Green beans and origami

No, I haven't started folding our green beans into swans. Although my children would be thrilled to see that. The boys were playing in the backyard the other day and I told them to check their green bean plants to see if there were any more ready to be harvested.

Tada!




Do these plants give a one time harvest or do they keep producing throughout the season? I promised my oldest I'd saute them that night for dinner along with the ones his brother picked. Ironically the younger boy doesn't like to eat them but loves to pick them.




Only hitch was me cooking while distracted. Never a good mix. I kept going back to the stove in spurts, throwing in a pinch of salt to the green beans, not tasting because each time I thought it was the first. My oldest asked me gingerly, "momma how much salt did you put in the green beans?" Ummm, they tasted like a salt lick. Garlicky, well caramelized salt lick green beans.


Oh well. On to the origami. The other night I remembered a transforming star/octagon that I used to make in middle school. We had small humanities classes with plenty of free time once our writing was done so I'd chat up my friends and make these.



They're as addictive as when you learn to make friendship bracelets. I figured the boys would find these interesting but I couldn't even begin to remember how I used to make them. Google to the rescue.


Origami: Origami Star & Moon (Eight Pointed Star)

I made a classic notebook paper version and a construction paper multicolored version. I swear I do clean my table once in a while but with two boys who use it as their staging ground for meals and projects, I give up until the end of the day.




The stars open up into octagons. Pretty neat feature but to a 5 year old and 3 year old the only thing that matters is how well they fly across the room. So I taped the joins and let boys have at 'em. Momma was trying to fly them like frisbees when Mr. Maricucu stepped in and showed the boys a proper ninja star fling.




And once again, a former time wasting skill makes me, "the coolest mom ever" according to my five year old. At least for today.