being an at home dad, I try to squeeze in enough time to maintain my career as an artist.  We have a great nanny who comes over 3 half days a week so I can paint and work on my art.  My studio is on the top floor of our house, so I end up being around the kids all the time.  It's really fun for them to be able to pop in and see what I'm working on. 

Did you ever picture yourself being an at home dad?
It's funny, I actually remember when I was a boy, about 10 years old and watching that Mr. Mom movie with Michael Keaton, and thinking man, I could totally do that.  It seemed really fun to me.  I've always liked cooking and doing stuff around the house, so it works very well.  With twins it was challenging for the first couple of years.  They just turned 3 on January 1st, and it's way easier now.

 

Do you like to spend time on decorating your home and the children’s room?
I do love good design in all areas of life.  However, my approach for decorating these days is mostly trying to keep things from getting too crowded or cluttered.  I made a toy bench for the kids' toys in the living room, and it works well.  Clean enough to make a grown-up happy, and messy enough to keep the kids happy.  Right before the kids were born I made a "twin birds" painting for their nursery.  Along with paintings, I like making mobiles and hanging them around the house.



Are you a crafter or DIY person?
I absolutely love making things.  I'm constantly working on new skills, from welding and brewing beer, to latch hooking and embroidery.  We have a lot of family in town, which is great.  For the holidays, I hand embroidered some designs on tee shirts for all of the cousins, and our kids too.  It was fun, and everybody was excited to get them.  Also, last year I designed and built a playhouse in the backyard.  It's nice to be able to get outside even if it's a little rainy.  I painted one wall with chalkboard paint, and so far we mostly end up drawing in there.



What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?
Yeah, my projects definitely changed when the kids arrived.  No more beer brewing, and a lot more sewing.  When we started buying toys for the kids I was interested in watching how they played and interacted with them, and then started designing and making toys myself.  I made stuffed animals, wooden dolls, puzzles, climbing toys, all kind of things. 


   
Now that the kids are bigger, we try to do crafts that are quick and rewarding.  I made a "portable zoo" one time by cutting animals out of thick paper and we colored them.  We store them in a mint tin and still play with them at restaurants.  Just recently we made finger puppets with construction paper and tape.  That was a huge hit, and again, very fast and easy.  Also, I've got a small shop in my basement with a scroll saw, and sometimes the kids come down and watch while I cut out animals or trucks for them, then we sand them together on the porch. 



Any tips for keeping the house clean when crafting?
My basic rule is that we have to clean up our current project before we start new one.  One mess at a time is much more manageable.


Books, websites, local shops you can recommend to get tips and ideas for kids crafting?
I usually wing it when I'm crafting, but I do have one book that I love, which is "Making Things" by Ann Wiseman.  It's a pretty well known book that's been around for years.  It has such great drawings in it, and tons of ideas.  You can usually find it online for about $5.  I've been thinking about making a craft book myself, and having it focus on fast and easy crafts with modern simple designs.  I do have a  craft blog where I post projects that I've been doing with the kids.

What do you do with all the projects your children made at home or in school?
Our kids both love to draw a lot.  We have a big folder where we keep some of our favorites, but what I do for most drawings is scan them into the computer so I can save them digitally.  It's a great space saver for sure, and also fun because I can post them online for family and friends to see and enjoy.



What are favorite games in your home?

Well, they still love silly games like horsey rides and airplane rides.  Anything where they get jiggled or bounced around.  Also, we love to play outside.  We have 3 chickens, and it's fun to pick dandelion leaves and feed them, or just run around with them in the back yard.  The kids love getting the eggs everyday too.  We eat the most delicious omelets.  It's great.

Are there musical instruments in your house?
Yes, we do a lot of music in our family.  I used to sing and play in rock bands.  My older sister, Lori is an amazing classical pianist, and my mom plays all kinds of instruments.  So yeah, lots of music around.  Now I mostly play my acoustic guitar, which the kids love.  I've written a few kids' songs that are really basic, but big crowd pleasers for the toddlers.  Whenever the cousins come over they beg me to play so they can dance around like crazy.  Also for bedtime, the kids always request a song I wrote called "Lonely Little Owl", and that's become a ritual for the last two years.  The other activity in our neighborhood that has been great for our music education is the program Music Together, I highly recommend it.

 


What are nice activities you can do with children in your place and what could you recommend when people are visiting?

Well for us, having friends over for dinner has been a favorite activity.  Sometimes when you have kids, you end up not going out as much, so my wife and I have different friends come over for dinner at least twice a month.  Some of them are amazing cooks and bring food and actually cook us dinner, which is fantastic.  Also most of them don't have kids, so they love to play and visit with the twins.  I think it's been really good for the kids, seeing all of our friends and interacting with them.  Before our guests would come over I used to show our kids photos of who was coming over to refresh their memories.  It really helped, and they would be a lot more communicative.  I don't need to do that as much anymore cause they know everyone so well now.

Are you a ‘cook’ or ‘food’ lover or both?
Oh yes.  I've worked in a lot of great restaurants in Portland, bartending and waiting tables, and I love food and drinks.  About 15 years ago I built my own coffee roaster so I could roast my own beans for lattes.  The kids love it when I make them steamers.  Another favorite in our house is cinnamon rolls that I make from my grandma's recipe.  Also, we get an organic fruit and vegetable box delivered to our house once a week which is an extremely big help when you have kids.  So we have a lot of good fresh food to cook with.  Portland is great for that.

Cinnamon Roll Recipe:

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

Dough:
  ● 1/4 cup warm water
  ● 1 package active dry yeast
  ● 3/4 cup lukewarm milk, scald then cool to lukewarm
  ● 1/4 cup sugar
  ● 1 tsp salt
  ● 1 egg
  ● 1/4 cup shortening, softened
  ● 3 1/2 cups white flour, measurement varies

Inside the Rolls:
  ● 1/4 cup butter, softened
  ● 1/2 cup brown sugar
  ● 2 tsp cinnamon
  ● 3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped and roasted

Caramel Sauce:
  ● 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  ● 3/4 cup half & half
  ● 1/3 cup butter

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in water, add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and 1/2 of flour to the yeast.  Add enough flour to handle easily.  Knead on floured board until smooth (5 minutes).  Let rise in warm (85℉) place until double (1 1/2 hour).  Punch down, let rise again until almost double (30 minutes).   

Roll dough into oblong or rectangular shape.  Spread with soft butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon, and chopped/roasted pecans.  Roll up tightly (length wise), seal by pinching sides together.  Cut into 1 inch slices.  Put into 13"X9" pan.  Cover and let rise until double, about 35-40 minutes. 

For Sauce, cook brown sugar, half and half, and butter in sauce pan until melted.  Then before baking drizzle about 3/4 of the sauce over the rolls, and then save the rest to drizzle over rolls again half way through baking (about 15 minutes into it).  Bake in 375℉ oven for 25-30 minutes.



What place do your children love to go to?
Our family has a house at the beach that we all go to.  It's about a two hour drive, so it's a pretty easy vacation.  The kids love playing on the beach when the Oregon weather is good.  Also it's just fun playing in a different house.  Seeing new things is great for kids, and adults too for that matter.  I must admit though, that packing is a huge effort when you have kids.  I used to be able to take one small bag on a weekend trip.  Now it's sippy cups, extra toys, books….. I'm really starting to see the value in buying a minivan.

How do you prepare for a trip, any useful tips?
We keep a pack list on our computer.  That way we can look at what we've needed to bring in the past, so we don't have to remember all over again.  It helps a lot.  Oh, and one great addition to our pack list is a medium sized fishing tackle box full of legos.  It was mine as a kid, and I just got it out of storage a few months ago.  It's very portable, and always a huge hit with all the kids and cousins.  I love fishing tackle boxes for storing things.
 

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ values?

One thing I try to always do is see things from my kids' point of view.

..Joel Henriques..

..Made by Joel blog..

Meet Australian Mom Kalima living in Melbourne

Today Melbourne based photographer Kalima Mohamed is telling us a bit more about her family, her life as a mom of a beautiful boy and girl and being married to a photographer husband.

What kind of house do you live in, are you and the kids happy here or is there anything you all terribly miss …?

We live in a small two story townhouse in Northcote, Melbourne.  It is great.  The kids are small, so cosy is still fun.  I think they would love more of a back yard to explore and mess about in but they find an adequate amount insects to investigate and games to play. 

Do you like to spend time on decorating your home and the children’s room?
I have enjoyed it very much. And still oohh and aahh when I see things for them that would be beautiful in their room.

Where do you look for interior inspiration, favorite magazines, websites, blogs?

I have a subscription to Inside Out.  And I look at your blog and other clever, craft, home made blogs like loobylu and threepotatofour.  I found "lmnop" and signed up immediately.  It stands for Laugh, Make, Nuture, Organise and Play.  Soon after I had the good fortune to meet Jenny and Ian, the couple behind the online magazine.  They are both lovely and talented people.

What are your children’s favorite items in your house?

Our bed. They love cuddles.  And it is great for jumping.

What places in your new neighborhood do you like to go to for shopping?

High Street in Northcote is filled with interesting places.

What's it like to raise a child in your town?

Our neighbourhood is very family friendly.  There are plenty of local activities for kids and a great sense of social networking amongst families.  We are also fortunate that both my husbands' family and mine live close by.  So we feel connected and would love to spend even more time with them.

Who do you consider is a good example for your children?

We try to be.

What is your idea of a perfect day with your children?

One absent of chores or time restraints.  Being able to play at any pace.  Be that cooking, pretending, dancing or pottering around together.  Or if they wanted to be with family and we can all casually gather and enjoy each others company.  Put a camera in my hands to take some photos and that would be wonderful too.

Can you tell us a funny story, quote or remark one of your children recently made or happened?

Our daughter Lola recently had her first "performance" with her local dance class.  Our son has watched his big sister and decided she is wonderful.  Naturally he wants to do all that she is doing.  So he has taken to asking to wear lipstick as she did on this day.  Only he calls it "lip stuck".  Which is a better name I think.  Now that is what we all call it.  Mind you it is only lip gloss we give him.

Are their any books you can recommend for parents and how to raise your children?

None.  I have learnt more from friends sharing their day to day issues and ideas of what works.  I count both my mums (mine & my husbands) and my two sister-in-laws as my friends.

Can you mention some of your ‘how-to-raise-your-kid’ values?

Remembering to have a sense of humour is much kinder on your spirit as a parent, and also your children's self esteem and happiness.  Sometimes we feel compelled to always correct them or "teach" them what they shouldn't be doing and forget to laugh.  I don't mean to undermine the important values like safety or treating other people with respect. Just that sometimes to look at the lighter side can make for a happier outcome. 


What kind of DIY projects do you like to do with your children?

Lola(5) loves to make jewelry and  Akira(2) occassionally draws.

Any tips for keeping the house clean when crafting?

That is tough. When I try to keep it clean and organised I kind of destroy the fun of doing it.

Are you a crafter or DIY person?

I am learning to be.

Books, websites, local shops you can recommend to get tips and ideas for kids crafting?

TheRedThread Blog...I could keep going as I love finding beautiful blogs - that is how I discovered yours Irene.  Just looking and admiring.  And thinking one day I would like to try that.  It is so wonderful that people share ideas and "how to do" information.

What do you do with all the projects your children made at home or in school?

A large box under our bed holds Lola's paintings and such.  We will need to do better as she grows and her brother starts to contribute to the stash of goodies.

Any nice decoration ideas how to hang them, keep them or use them as presents?

We cover every inch of wall space in our home office with their scribbles and artwork.  That way they know even when we are busy and not really with them we still choose to surround ourselves with their "decorations".

How do you like to celebrate birthdays and other special days in your house?

It really depends on whose birthday we are celebrating.  If it is a grown up then a sleep in is followed with their favorite breakfast and a family gathering that night.   If it is one of our children then it is presents first and then everything else later on.  Even warm milk which is normally the first demand of every day!

What are favorite games in your home?

"Hot and cold", hide and seek, jumping on the couch - or better still throwing down the cushions from the couch and jumping into them!  Lola is interested in card games and her version of chess.  Akira loves his trains and his father's remote controlled cars.

What kind of sports do your children like to do and are you very involved?

We are exploring circus skills and swimming at the moment.  Both are left to teachers who know more than I do!

Are there musical instruments in your house?

Yes, both toys and real ones.

What are all time favorite books for the children?

The hungry caterpillar and Hairy Maclary for Akira and the Disney Princesses for Lola.  Sleeping Beauty is the favorite at the moment.

What are nice activities you can do with children in your place and what could you recommend when people are visiting?

The kids love putting on little performances.  It can be very sweet.  And most visitors are kind enough to watch.

What movies do your children like to watch, is there one from your childhood you would love to show them too?

They love the Pixar animations.  The Incredibles is a current favorite.  And also Peter Pan.

How do they prefer to spend their leisure time?

With us.  They love it when we are all four together.  Which fortunately happens often.

Are you a ‘cook’ or ‘food’ lover or both?

I struggle.  And wish I were more proficient.

What do your children like to eat?

Their favorite dish of mine is spinach and cheese crepes.  Followed by more crepes drizzled in maple syrup.

What are absolutely forbidden candy or drinks in your house?

We used to be strict when it was just Lola;  but have since relaxed and allowed them both to enjoy most things when around friends and other children.  It was too sad to deny them when all their little friends were eating and drinking things we would rather not offer them.

What kind of books or information do you use for cooking?

Tessa Kuros and Stephanie Alexander cook books.  And any recipe my husband's mother shows me.  She is a fabulous cook.

Thank you Kalima!

..Kalima Mohamed..