hey good lookin' whatcha got cookin'

Are you hungry?

If not, I am about to help you out!

I realized recently that I am not sharing my number one creative outlet on my blog.

Sewing. Well I love spending my time getting my seam on,

but it is not really kiddo friendly therefore it does not get to happen as much.

Zadie loves to cook.

Add that to our clean eating pledge 

and it means this lady cooks A LOT.

So I am trying to remember to document our kitchen explorations for your viewing pleasure.

First up is one of my favorite dishes, roasted cauliflower and aged white cheddar soup.

Um. Can you say YUM!

I also made these broccoli bites for the first time and they were delish.

I do change these recipes a bit to fit our diet, but I am sure they all taste just as lovely when fixed exactly like the recipe states.

kale and goat cheese stuffed portabella mushrooms.

Pretty stinking good.

A little lunch salad. So good.

Zadie's lunch. 

(Don't worry. She eats like 5 million meals a day. The girl does not go hungry :)

We (by we I mean me :) were having a totally sweet tooth craving one morning so we made these glazed donut muffins.

Am I the only person in the world who has my most severe sweet tooth cravings in the morning.

dessert- smert give me krispy kreme for breakfast any day!

I shared recently that the hubs and I got to go scalloping for a day, and these little beauties are a few of our delish treasures.

I love scallops.

I love pesto.

I REALLY love pasta.

This pesto vermicelli with scallops is to die for!

P.S. That is some homemade pesto yo. Fresh from the garden.

We recently dug up our sweet potatoes from the garden and I thought this sweet potato burger would be the perfect way to show case these beauties

and boy was it!

(This was our first year growing sweet potatoes and it was so fun. It is crazy how much better food taste straight from the garden!)

Last but definitely not least is a sneak peak of a little recipe I made up myself and will be sharing soon... aka- when I make another batch and take pictures BEFORE they are all gobbled up!

I swear I have SO MANY sewing projects to share with you.

I just really stink at taking pictures.

and since I have been sewing for myself a lot,

that means I have to actually bathe and fix my hair for the pictures...

It may be a while guys ;)

xoxo

Play Time :: Ice play

It may be fall in some parts of the world, but it is still hot as crap here!

We were battling the heat when I remembered that I saw a great idea somewhere 

(I wish I was better at remembering where I get ideas from :( ) 

for playing with ice.

I pulled out a small cookie sheet and two cups.

gotta love that list :)

I filled one cup with ice and one with water and let Zadie go to town.

She never fails to surprise me by how much she enjoys everyday objects.

No fancy toy needed for this girl.

She LOVED her some ice!

"That's cold mommy"

"Look it melts"

"Oh, that water is cold"

(I know guys, it may be time to invest in new cookie sheets. It looks rough.)

When she started to get bored with the ice I whipped out the food coloring.

"Ooh pretty mommy"

"Yellow, green"

Then we added some blue food coloring to the water that accumulated in the bottom of the pan.

"Look mom. It melts."

"It's so pretty."

And finally she began pouring.

and pouring...

overall I would say prep time compared to play time this activity was AWESOME!

We really had so much fun.

I hope this inspires you to take a look around the house for some fun toys.

It is always so inspiring to see the world through a child's eyes,

Everything is so new and exciting.

It's good for the soul.

A few of my favorite things (Overview)

SO are you tired of hearing about this party yet guys?

I get it.

I LOVE reading all the nitty gritty details when I am in party planning mode,

but when I'm not I'll give the details a quick scan then move on.

So if you are scanning and patiently waiting...

you are in luck.

I have been sewing like a crazy lady lately and I have so many projects to show you.

For those of you who need some party planning love here is a link to all my projects.

Theme: "A Few of My Favorite Things"

Food

Games

Decorations

Cups

Vases

Tissue paper puff and Bunting

Cake stand

The Outfit

xoxo

a few of my favorite things 3 * A BIRTHDAY BASH *

Games

Zadie's favorite things in the world to do right now are

* Bubbles

* Sidewalk chalk

* Swimming

The girl has good taste :)

So, in honor of our party's theme we had to have ALL of her favorite activities!

Did I forget to mention that Z-baby also LOVES hunting Easter eggs- like we still have weekly egg hunts.

So in honor of that love we had a water balloon hunt.

Each of the kids were allowed to find two water balloons and then we had a water balloon toss...

at Brent! 

I may have enjoyed it more than the kids. 

This was the only organized group activity we did.

I wanted to start the party off with a planned game just to get the kids use to playing with each other.

After that the kids were left to play with whatever they wanted.

They had fun "Painting" with sidewalk chalk

(I love this picture)

Playing in the sprinklers

Shooting each other with water guns

and blowing bubbles.

We had all different age kids coming to the party

and I was a little scared that the games would be to "baby" for them

but it worked out perfectly.

The older boys had a water gun war.

The older girls had fun drawing and in the sprinklers.

And the middle age kids (you know like 3 and 4)

loved the bubbles.

The toddlers mostly stayed near the kiddie pool and every one played together so nice!

Food

Because Zadie's birthday is in the middle of summer, in Florida, I knew the only bearable way to have an outdoor party was to have it early.

The party started at nine and I made sure to let everyone know on the invitations that breakfast would be provided.

Lucky for us pancakes are Zadie's favorite food!

List of food:

* chocolate chip pancakes

* yogurt and granola cps

* watermelon

* cantalope

* grapes

* egg and bacon muffins

* Krispy Creme donuts

* cupcakes

I let the guest eat right as they arrived, we played outside, then we did cake and gifts.

It was lovely!

much love

Monday is for the Moms

My girls.

I have a hard time believing that eight months has passed since this picture was taken.

I love so much watching them become sisters.

Anytime Zadie looks at Mattie is makes her scream out in pure delight.

And nine times out of ten when I asked Z who she wants to thank God for at night she says "Sissy."

It does this mamma's soul good.

I wish every part of having two children was beautiful, but truth be told there are many hard parts too.

Like watching Zadie take things from her little sister repeatedly.

It is so hard not to treat Z like a little adult,

to not be completely offended that she would take joy from her little sister.

She is only two.

Not a little adult.

Snatching will be done and time-outs will follow.

Such is the nature of things :)

Sometimes Mattie will decide she doesn't need to sleep 

and she will inevitably wake up Z.

No late mornings or long naps will be had by anyone.

They are truly sisters.

Today has been a day full of tears and laughter, 

snatches and kisses,

tantrums and snuggles.

I would like to curl up in bed and take a nap but the girls will not have it.

They will call for me and I will go get them.

Because they are much children

and what a blessing they are.

(Although sometimes it is a blessing in disguise :)

I am feeling it today.

The intensity of being a mom, of being needed all the time.

It is not something I have always loved about motherhood.

But it is something that has changed me, maybe even refined me, in such good ways.

I need these girls as much as they need me, 

that is a fact.

But that does not mean I am not looking forward to an "easy" day.

One where naps are not skipped.

Time-out is not needed.

Giggles run rampant through the house.

And the house is not grimy. 

I'll get one soon enough and I will think,

"I've got this whole mom-thing down."

Oh silly me, don't I remember pride comes before a fall :)

And I will have to remember that having this mom thing down will never happen.

It just doesn't exist.

To be a "good" mom is to be ever evolving,

Always evaluating yourself, your actions and reactions.

Then  changing what you don't like and what doesn't work.

This mom thing is hard.

Good thing the kids are so dang cute.

How is your day going? Mom or not, we all feel the pressure of being needed when we feel like we don't have much to give. What do you do to get a handle on things? Share your wisdom. I'm listening.