St. Patrick's Day Ideas

I'm so excited for St. Patrick's Day!  I love having a reason to celebrate!

My kids have been busy trying to design a "leprechaun trap" to see if they can catch one.

This is what we're doing for St. Patrick's Day:

I saw this cake idea on pinterest and thought it was genius!

It's a leprechaun trap cake.  You cover the whole in the middle with pretzel sticks and then put gold coins on top.  When the leprechauns climb up to get the gold coins, they will fall through into the whole in the center of the cake.  The cake inside is rainbow.

There's a great tutorial for how to make it if you click on the link.

We are definitely making this the night before St. Patrick's Day!

(via Not Martha)

On the morning of St. Patrick's Day we will put on our new St. Patrick's Day socks (all from the dollar spot at Target) and we make sure to wear green so we don't get pinched :)

Since the leprechauns will turn our milk green in the middle of the night, we will have green milk with our Lucky Charms.

(via Thoughtfully Simple)

I always make our traditional "corned beef and cabbage" meal for St. Patrick's Day dinner.  My mom always made it when I was growing up, and now I love making it for my kids.  Lucky for us, it's also incredibly simple.  I just buy a packaged beef brisket from Costco or the grocery store.  It comes with directions and a seasoning package.  I just put in in the crockpot with the seasoning and a little bit of water.  Then I put carrots and potatoes on top and let it all cook together for at least 8 hours on low.  An hour before, I will chop the cabbage into big chunks and add that on top.  It doesn't take very long for the cabbage to cook and you don't want it to get soggy.
I don't even like beef, but I make it every year because I love just eating the veggies.  My husband and kids love the beef because I only make beef on St. Patrick's Day :)

(via babble)

I just found this cute new recipe online, but I'm going to try it.
Pot of Gold Jello...too cute!

(via Family Fun)

I can't wait!
What are your favorite St. Patrick's Day traditions?

More Thanksgiving Ideas

Last year we had my husband's family over for Thanksgiving.

 Before I tell you about the decorations, let me explain our situation:

Nate and I live in a two-bedroom townhouse with three children.

There is barely enough room for us...much less company.

When it was proposed that we host Thanksgiving at our house, I was a little overwhelmed.

We had to move the furniture out of our family room to accommodate the tables and chairs that we had to rent.  It was a very tight squeeze.

I was responsible for all of the food, and my sister-in-law, Brooks, offered to bring all of the decorations and place settings.

When she showed up with the decorations, I was in awe...

It was beautiful beyond anything I could have come up with 

and I wanted to share her ideas with all of you because they are inspiring...

Each place setting was marked with a photo place card.

The kids had their own table, and their plates were those hard plastic plates that look like glass, but won't break if they are dropped.  Genius.  Because of course, a few were dropped.

Each table had a white table cloth with an organza overlay.

She brought all of her own dishes and silverware and place settings from Las Vegas.

Brooks and I both agree that Thanksgiving is a formal holiday, and we wanted to avoid paper products.  She even included on the invitations "smart casual dress requested" so that everyone would come prepared for a beautiful dinner.

For the center pieces, she cut the top off of a foam pumpkin.

She put the brown glitter candle, tied with a green ribbon, in the pumpkin.

Each pumpkin sat on a wreath of twigs and berries.

Each place setting had a chocolate truffle with a Thanksgiving quote.

She put a different quote on every single truffle.

After dinner we all read our quotes to each other.

The kids loved it because it was like getting a fortune cookie :)

Isn't she amazing?

I hope her creativity inspired you as much as it inspired me.

Thanks Brooks!

Dr. Seuss Cupcakes

I've been browsing Martha Stewart as I try to put together Saxon's "reptile party".

I came across the "cutest cupcakes winners" from each year and couldn't help but stop and admire.

Here's one of my favorites:

Thing One and Thing Two Cupcakes

This is definitely one I'm going to try (maybe just for fun)...

Find the pictures HERE.

Lizard Cupcakes

My little Saxon is turning 5 and we're having a "reptile party".

I'm trying to find ideas and I LOVE these cute Lizard cupcakes.

I found them HERE and it sounds like she put fondant in a mold to get these cute lizards!

What a cute idea!

Loving Coconut Lately

I have been LOVING coconut this summer!

Did you know that coconut oil has an amazing variety of uses?

I use it on diaper rash and it seems to be the miracle cure.

It soothes and works almost instantly.

My littlest guy is 11 months old.

I'm about ready to be done nursing him, but I don't want to have to go buy a ton of formula.  He's almost old enough for milk, but not quite.  Plus, my kids seem to start off a little sensitive to cow's milk.  We've tried soy, but that seems to upset their stomachs.  We love almond milk, but I'm too afraid to give something made with nuts to my baby before he's one.

So, while I was trying to decide what to do, I came across coconut milk and decided to give it a try.  I actually really love it!  It has a distinct coconut flavor though, so I'm not sure that I would pour it on my cereal, but I love to drink it, and so does Dalton.  I read a suggestion online where someone froze it in a popscicle mold and made coconut pops :)  I can't wait to try.  I want to make all kinds of smoothies with it too.  It just tastes like summertime.  So far, we haven't had any negative reactions.  It seems like Dalton handles it just fine.

Another benefit is that is has less calories than milk, and more added calcium.  It has about 5 grams of fat per serving (and since my sister-in-law is always reminding me) kids need some fat in their diets.

 About a week ago, I was at Costco and they were sampling VitaCoco.

It's coconut water made from green coconuts.

I liked it because it reminded me of Brazil.

In Brazil, they have street vendors that sell coconuts.

They use huge knives to cut the top off the coconut and stick a straw in it.

I might have bought it just because it reminded me of living in Brazil, but the lady giving out samples really sold me on it.  She said it has more potassium than 2 bananas and more electrolytes than gatorade.  She said it's great for when your kids are sick to re-hydrate them.

So, I bought some.

My kids don't love it, but I put a little spoonful of apple juice concentrate in it and then they think it's juice :)

I saw an ad for VitaCoco in flavors.

Mmmm, I'll have to try them out...

I have been thinking lately, that making a birdhouse with my kids would be a fun summer activity.  My kids are fascinated by birds.  In fact, today they found a dead baby bird that they wanted to keep, and a bird egg that they also wanted to keep.  Ummm...no.

So, I googled "birdhouses" and found this cool step-by-step to making a coconut birdhouse.

Check out the instructions here. 

It's so natural and original, I can't wait to let my kids make on and hang it in our neighborhood.

I'll let you know how it goes... :)