a post-valentine's day smoothie

For our Valentine's Day supper last night, I made bacon and waffles with a strawberry sauce and a coconut milk based chocolate mousse.  It was delicious, and you MUST try the chocolate mousse recipe, but it was the stuff the tummy aches are made of!

This morning, we went back to the basics with our favorite healthy smoothie!  Leena loves helping me make our smoothies.  She's a great helper, gathering ingredients & helping blend with our immersion blender. I had heard her crying during the night, so while we were smoothie-ing, I asked her if she'd had a bad dream.  She shook her head, yes, "but I just prayed instead, Mommy."  Makes a mommy's heart happy!

Hav's full o' good stuff smoothie
(all amounts are approximate...it changes every time)
1 big handful of baby spinach
1/4 cup dry oats
1 frozen banana
1/4 cup frozen mango chunks
handful of frozen blueberries
3 tbsp. natural peanut butter
probiotics (powdered)
squirt of honey (not necessary, but a squirt of honey never hurts!)
vanilla almond milk, enough to blend to desired consistency

Blend & enjoy!
Oh, and I love adding a bit of canned coconut milk to this recipe, but I didn't have an open can on hand.  It makes it super smooth and creamy, and it's a nice contrast to the texture of the oats.

happy valentine's day!

grateful.

Tonight, I'm close to finishing a book about thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail - Barefoot Sisters: Southbound (great read, by the way), and I'm grateful for my warm house and stocked cupboards.  Glad that my kids go to bed every night with full tummies. Just feeling very blessed and grateful tonight.

valentine's day joy

I'm lucky to have my Christmas decorations down, really. If it weren't for the hubby's get-em-down spirit, we'd probably still winding down our days by staring at the lights on the Christmas tree. But they've been down since before the new year, and so I've had the chance to put up a few things for Valentine's Day...

Ok, so my favorite thing about my heart banners: I made them from Christmas ornaments I got on clearance at Target for 90% off after Christmas this year! I just loved these felt hearts when I first saw them at Christmas (3 pack for $1), and kept my fingers crossed that they would find their way to clearance. They did. I bought way too many, but at $.10 a pack, it was worth it! I strung them together with embroidery floss, and voila!, I now have hearty swags of joy to brighten my living room!

glowing bath

Yes, I do realize that it's been two years since I've posted here! Two years, lots of growing & changing, and the addition of our newest family member this past summer. Our happy little guy is called Basher by his big sister. He has brought us so much joy! He loves people & getting attention. He does not, however, like to sleep! I've learned how to function on much less sleep, and I now appreciate how awesome of a sleeper YaYa  has always been.

Here are my kiddos enjoying my favorite pinterest idea so far...glowsticks in the bathtub. We've done it twice now, and it's just magical! There's something so mesmerizing about it.

button, button, who's got the button?

Has anyone ever played that game? "Button, button." It was always a favorite when the cousins were together at grandma and grandpa's house, and it never seemed to get old. I think it's time to introduce my daughter to it. Would anyone like to come and play? I'll provide the button!

I used to play for what seemed like hours in my mom's button box, sorting and organizing to my little heart's content. So when YaYa saw my buttons and asked to see them, I was excited. It's so fun to watch her sort. She sorted by color and shape, and had a pile of "no!" buttons (that's them, up by the scissors. the rejects).

And here's YaYa with her Lightning backpack. We were at the mall a few days ago, and I noticed that our Disney Store is going out of business. So we went in to take a peek, and the backpacks were marked WAY down...I think I got this one for around five dollars. So I told her she could pick one out, and showed her the Princess one.

"NO. NO PWINCESS."

I showed her the Ariel one.

"NO. NO AWIEL!"

So, I asked her which one she would like.

"Wightning."

She pointed straight at it and giggled.

She is her father's daughter...it made him proud.

In truth, I'd rather watch Cars than a Princess movie, too. I couldn't deny her the best backpack there. And to top it off, we also got a stuffed Mater. We had to have something to put in the pack! She's so very proud of her backpack...and only took it off for the cashier to scan it.

And my other deal of the week...20 items of clothing from Children's Place for $55! Mega clearance for $2.99, and on top of it, I had a 15% off coupon! Yippee! Now she's got clothes to get us through the rest of this LONG winter, and a bunch for next year as well.

Chair!

her palette.

Isn't it wonderful? A whole day with my girlie is just bliss...and a Wednesday even better! We ran errands together, we slept, we snacked, we painted...and painted and painted!

















I love this expression! She is so intense when she paints...and mostly serious. Although, when I dug up my "That Thing You Do" soundtrack, that got both of us giggling and bouncing!

(She doesn't like to have anything on her head or in her hair, but I convinced her to wear a special "painting headband" to keep her hair out of her eyes!)

YaYa + Momma = happy day!

Chair,

p.s. - My new header is my first work of art using my Wacom Tablet (with YaYa on my lap). Yes, obviously it will take some getting used to, but I'm so excited for all the possibilities! So for now, enjoy the wacky family portrait. :)