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.