Tuesday, March 29, 2016
easter recipes
I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend, full of fun and celebrating our awesome Savior. We celebrated with our traditional brunch and although it rained all day we took advantage and Kensi tested out her new rain boots and splashed in every puddle she could find. We ended up moving out egg hunt indoors, but the kids didn't blink an eye. It amazes me how I can easily get wrapped up in the presentation of the holiday and when it doesn't go as planned, like the weather, I'm forced to go with the flow of the day and sometimes just wing it. Most of the time, it turns out far better than I could have ever planned.
This year we planned an easy Easter dinner, not something we've done in the past because of our emphasis on brunch and not having anyone to really share the holiday with, but each recipe was simple and delicious!
Bacon Wrapped Aspargus Bundles
Lemon Mustard Potatoes with Arugula Salad
Almond Cake
Although the food was light and scrumptious, I was missing a fun spring cocktail, but instead made a killer mocktail. I eat grapefruit year round and often keep grapefruit juice stocked in the fridge. This mocktail has a few of my favorite things: grapefruit, rosemary & sparkling water. I like mine a little sweeter than the original recipe and added a little more rosemary simple syrup, but that's the fun of making mixed drinks, you can customize it to your liking! Cheers and Happy Spring!
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
five fun easter treats
Kensi wanted nothing to do with St. Patrick's day this year. She is so focused on Easter after accidentally finding a couple of her basket items and having a melt down since she wasn't allowed to have them yet. Everyday she asks if it's Easter yet, so the mention of St. Patrick's day was frowned upon by her because in her eyes it took away Easter. I was lucky enough to get her to try Lucky Charms for breakfast, but not lucky enough to use them to decorate cupcakes. Better luck next year I guess. Since its all Easter talk this year I'm sharing some sweet and savory Easter treats my kids can’t get enough of, especially when they get to enjoy them outside in the warm sunshine.
1. Peep Pops | This is the first year I've bought Peeps because it was a battle I downright didn't want to fight. We enjoy our marshmallows, but not particularly covered in sugar. Kensi and Finn love the bright colors and although I cringe at what's used to make them so fun and colorful, I figure one package isn't going to hurt us. We needed a fun hands on activity for our quiet time one afternoon so we made Peep Pops by dipping them in melted chocolate and adding our own sprinkle decorations. Even though we added even more sugar on top of sugar these treats were so much fun to make and even better to enjoy!
2. Bunny Filled Carrots | Running errands in the car or trips to the park certainly call for packing up snacks. Instead of the usual snack cup, I packaged Annie's Cheddar Bunnies in a cone shaped plastic treat bag, tied it with twine and BOOM, we had carrots.
3. Spring Quesadillas | Lunch at our house gets a spring twist with a few fun cookie cutters. We enjoy our quesadillas with cheese, green chilies and mashed beans. Once the quesadilla is cooked, use a cookie cutter to punch out fun and festive shapes. The kids really enjoyed these and if using large tortillas you can usually get three cookie cutter shapes out of one.
4. Easter Popcorn | Friday night movie night {or any night} just got better with a sweet version of popcorn. Using a pre-popped bag or popping it yourself, add melted butter and spread on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Drizzle melted white almond bark and sprinkle with spring themed sprinkles, pastel color coated chocolates and chopped salted peanuts.
5. Bunny Rolls | We are still in soup mode over here and nothing pairs better with it than bread. Thanks to Pinterest for all the super creative cooks who come up with fun animal shaped bread rolls. Our kids love them to snack on and dip. The bunny shaped ones are perfect for spring. Although, the first time I made the snipped ear bunny rolls, mine looked more like cats, but they were still cute!
Monday, March 21, 2016
current diaper bag favorites
The past few weeks we've been battling colds and teething, never a good combo when Finn is slammed with both. The few times we've venture out in the thick of it I made sure I had my pack of Boogie Wipes, Frida Nose Sucker and Zarbees Baby Cough Syrup. All of which are staples anytime we get hit with a cold and so fitting for today's post, my current diaper bag favorites!
While having two babes to tote stuff around for now, I found I was in need of a bigger diaper bag. My cute, black and white striped, Kate Spade just wasn't cutting it anymore and it was downright heartbreaking. For my birthday in November Mike bought me my first Nena & Co. Day Bag II and I couldn't be more in love. The bag is not only beautiful, but also very spacious with great pockets for everything a mama needs to carry. We are on the go more and more with this beautiful weather we've been having and we don't always know exactly where we might end up so I always keep of few of my favorites in my bag at all times.
Ubbi Tweat Cups | it never fails that once I get the kiddos strapped into their car seats, load the diaper bag, make sure their jackets or cozies are in the back with the stroller, I have my wallet and shut the garage door...Kensi hollers from the backseat asking for a snack. It almost always happens. For some time I would just pack a little Baggie of snacks, but too often the bag would get lost under the seat and our car would quickly fill with trash. Insert snack cup. We love a cup that can easily open and close and have a handle so it doesn't slip out of little hands. We really like the Ubbi snack cups; they do everything we need them to do and the kiddos love the bright color. Plus, bonus...if they do get dropped, they're easy to find.
SollyWrap | I love love love this wrap. It's easy to use, light on the back and husband friendly. I keep one in the house and one in the diaper bag at all times. It has been my life saver when Finn was itty bitty and didn't want to be put down to sleep to even now when he needs some extra mama snuggles while grocery shopping.
Baby Powder | I keep this in the bag not for my baby's bum, but for our trips to the beach. Amazingly, baby powder removes sand from skin. Sprinkle it wherever the sand is sticking, rub together, and the sand will fall away. We use it every trip and always leave our parking space looking like a drug bust happened.
Zoe Organics | We started using Zoe Organics last year. I began using their Belly Butter and Belly Oil to help with my strech marks from Finn and they have improved tremendously. We also use the Everything Balm and it really works on everything. I especially love using it on bug bites; it takes away the itch and makes the swelling go down quickly.
Burts Bees Lip Crayon | This is my go to cosmetic for lip color. Most days I don't wear makeup, but if I'm leaving the house I try to put on mascara and some lip color. I love the soft pinks for a low maintenance look and bright colors for date nights. Plus, they totally hide the 'I'm a mom who slept maybe 2 hours last night, I'm on my third cup of coffee, don't look at my clothes because there's food stuck on them somewhere and my hair is up in a bun because I haven't showered in two days.'
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
taking the plunge
With babe numero tres on the way we knew we would have to get a larger car. Our family insisted we would be getting a van and Mike and I just cringed. I don't want to be a mini van mom. So the search began.
We started the search by looking into if we really could fit three car seats across the back of our crossover car, and there were certain sacrifices we weren't willing to make in order for this to happen. Let alone the idea of how squished it really would be and the fact there are zero air vents in the back half. It seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.
We looked into the Chevy Traverse....not enough storage in the back for our stroller and everything if we travel. Same goes for a Tahoe. We then started looking into the Honda Pilot. It looked promising, Mike thought maybe this would be it. But in the back of my head I could hear my future self getting frustrated because Kensi was having trouble buckling her seatbelt and I would have to climb crawl over car seats and then the seat to get back there and help her. And the leg room, there's not much. I knew I wasn't going to love this one bit.
We also don't want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a gas guzzler such as a Suburban, plus it won't fit in our garage. We were really down to one option, the van. With sliding doors to help get the kiddos out with ease, copious amounts of leg room, bucket seats so I can easily climb in the back to help Kensi. The facts were in front of us and even though we weren't happy to admit it, we know the van is going to be the best option for us right now. We've narrowed it down and we're on the search for the perfect Honda Odyssey for our growing little crew. Mini van fam, here we come!
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