Tuesday, May 21, 2013
1ST BIRTHDAY PLANNING
I debated a lot about what "theme" I wanted to use for Kensi's first birthday. I had to consider 1) we're celebrating at my parents house which has a pool 2) it's a summer birthday 3) we don't really know where we'll be for her 2nd birthday, living wise since who knows if we'll be moving in the next year or not. I'm not much of a character or theme-y kind of person but I love the idea of doing an Olivia party. I also love the idea of a strawberry theme, seriously how cute would that be??? Or ladybug inspired....there are so many ideas, but I had to remind myself that she will have many more birthdays that I get to plan for her. So with it being summer and being around family and having a pool available we're doing a bubbly, girly pink birthday party.
Kensi loves bubbles so I used that as my starting point. I will definitly post pictures of her party, but that won't be until June. However, for all the birthday party planners out there, here is my inspiration board.
Kensi loves bubbles so I used that as my starting point. I will definitly post pictures of her party, but that won't be until June. However, for all the birthday party planners out there, here is my inspiration board.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
OOBLECK!
Rainy days will usually keep us indoors, but that doesn't mean we don't have fun. Kensi has really embraced getting her hands dirty, especially with OOBLECK. It's a simple mixture of safe pantry items that allows her to practice building her hand muscles and fine motor skills. When she squishes it, it becomes more of a solid and as soon as she lets it go, it becomes runny. This activity is so much fun to do with kids of all ages!
OOBLECK
Cornstarch
Water
Food Coloring
Mix the cornstarch with a little bit of water, just enough that the cornstarch is wet but not super runny. Use a few drops of food coloring and allow the kids to mix it together for color mixing. This is a great activity to work on color recognition. If you're afraid of the food coloring staining, you can leave the color out completely.
She had so much fun squishing the colors together. I'm so glad I was able to catch her little smile in between all her concentration, she would squeal every time!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
APPLES & SUNSHINE
We finally have warmer weather this week! Yesterday, we spent the afternoon on the front deck. Kensi loves getting into the flower pots, picking dandelions, dragging sticks and crunching the dry leaves left over from last fall. I'm so glad she loves the outdoors, but I'm looking forward to the day she starts walking because every time she has splinters all over her feet and legs from crawling on the darn deck!
Kensi is also sporting her first official pair of shoes that we are head over heels in love with! These adorable metallic leather fringe moccasins are from Freshly Picked.
Monday, May 6, 2013
FIESTA LIKE THERE'S NO MAÑANA
We hope all of you we're able to celebrate this weekend. Here we love to celebrate anything and everything. We'll find any excuse to have a party! We spent the morning prepping our house for family to come over and we had different items sizzling away on the stove.
Our menu was simple, fun and so delish! My dad and brother Dave always have a little competition between their salsas, and I swear no two are ever the same, but they're always amazing. With salsas for starters we enjoyed chicken pasole, chile rellenos and beef carnitas for dinner and finished the night with my quick and easy tres leches cake.
CHEATER TRES LECHES CAKE
1 boxed yellow cake mix
1 can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 can whipped cream
Bake the yellow cake mix according to the directions. (I use 1 cup of sparkling water instead of tap water to add more fluffiness to the cake).
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes and invert it onto a platter. Using a skewer or a fork poke holes all over the top of the cake.
Mix the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream together and pour over the cake. The cake will absorb the milk and don't be afraid if it looks like its drowning in it! Refrigerate the cake for at least one hour.
Before serving, top the cake with the can if whipped cream. You can also garnish the cake with cherries, coconut, or cinnamon.
By the time I got my slice of cake, more than half of it was gone. So please excuse the paper bowl and quick, sloppy photo :)
I adore this photo of us! We had so much fun celebrating Cinco de Mayo, but this picture cracks me up because 1) Mike is barely smiling as he's trying to keep his mustache on 2) My mustache is upside down 3) Kensi's hands are being held because she kept trying to pull her mustache off and eating it!
My hilarious and crazy dad! By the way he's going to freak out if he knows I put this on here ;)
My very sweet little niece was a little scared when we had her put on the mustache, so in hopes of cheering her up we told her the baby could wear it....looks like it worked!
We seriously had so much fun celebrating. I took so many pictures of everyone wearing their mustaches, but they would have killed me for posting them and I don't think you want to be bored with photo after photo of my family wearing wigs over their lips.
Although, I will share one more.....
My sis who lives out of state joined us via Skype....they participated as well ;)
FYI we're planning on celebrating the Italian Republic day on June 2nd....be ready for more fun!
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